Employee benefits have become vital to the success of businesses. Good benefit plans help lure high-quality employees who can keep organizations competitive. But rising costs, particularly on the medical side, mean that employers must be careful when putting packages together. Plans should be attractive without being overly expensive. The importance and growing complexity of the employee benefits market are creating solid opportunities for advisors.

The term “employee benefits” is very broad. A benefits package, for instance, might include: major medical, dental, income protection, life insurance, pensions, travel insurance and legal expenses. Retirement packages can include pensions and 401(k) plans.The different needs of businesses provide good opportunities for advisors to offer tailored administrative and consulting services. There are also prospects for cross-selling in the form of both commercial coverage for a business and personal products for the business’ executives and other employees.

Effects of employee benefits
Well-run employee benefit programs can have widespread positive effects. According to the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA), work-based medical insurance programs have helped reduce the number of uninsured in the U.S. During 1998 and 1999, the HIAA reports, more than two million people were thus added to the rolls of the nation’s medically insured.