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Five Star Bank parent sells assets of SDN Insurance Agency
WARSAW, N.Y. — Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISI), the parent company of Five Star Bank, has sold the assets of its wholly owned subsidiary SDN
VIEWPOINT: Financial Value Transparency & Gainful Employment Regulations: What We Know Now
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Crouse’s workforce-development initiative now includes a leadership institute
SYRACUSE — The workforce-development initiative at Crouse Health now includes the Crouse Leadership Institute, which the health system considers a “major focus moving forward” as the effort continues. “In line with Crouse’s mission, vision and values, this supportive framework will provide introductory, ongoing and as-needed training in leadership and personal and professional development for all
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SYRACUSE — The workforce-development initiative at Crouse Health now includes the Crouse Leadership Institute, which the health system considers a “major focus moving forward” as the effort continues.
“In line with Crouse’s mission, vision and values, this supportive framework will provide introductory, ongoing and as-needed training in leadership and personal and professional development for all members of the Crouse family,” the Syracuse–based health system said in its announcement.
Earlier this year, Crouse Health established a workforce development and training center to support its workforce-development focus for all Crouse employees, both union and non-union.
Its goal is providing educational and career-advancement resources and opportunities for its 3,500 employees.
Jeremy Freund — leadership and professional-development coordinator — will lead the institute. Freund has worked in educational services and as a bedside nurse for a total of 13 years at Crouse.
In his new role, he will help and guide Crouse Leadership Institute participants to accelerate learning, improve critical thinking skills, improve interaction within a team setting, and increase self-awareness.
Programs offered through the institute include future leaders’ program, transformational leadership series, leadership growth series, leadership coaching program, and community leadership and professional development training.
The format of the programs will include ongoing “lunch and learn” sessions, classroom and online instruction and discussion, and one-on-one coaching based on individual needs, Crouse Health said.
Crouse will develop additional content offerings based on staff input and feedback. The institute will support and complement the workforce-development activities that the organization is developing in collaboration with the 1199SEIU Training and Upgrading Fund (TUF).
“Our goal with the Institute is to invest in our current workforce and attract and retain employees who are passionate about the Crouse culture and want to develop or build on the skills and resources needed to become leaders within our organization,” Dr. Seth Kronenberg, president and CEO of Crouse Health, said in a statement. “We want our employees to stay at Crouse for their entire career. The Institute will give them the tools and support to do that.”
Report: HSA balances rise but contributions not maximized
A new research report using the latest available data about health savings accounts (HSAs) finds average contributions are well below the maximum allowed, most accountholders taking a distribution from their HSA, and relatively few accountholders investing. Still, despite workers spending more on health care in 2022 than in previous years, average balances in HSAs increased,
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A new research report using the latest available data about health savings accounts (HSAs) finds average contributions are well below the maximum allowed, most accountholders taking a distribution from their HSA, and relatively few accountholders investing.
Still, despite workers spending more on health care in 2022 than in previous years, average balances in HSAs increased, rising from $4,318 in 2021 to $4,607 the next year.
That’s according to the report issued on March 28 by the Washington, D.C.–based Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). The nonprofit describes itself as an “independent and unbiased” resource organization that provides the “most authoritative and objective” information about critical issues relating to employee-benefit programs in the U.S.
EBRI listed some key findings in the new research report, “Trends in Health Savings Account Balances, Contributions, Distributions, and Investments, 2011–2022.”
Since the establishment of EBRI’s HSA database, average account balances have generally trended upward and 2022 “was no exception.” End-of-year balances increased in 2022 to $4,607, but average balances are “still modest.” This may be a result of the fact that many of the HSAs in EBRI’s HSA database are relatively new.
About one-third of the accounts were opened since 2021.
The report found that relative to 2022, average HSA contributions increased. Average employee contributions rose to $1,962, while the average employer contribution decreased slightly to $762.
However, the growth in individual contributions outweighed the decrease in employer contributions, resulting in higher total contributions in 2022 than in 2021. The average combined HSA contribution was $926 less than the statutory maximum contribution for individuals and $4,576 less than the statutory maximum contribution for accountholders with family coverage.
In addition, the analysis found more than one-half of accountholders withdrew funds. The average distribution rose to $1,868, continuing to rise from the COVID-era lows observed in 2020.
The report also found few accountholders took advantage of the ability to invest HSA funds, as only 13 percent of accountholders invested in assets other than cash. However, the share of accountholders who invested their HSAs has increased for six years in a row, which is an “encouraging sign” that accountholders are increasingly leveraging the “powerful” tax advantages HSAs offer, EBRI says.
“It is critical for plan sponsors to understand how HSAs are being used by their workers, as trends can inform future workplace benefit strategies. We find that as individuals become more familiar with HSAs — the longer they have had their HSA — accountholders tend to take better advantage of the benefits HSAs offer,” Jake Spiegel, research associate of health and wealth benefits at EBRI, explained in the report. “In particular, the longer someone has owned their HSA, the larger their balance tends to be, the higher their contributions tend to be and the more likely they are to invest their HSA in assets other than cash. These strategies better position accountholders to withdraw larger sums when unexpected major health expenses occur and can leave accountholders more prepared to cover their health care expenses in retirement.”
The EBRI HSA database is a representative repository of information about individual HSAs. The database includes information provided by a variety of account recordkeepers representing the characteristics and activity of a broad range of HSA owners.
As of Dec. 31, 2022, the EBRI database includes 14 million health-savings accounts representing $42.5 billion in assets.
“Plan sponsors that wish to introduce or continue offering HSA-eligible health plans as part of a workplace benefit program, as well as policymakers and providers, can benefit from this long-term view of HSA accountholder behaviors,” Spiegel said.
Ask Rusty: When Should We Claim Social Security Benefits?
Dear Rusty: I am almost 63 and my husband will be 61 soon, and we are looking to see when our best time would be to start our Social Security benefits. We would like to know if one of us qualifies for benefits from a previous marriage from 1984-1995. And we are wondering if I
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Dear Rusty: I am almost 63 and my husband will be 61 soon, and we are looking to see when our best time would be to start our Social Security benefits. We would like to know if one of us qualifies for benefits from a previous marriage from 1984-1995. And we are wondering if I can start drawing at age 65, in two years, or if it is better that I wait until 67 because my spouse is two years younger than me. Also, if I were to continue working limited hours after 65, what would my earning limit be?
Signed: Almost Ready
Dear Almost Ready: The first thing to understand is that full retirement age (FRA) for both of you is 67. If either of you claim before that, your monthly benefit amount will be permanently reduced and, because you are working, you will be subject to the Social Security “earnings test.”
If you claim your benefit at age 65, your monthly payment will be about 87 percent of what you would get if you claimed at age 67. If your husband claims at age 62, his benefit will be about 70 percent of his FRA amount. The only way to receive 100 percent of the benefit you’ve each earned from a lifetime of working is to claim at your FRA. You can choose to claim at age 65, as long as you’re comfortable with the benefit reduction that will occur, and as long as your annual work earnings do not significantly exceed the earnings limit for that year. In any case, when each of you claims will not affect the other’s retirement benefit amount.
Social Security’s “earnings test” for those claiming before FRA sets a limit for how much can be earned before some (or all) benefits are taken away. The earnings limit for 2024 is $22,320, but it changes yearly. If you claim early benefits and your work earnings exceed that year’s limit, the Social Security Administration will take away $1 in benefits for every $2 you are over the limit. It does so by withholding future benefits long enough to recover what you owe for exceeding the limit. If you significantly exceed the annual earnings limit, you may be temporarily ineligible to receive Social Security benefits until you either earn less or reach your FRA (the earnings test no longer applies after you reach your FRA). I cannot predict what the earnings limit will be two years from now, but it will be more than the 2024 limit and published at that time. FYI, in the year you turn 67 your pre-FRA earnings limit will be much higher, and when you reach your FRA, the earnings test no longer applies.
Regarding your previous marriage, you cannot receive spousal benefits from an ex-spouse while you are currently married. But when to claim may also be influenced by whether either you or your current spouse will get a spousal benefit from the other. If the FRA (age 67) benefit amount for one of you is more than twice the other’s FRA entitlement, the one with the lower FRA amount will get a “spousal boost” to their own amount when both of you are collecting.
Spouse benefits reach maximum at one’s FRA, but each person’s personal Social Security retirement amount will continue to grow if not claimed at FRA. Waiting past FRA to claim allows the Social Security retirement benefit to grow by 8 percent per year, up to age 70. So, with an FRA of 67, claiming at age 70 will yield a payment 24 percent higher than the FRA amount, 76 percent more than the age 62 amount, and about 37 percent more than the age 65 amount. But waiting beyond FRA is only smart if financially feasible and life expectancy is at least average (about 84 and 87, respectively, for a man and woman your current ages). And, as a general rule, if one’s spousal benefit at FRA (50 percent of their partner’s FRA entitlement) is highest, then that spouse should claim at FRA to get their maximum benefit.
Russell Gloor is a national Social Security advisor at the AMAC Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC). The 2.4-million-member AMAC says it is a senior advocacy organization. Send your questions to: ssadvisor@amacfoundation.org.
Author’s note: This article is intended for information purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. It presents the opinions and interpretations of the AMAC Foundation’s staff, trained and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA). The NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity.
VIEWPOINT: Administrative Support: Unsung Heroes of a Profitable Business
Administrative support in business is like the backstage crew of a Broadway play. It performs the tasks necessary to make sure the show goes on successfully. In the same way, managing schedules, handling paperwork, and coordinating resources, administrative tasks form the backbone of organizational efficiency. A skilled administrative department streamlines processes, reducing bottlenecks and minimizing
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Administrative support in business is like the backstage crew of a Broadway play. It performs the tasks necessary to make sure the show goes on successfully. In the same way, managing schedules, handling paperwork, and coordinating resources, administrative tasks form the backbone of organizational efficiency. A skilled administrative department streamlines processes, reducing bottlenecks and minimizing the risk of errors. This efficiency, in turn, translates to cost-effectiveness. And life for owners and managers becomes so much easier.
But so often we see leadership and management take on administrative duties themselves. Or delegate them to staff in sales and marketing. So, in addition to planning, marketing, and selling, owners and/or sales talent serve customers, manage their calendar, and sift through the company’s daily load of emails.
But can people really multitask like this? According to the National Library of Medicine, “…multitasking is almost always a misnomer, as the human mind and brain lack the architecture to perform two or more tasks simultaneously.” So, we don’t really multitask; we switch from one task to another.
The problem becomes that administrative tasks take away from attention to the things that make businesses grow. Product development, up-to-date marketing efforts, and sales all take a backseat to paperwork and constantly battling administrative hurdles.
But paperwork would be reduced, and administrative hurdles eliminated if people who were tasked with these duties could give them their full attention.
We strongly urge you to prioritize professional administration for your business — one that can step in to rescue you from this bureaucratic abyss.
By delegating to employees who are specifically tasked with administrative responsibilities, you are freed to focus on your core competencies — innovating, strategizing, and delivering quality to your customers.
With the burden of administrative tasks lifted, you can channel your creativity and strategic thinking into crafting products and services that not only meet but also exceed customer expectations. Administrative efficiency fuels managerial creativity, resulting in a business that not only runs smoothly, but also thrives in delivering excellence.
Not ready to organize and staff an administrative department? Another possibility is to outsource your administrative duties to an outside firm offering a virtual assistant. It can handle your calendar management, travel arrangements, email management, and data entry. The virtual assistant can even provide customer service from online inquiries or over the phone.
This is especially helpful if you’re just starting out. Your business may not require a full-time employee to complete all of its administrative tasks. You hire an outside virtual assistant to do them so you, or your sales force, can concentrate fully on what you do best — bringing in new business.
Then, as you grow, you may reach a point where it makes sense to hire a full or part-time administrator. In the meantime, the outside firm can work as your administrative department.
The upshot is that it’s so important to take the administrative duties of your business seriously. And consider the people who quickly and accurately complete them as truly the unsung heroes of your business.
Christina Aiello is the administrative officer at Empower Business Strategies. Contact her at christina@gowithempower.com
Morehouse Appliances celebrates five generations of business
NEW HARTFORD — From world wars to a global pandemic, Morehouse Appliances has weathered it all through four generations of family ownership — with the fifth generation already on staff. The appliance retailer and servicer celebrated its 130th year in business on April 20 with an event to celebrate its decades in business, the five
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NEW HARTFORD — From world wars to a global pandemic, Morehouse Appliances has weathered it all through four generations of family ownership — with the fifth generation already on staff.
The appliance retailer and servicer celebrated its 130th year in business on April 20 with an event to celebrate its decades in business, the five generations of family behind it, and the customers who have supported the business along the way. The event featured cooking demonstrations, discounts, and giveaways.
“It’s kind of a big number,” owner Dan Morehouse says of why he chose to celebrate 130 years.
Henry D. Morehouse opened the first store — H.D. Morehouse — in 1894. Eventually, his son Leslie joined him working in the business before World War I took him to Europe, Morehouse says. During that time, his great grandmother helped her husband run the store until their son returned and took over.
Morehouse’s father, another Henry, took over the business in 1973 after his father passed. Eventually Dan and his brother Dave took the reins from their father in 1993.
“We were the first siblings in the business together,” Morehouse notes. His brother retired a few years ago, and now Morehouse’s daughter Ellie works with him as the store’s office manager.
“I’m not ready to retire yet,” Morehouse says, but he’s already planning for his daughter and future generations to take over one day.
The early Morehouse generations contended with two world wars and kept the business going, he says. During World War II, people couldn’t even buy new appliances because none were being made. All manufacturing efforts went toward armaments for the war, he says. However, they could bring in an old appliance to trade and purchase a refurbished one. Customers’ old appliance would then be refurbished and sold to someone else.
Fast forward 75 years, and Morehouse had to contend with a global pandemic that severely disrupted supply chains for all of his products.
The store remained open and still had display models because he decided not to sell them, Morehouse recalls. He believes that decision helped him continue to make sales during the pandemic.
“We had back orders that it took well over a year to get them,” he says. “People were ordering, and they understood it would take a while.”
It was challenging tracking those orders and managing deliveries throughout the pandemic, but they got the job done, Morehouse says.
“We gained during the pandemic, and we’ve kept most of those new customers,” he adds.
Morehouse credits the family value of focusing on the customer for the company’s 130-year history, including through those trying times.
“We hope to go for another 130 years,” he adds.
Morehouse Appliances operates from 15,000 square feet of space at 8411 Seneca Turnpike in New Hartford. The store has 11 full-time employees, including positions in sales, service, and delivery.
Brown & Brown names two to leadership team
Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE: BRO) — the Florida–based insurance-brokerage parent of Brown & Brown of New York, Inc., which has an office in Syracuse — recently announced it has appointed David Putz and Niels Seebeck to its senior leadership team. David Putz is executive VP of Arrowhead General Insurance Agency within Brown & Brown’s
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Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE: BRO) — the Florida–based insurance-brokerage parent of Brown & Brown of New York, Inc., which has an office in Syracuse — recently announced it has appointed David Putz and Niels Seebeck to its senior leadership team.
David Putz is executive VP of Arrowhead General Insurance Agency within Brown & Brown’s programs segment, leading four businesses and strategically collaborating with other programs and Brown & Brown teams to create automotive insurance products and services. Before joining Brown & Brown in 2019, Putz spent nearly 25 years at Zurich Insurance North America, where he was a member of the global leadership team, overseeing alternative markets, including the crop, programs, automotive, and captives’ businesses.
Niels Seebeck is president of Arrowhead’s risk managers program, a commercial excess and surplus (E&S) property insurance program for wind-driven business. He joined the team in 2015 and is responsible for the growth and oversight of numerous programs, including portfolio management, underwriting, and operations. Seebeck has more than 20 years of property insurance experience, having previously held leadership positions with Guy Carpenter and Munich RE, focusing on reinsurance, E&S property, and program business.
“With our continued strong business growth comes the need to tap into our deep ranks of key leaders to provide additional, unique perspectives and insights that will help drive us forward. I am excited to welcome David and Niels to our senior leadership team. Each of them brings extensive industry experience, particularly within the programs space, and their contributions will further enable our mission of being the leading global provider of insurance solutions for our customers,” Powell Brown, president and CEO of Brown & Brown, said in a statement.
Brown & Brown, through its subsidiaries, offers a broad range of insurance products and related risk-management services. It has more than 16,000 employees and more than 500 offices worldwide. The insurance-brokerage firm makes frequent acquisitions of insurance agencies a key part of its growth strategy.
Brown & Brown of New York has an office at 500 Plum St. in Syracuse’s Franklin Square area.
OPINION: Good-Cause Evictions Will Make Existing Housing Crisis Worse
The New York State Legislature continues to wage war on landlords, property owners, and small businesses by insisting on including policies that erode property rights and rejecting common sense. The latest salvo comes in the form of a proposal to restrict property owners’ ability to remove tenants without “good cause.” The same proposal also includes
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The New York State Legislature continues to wage war on landlords, property owners, and small businesses by insisting on including policies that erode property rights and rejecting common sense. The latest salvo comes in the form of a proposal to restrict property owners’ ability to remove tenants without “good cause.” The same proposal also includes a requirement for property owners to justify rent increases of more than 3 percent.
Essentially, Albany Democrats are proposing legislation to extend New York City’s strict and often burdensome rent regulations to the rest of the state. Under their plan, most building owners upstate would be forced to renew tenant leases, and it would add even more obstacles to combat harsh economic conditions like rampant inflation. New York already places enormous pressure on small businesses and property owners, so the last thing we need is another layer of red tape tamping down growth.
Proponents of the [good cause] bill have attempted to paint the proposal as a way to protect renters. This is a reasonable idea on its face, and landlords taking advantage of their tenants is something we should all be working to prevent. However, proponents often ignore the reality that renters in New York already enjoy some of the most tenant-friendly protections in the nation. One need look no further than the state’s backward squatting laws — individuals who set up shop in an unoccupied home or apartment for sale, for example, are given enormous protections after just 30 days — to see how difficult it is to be a property owner in New York. In addition, municipalities can already avail themselves of tenant protection — including rent regulations — upon showing a low vacancy rate for rental properties.
Shoehorning so-called “good cause eviction” into the state budget will also have ramifications extending far beyond making life harder for property owners. With each new regulation forced upon landlords and owners, many of whom fall squarely in the middle class, more and more landlords are going to give up. This will lead to even further outmigration, a reluctance to build new apartments and ultimately exacerbate the housing crisis plaguing New Yorkers. This isn’t a solution, it’s a catalyst for more problems.
I sincerely hope any version of this legislation considers the massive challenges facing property owners in New York. Policymaking should never be a zero-sum game. We don’t have to cut down one group in order to serve another, and it seems a lot like that is what the Democrat leadership in New York wants to do.
William (Will) A. Barclay, 55, Republican, is the New York Assembly minority leader and represents the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses all of Oswego County, as well as parts of Jefferson and Cayuga counties.
OPINION: Americans have common sense, but too many politicians lack it
There is a widely shared belief about the current state of U.S. politics. It runs like this: We live in highly polarized times, with Americans engaging in extreme behavior and, all too often, indulging anti-democratic sentiment and behavior. Political moderation has all but disappeared. But a pair of recent studies makes clear that this is
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There is a widely shared belief about the current state of U.S. politics. It runs like this: We live in highly polarized times, with Americans engaging in extreme behavior and, all too often, indulging anti-democratic sentiment and behavior. Political moderation has all but disappeared.
But a pair of recent studies makes clear that this is phrased wrong. It’s not “Americans” who are embracing extremism and anti-democratic conduct. It’s some American politicians. On the whole, these studies suggest, they are out of step with the vast majority of their constituents, who are quite happy with political moderation and crave common-sense approaches from their elected representatives.
The first of these studies came along last fall, when the Carnegie Endowment published a paper by longtime democracy researcher Rachel Kleinfeld, “Polarization, Democracy, and Political Violence in the United States: What the Research Says.” “Americans are not as ideologically polarized as they believe themselves to be,” she wrote — but noted that even if there’s plenty of common ground, the activists tend not to see it. “Most partisans hold major misbeliefs about the other party’s preferences that lead them to think there is far less shared policy belief,” she added. “In other words, the people who are most involved in civic and political life hold the least-accurate views of the other side’s beliefs.”
The result, she argued to Governing magazine after the study was published, is that political-party leaders tend to see much less room for steps required to make democracy work, like compromise and negotiation. “Most people think Americans of different parties hold radically different views, and that’s not true,” she said. “There’s a lot of overlap in what Americans from both parties think, although they differ in intensity… The real difference in viewpoints is in who we elect as leaders. Party leaders have almost no issues in common. That’s making it very difficult to govern.”
This was followed in mid-March by a new study from the Polarization Research Lab, which is a collaboration among researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, and Stanford University. Over the course of 13 months in 2022-23, they surveyed more than 45,000 Republicans and Democrats on their attitudes toward such violations of democratic behavior as cutting polling stations in areas where the other party is popular, showing more loyalty to party than to election rules and the Constitution, or believing that elected officials of one’s own party should ignore court decisions issued by judges who were appointed by a president of the other party.
All of those beliefs show up among political leaders, but the researchers found that they were relatively rare among ordinary voters. Just 17.2 percent of Democrats and 21.6 percent of Republicans backed one “norm violation,” and only a relative handful in each party — 6 percent of Democrats, 9 percent of Republicans — supported two or more, which suggests that broadly held anti-democratic beliefs are quite rare.
But then the researchers did something interesting. They took a look at the Republicans they’d surveyed who lived in districts represented by members of Congress who had either voted to overturn the 2020 election results or publicly denied the legitimacy of the 2020 election results. That is where the strongest differences appeared. As one study author put it, “The real gap in support for democracy is not between Democratic and Republican voters, but between Republican voters and Republican representatives.” Yet those politicians continue to get elected.
Other studies might yield different results. But I think the basic point is a good one: There is a real difference between how party leaders and elected officials look at a problem, and how ordinary Americans do. Political leaders tend to weigh the questions they face in terms of how it affects the party or their political fortunes. Most Americans, on the other hand, don’t view challenges through the lens of party; instead, they ask themselves what would be the right or wrong thing to do for their own lives, or for the country or their community. They’re pragmatic.
I find this heartening. Because I have to believe that at some point, more Americans will get tired of being represented by people who don’t actually represent their beliefs.
Lee Hamilton, 92, is a senior advisor for the Indiana University (IU) Center on Representative Government, distinguished scholar at the IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, and professor of practice at the IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Hamilton, a Democrat, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years (1965-1999), representing a district in south-central Indiana.
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