Amazon Introduces New Kindle Fire Tablets

Amazon Introduces New Kindle Fire Tablets
3 Questions for You to Ask Yourself About Employee Health Care
Are You Ready to “Unbundle It”? Uncomplicate Your Life and Business

Posted: 29 Sep 2013 01:45 PM PDT

Kindle fire HD and HDX

If you never thought of your Kindle as a tablet before, it’s time to re-evaluate that notion. Small business owners and entrepreneurs on the go who need to read, watch online video and do other basic things you would need a tablet to do, take note.

Amazon’s latest crop of Kindle Fire HD and HDX tablets may be an alternative to high end mobile devices depending upon your needs.

Kindle Fire HD and HDX

The newest Kindle tablet, the Kindle Fire HDX, comes in two display sizes, 7-inch and 8.9-inch. The screens offer resolutions that Amazon says are “beyond HD.”

In fact, CBS News reports the 2,560 x 1,600 pixel resolution of the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HDX is higher than that of Apple’s iPad.

In addition to an improved email app, the new device introduces a “mayday” feature which allows 24/7 tech support from an Amazon representative. The representative can either walk you through your problem or actually take control of your device remotely.

The devices start at $229 and $379 respectively.

Amazon has also released a 7-inch version of its Kindle Fire HD at just $139, an impressively low cost for any tablet.

A larger 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD was released two years ago.

How To Get Your Device

The new 7-inch Kindle Fire HD will ship to retailers Oct. 2 and can be preordered on Amazon. The two new Kindle Fire HDX devices will ship on Oct. 18. See more on both devices in this video from The Verge:

Image: Kindle Fire HDX, Amazon

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3 Questions for You to Ask Yourself About Employee Health Care

Posted: 29 Sep 2013 09:00 AM PDT

employee health

Small businesses face important decisions about employee benefits, and as deadlines for Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements draw near, timing is of the essence.

You should consider the following three questions to make more informed decisions for your workforce.

1. Should you offer employer provided coverage or not?

It's commonly agreed upon by both employers and employees that health benefits play a significant role in employee satisfaction. In fact, according to the 2013 Aflac WorkForces Report, 78 percent of employees say their benefits package is important to their job satisfaction, and 65 percent say it is important to employer loyalty.

Deciding whether or not you'll offer coverage to your workforce is a choice that affects more than just your bottom line; it also affects employee morale and retention.

View employer-sponsored benefits options as a cost-effective way to boost employee compensation. If you are an employer with fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees, you will not be penalized for not offering a health plan. But you should, nonetheless, keep in mind the qualitative and quantitative values of benefits:

Qualitative Value: Health benefit options are a way to demonstrate that you care about your employees and to keep morale high.
Quantitative Value: Considering the recruiting, training and general cost of resources to replace an employee, it could be in small businesses' best interest to provide health insurance, particularly considering the fact that 65 percent of employees said their benefits options impact their loyalty to their employer.

2. How much can your small business afford to spend?

Before you move ahead in making benefit options available to your employees, you will need to assess what you can actually afford to invest.

If you provide your workforce with employer-sponsored benefit options, you may already have this cost budgeted for the coming years. However, do not forget to consider projected increases in health care costs and your potential eligibility to take advantage of the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Marketplace in 2014.

Is it your first time offering employer-sponsored benefits options? Don't worry. You can discuss options with your benefits consultant or broker to get an expert opinion to help you weigh the costs. Remember that a broker or agent is a resource and will be there to answer questions for you in the implementation process and beyond.

Here's an example assessment: In 2013, health care costs are expected (PDF) to increase per employee by 5.3 percent (0.6 percent lower than in 2012). You can use cost estimates to determine approximately how much it will cost per employee, as well as potential penalties starting in 2015 for not providing employee health coverage. You can also estimate your eligibility for small business tax credits to help defray the costs associated with health care coverage.

3. Which strategy should you choose as a small business owner?

You've decided to make benefit options available to your employees. Now the question is, what approach will you take? You've got options. Let's go through them:

Adjust Your Current Health Plan

Work with your broker or benefits consultant to understand how your current benefit options work within new ACA standards (PDF). Remember that your employees may be eligible for tax subsidies through the Health Insurance Marketplace. This could be the case if their required contribution to employer-sponsored health insurance exceeds 9.5 percent of their annual gross income or if the plan pays less than 60 percent of covered health expenses.

The Health Insurance Marketplace

Also known as an exchange, the health insurance marketplace is expected to offer small businesses and individuals competitive benefits options. Small businesses participating in the marketplace may also be eligible for a tax credit of up to 50 percent of their premium payments if they have 25 or fewer full-time employees whose average wages do not exceed $50,000 per year.

Self-Funded Model

This is when a company is responsible for covering the claims in a health care plan. Employers can save costs related to premium taxes and state insurance regulations because these plans are not included in some ACA requirements.

These plans typically shift additional costs to employees, especially when an employer's workforce has significant health care needs. Companies might want to consider adding stop-loss coverage to accommodate for annual and lifetime dollar limit restrictions.

Defined Contribution Model

This model enables employers to give their employees a fixed amount of money and a list of health insurance options. It helps employers keep costs predictable while also enabling employees to create plans that meet their needs. Defined contribution models require employees to be well-informed about health care.

While the above is intended to provide general information about an evolving topic, it does not constitute legal, tax or accounting advice regarding any specific situation. I strongly encourage you to discuss your HCR situation with your advisor to determine the actions you need to take, or to visit HealthCare.gov for additional information.

Question Yourself Photo via Shutterstock

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Are You Ready to “Unbundle It”? Uncomplicate Your Life and Business

Posted: 29 Sep 2013 06:03 AM PDT

unbundle it “So much to do, so little time, I should not have to deal with this! “

It's the ongoing mantra of every business owner and a lot of employees as well. You'll be glad to know that it doesn't have to be that way and that there is something we've all done that is the culprit to creating overwhelm in our lives – bundling.

I'm not just talking about the marketing kind of bundling that you find as "Happy Meals" or "Buy One, Get One Free" offers. I'm talking about a more insidious kind of bundling that we create in our businesses and in our lives.

But I'm not the expert on that kind of bundling. For that, you'll have to turn to an interesting book that I received the other day called Unbundle It: Simplify Your Perspective to Live a Better Life an Release the Power of Your Team by C. Elliott Haverlack (@Unbundleit on Twitter), an experienced consumer products executive.

Unbundling: How to Get What You Want in Life and Business

The idea of bundling came to Haverlack as one of those epiphanies that you get after playing the same silly game once too often coupled with life experience. He defines bundling as being an:

. . .idea tied up in related, but ultimately immaterial nonsense. I found that if we could unbundle the idea or matter from all the stuff that was confounding progress, business could be more successful – and profitable.

Granted, that is a rather nebulous definition. Let me bring it home with an example Haverlack writes about early in the book – the "meeting." You all know this meeting because you've been part of it. There’s a room full of people who aren't really completely clear on why they are there. When you state the purpose at hand, at least half of them really don't belong. Then there are a couple who actually have an answer to a simple question that they can answer in all of three minutes and leave. Then there is a much smaller core group who can probably work out the details and be done with it in less than thirty minutes. Haverlack covers simplified meetings in Chapter 6.

But the advice doesn't stop there. Haverlack also has unbundling strategies for living a healthy life. That's actually what he starts with, your health. He goes on to bust through the conversations you have with yourself about not having enough time to exercise, how exercise hurts and the myriad of other things we "bundle" in our heads that keep us stuck in the muck that we like to call our complicated, overwhelmed lives – as if there is some kind of reward for having the most overwhelming life.

There isn't. And Haverlack is more than happy to burst that bubble in every corner of your life:

Your Team: How to see through the (dare I say) BS that gets in the way of optimal team performance.
Strategy: Strategy doesn't have to be this complicated, overwhelming. You'll love Haverlack's straightforward take on how to develop a strategy that works for your business – and it only takes a couple pages.
One Size Doesn't Fit All: Structure your business in a way that allows unique approaches for unique people.

There are fifteen chapters in all and each one is filled with the kind of insights and short cuts you can only get by being there and buying the t-shirt.

Haverlack Shares His Business Owners Cheat Sheet

This book is nothing short of a potpourri of business owner short cuts, insights and maybe even cheat sheets on topics ranging from exercise to negotiation and all the little life lessons in between. You may not agree with Haverlack's point of view, but that would have value as well, because just disagreeing will uncover YOUR unbundling truth.

Normally, I give a summary of the author's biography, but today, I'm going to share Haverlack's personal unbundling epiphany in the hopes that it will inspire you as much as it did me.

It's June 5, 1981 and Haverlack is 23 and going to yet another job interview. But today, he decides he's not leaving that office without the job. He just decides. And in that moment, every insecurity, every concern, every doubt simply leaves him.

After a long day of interviewing, he's called in with the executives where they tell him that they like him. Instead of being satisfied with that, he shares his decision to get the job on that very day. And he gets it. He asks for what he wants and gets it. He decides to never lose control of who he is – to never try to make himself into something he thinks might work or that he thinks others will want to see.

You might think that Unbundle It is a list of Haverlack's lessons – and in some ways it is. But after you read Unundle It, you will discover your strengths, your best self and be in the position to make your own decisions and to finally own your life as well as your business.

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