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Externship Program for Future Planners Returns for 6th Summer

How are business expenses reported for income tax purposes? Get Answer What is a charitable IRA rollover or qualified charitable distribution? Get Answer What are the tax benefits that can be realized by providing employee benefits through a cafeteria plan? Get Answer What are the Social Security and Medicare tax rates for traditional employees and employers? Get Answer What developments have emerged regarding a fiduciary’s consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in making investment decisions? Get Answer What are the Social Security tax and Medicare rates for self-employed taxpayers? Get Answer How is it determined whether a taxpayer is an independent contractor or a common law employee? Get Answer What is FBAR, and does a U.S. citizen living in Canada need to be concerned with FBAR requirements? Get Answer

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BlackRock Plans for Texas ETF Amid Its Push Into Lone Star State

Article 0 Comments BlackRock Inc. is going even bigger in Texas. The world’s biggest asset manager applied for the iShares Texas Equity exchange-traded fund, according to a Friday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The planned ETF would be passively managed and invest in companies that are headquartered in Texas. It’s the latest in a charm offensive of sorts in the state for the investing giant and founder Larry Fink after the firm’s embrace of environmental, social and governance investing drew the ire of Republican lawmakers. BlackRock, alongside Citadel Securities, is also an early backer of the upstart Texas Stock Exchange, which aims to begin trading in 2026. While declining to comment on the ETF beyond the filing, a BlackRock spokesperson said there’s client demand for Texas exposure. “Our clients have expressed interest in accessing the Texas economy, which has a GDP of $2.6 trillion according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and would be the eighth largest economy in the world on a standalone basis,” a BlackRock spokesperson wrote in an email. Nasdaq announced earlier this month that it would open a regional headquarters in Dallas, stating that it has about 800 clients in Texas. About 200...

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FINRA Bars Ex-LPL Rep Over Texting, Outside Business Activity

How are business expenses reported for income tax purposes? Get Answer What is a charitable IRA rollover or qualified charitable distribution? Get Answer What are the tax benefits that can be realized by providing employee benefits through a cafeteria plan? Get Answer What are the Social Security and Medicare tax rates for traditional employees and employers? Get Answer What developments have emerged regarding a fiduciary’s consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in making investment decisions? Get Answer What are the Social Security tax and Medicare rates for self-employed taxpayers? Get Answer How is it determined whether a taxpayer is an independent contractor or a common law employee? Get Answer What is FBAR, and does a U.S. citizen living in Canada need to be concerned with FBAR requirements? Get Answer

Kay.ai Raises $3M to Eliminate Data Entry Work in Insurance Operations 0

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Kay.ai Raises $3M to Eliminate Data Entry Work in Insurance Operations

As the insurance industry faces a major workforce shortage, AI co-workers enable agencies and brokerages to automate repetitive work in submissions and servicing San Francisco, CA (Mar. 27, 2025) — Kay.ai, the AI co-worker designed to eliminate manual data entry work for insurance brokers and agencies, has raised $3 million in funding. The round was led by Wing VC, with participation from South Park Commons, 101 Weston Labs, and several angel investors. “The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the insurance industry will face a shortage of nearly 400,000 workers by 2026,” said Vishal Rohra, co-founder and CEO of Kay.ai. “Despite this looming talent shortage, brokers and agencies still spend up to 80% of their time on paperwork, weighed down by archaic systems and misaligned incentives. We eliminate that burden and act like a digital co-worker that handles the most tedious tasks so their team can focus on high-value work.” With AI co-workers, Kay introduces new technology that goes beyond traditional software or legacy RPA tools. These co-workers understand your process, interact with your tools on your behalf, and adapt with your preferences. This unlocks a whole range of workflows across submissions, renewals, and servicing that could not be...

U.S. Personal Auto Insurance Affordability Better Than in the Mid-2000s, Even with Recent Increases: IRC Study 0

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U.S. Personal Auto Insurance Affordability Better Than in the Mid-2000s, Even with Recent Increases: IRC Study

Malvern, PA (Mar. 27, 2025) – The affordability of personal auto insurance is estimated to have deteriorated from 2021 through 2024 as insurance companies increase premiums to offset inflationary loss pressures, according to an updated study from the Insurance Research Council (IRC), an affiliate of The Institutes. Despite this recent deterioration, auto insurance is more affordable than in the mid-2000s. Auto Insurance Affordability: Countrywide Trends and State Comparisons looks at the average auto insurance expenditure as a percent of median income, which ranges from a low of 0.93% in North Dakota to a high of 2.67% in Louisiana. In 2022, the most recent year for which data are available, average expenditures were $1,127, and median household income was $74,580. Thus, U.S. households spent 1.51% of their income per vehicle on auto insurance, a slight increase from the previous year. Looking at long-term trends, auto insurance affordability improved over the past two decades. Between 2000 and 2022, median household income grew somewhat faster than auto insurance expenditures, causing the expenditure share of income to decline from 1.64% in 2000 to 1.51% in 2022. In other words, auto insurance was somewhat more affordable in 2022 than in 2000. “With the recent increases...

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RYZE Acquires Missouri’s Acorn Claims

Article 0 Comments RYZE Claim Solutions, a full-service claims management provider, announced its acquisition of Acorn Claims, a Springfield, Missouri-based firm specializing in daily and catastrophe claims services nationwide. RYZE said the transaction further supports its position in the industry, reinforcing its commitment to innovation, service excellence, and continued expansion as a part of their previously released M&A strategy. Acorn Claims offers a comprehensive suite of claims management services, including Third-Party Administration (TPA) and its proprietary audit service, Expert Technical Analysis (ETA), which is a dedicated review process to ensure mitigation work is performed to industry standards. These offerings, along with its estimate review program, enhance RYZE’s already robust service portfolio, RYZE said. Rob Brown and Kirk Belz will join the RYZE management team. Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Claims Missouri Was this article valuable? Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article. Submit No Thanks Thank you! % of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it. Submit No Thanks Here are more articles you may enjoy. Interested in Claims? Get automatic alerts for this topic.

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This New-Job Mistake Could Cost Clients $300,000 in Retirement

How are business expenses reported for income tax purposes? Get Answer What is a charitable IRA rollover or qualified charitable distribution? Get Answer What are the tax benefits that can be realized by providing employee benefits through a cafeteria plan? Get Answer What are the Social Security and Medicare tax rates for traditional employees and employers? Get Answer What developments have emerged regarding a fiduciary’s consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in making investment decisions? Get Answer What are the Social Security tax and Medicare rates for self-employed taxpayers? Get Answer How is it determined whether a taxpayer is an independent contractor or a common law employee? Get Answer What is FBAR, and does a U.S. citizen living in Canada need to be concerned with FBAR requirements? Get Answer

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Thrivent Puts Values at Its Core — and It’s Hiring Advisors

How are business expenses reported for income tax purposes? Get Answer What is a charitable IRA rollover or qualified charitable distribution? Get Answer What are the tax benefits that can be realized by providing employee benefits through a cafeteria plan? Get Answer What are the Social Security and Medicare tax rates for traditional employees and employers? Get Answer What developments have emerged regarding a fiduciary’s consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in making investment decisions? Get Answer What are the Social Security tax and Medicare rates for self-employed taxpayers? Get Answer How is it determined whether a taxpayer is an independent contractor or a common law employee? Get Answer What is FBAR, and does a U.S. citizen living in Canada need to be concerned with FBAR requirements? Get Answer

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How Holistic Tax Overlays Can Benefit Wealthy Clients

How are business expenses reported for income tax purposes? Get Answer What is a charitable IRA rollover or qualified charitable distribution? Get Answer What are the tax benefits that can be realized by providing employee benefits through a cafeteria plan? Get Answer What are the Social Security and Medicare tax rates for traditional employees and employers? Get Answer What developments have emerged regarding a fiduciary’s consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in making investment decisions? Get Answer What are the Social Security tax and Medicare rates for self-employed taxpayers? Get Answer How is it determined whether a taxpayer is an independent contractor or a common law employee? Get Answer What is FBAR, and does a U.S. citizen living in Canada need to be concerned with FBAR requirements? Get Answer

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State Farm Has Paid out $2.5 Billion for LA Wildfires

Article 0 Comments State Farm has reported paying out $2.5 billion for the Los Angeles wildfires in January, more than double what the carrier reported paying out weeks earlier. “As of March 28, we’ve received more than 12,300 total claims related to the fires and have paid over $2.5 billion to our customers,” State Farm said in a statement on the fires. State Farm reported more than $1 billion paid out to customers earlier in March. The latest figures from the California Department of Insurance updated on March 5 show insurance companies paid out more than $12 billion for losses from the two biggest of the Los Angeles-area wildfires that swept through the region and destroyed tens of thousands of homes in January. The money paid out in the first eight weeks was likely related to rapid payments for additional living expenses and contents coverages, according to the CDI. “We are now in the phase of the recovery where claims and losses need time to mature as rebuilding begins,” a CDI spokesperson said in an email reply to a request for an update on the losses from the fires. “We will be collecting additional data and updating the claims tracker...