Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

What You Need to Know The simplified form would be similar to Form 1040-EZ as it existed in 2017. The bill would also expand the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion to include income earned overseas like pensions and distributions from retirement funds. Duplicative forms required by the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and the Bank Secrecy Act would also be eliminated. New legislation, the Tax Simplification for Americans Abroad Act, would require the IRS to create a short-form certification for Americans living abroad who owe no U.S. tax and earn less than $400,000 annually. The bill, H.R. 5432, introduced Wednesday by Reps. Don Beyer, D-Va., and Dina Titus, D-Nev., would also expand the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion to include additional types of income earned overseas, such as pensions and distributions from retirement funds. The legislation would also “consolidate duplicative and burdensome forms” that taxpayers must file under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the Bank Secrecy Act. The simplified form, according to the bill, would be “similar to Form 1040-EZ as it existed in 2017.” “Ordinary Americans living abroad are often overlooked when U.S. tax policy is written, which can make it extremely difficult and expensive for them to navigate...

Americans are increasingly monitoring their retirement accounts on mobile apps, making satisfaction with these digital tools make-or-break for financial firms. While improved market performance has boosted overall satisfaction, according to the latest J.D. Power report, firms that want to differentiate themselves and increase customer satisfaction in both good and bad markets must do more on digital, especially with respect to mobile apps. “The good news is that overall satisfaction with the retirement plan digital experience is up considerably this year, but when we compare those scores to similar customer-facing industries such as wealth management, property and casualty insurance and automotive, it’s clear that retirement plans still have a lot of opportunities to improve their digital offerings,” Craig Martin, global head of wealth and lending intelligence at J.D. Power, said in a statement. Improved digital experiences are essential for strong financial performance, Martin said. “Participants who have a great digital experience vote with their dollars, with roughly double the amount of participants rolling in assets from other plans and more than triple the amount saying they will keep their money with their current provider if their job situation were to change.” Top Digital Performers Garner More Satisfaction J.D. Power’s research showed...

FP Alpha has released P&C Snapshot, a new digital tool for financial advisors that uploads home and auto insurance documents quickly, enabling advisors to obtain a visual summary of clients’ current coverage, according to the company. P&C Snapshot is the latest addition to the company’s artificial intelligence-driven platform, following tools that included last year’s second-generation tax projection tool, The Tax Projector, which offered advisors the ability to project and compare several tax scenarios and strategies for clients just by uploading their tax documents. A few months ago, FP Alpha announced the unbundling of its Estate Planning Module and significant enhancements to its Estate Lab. P&C Snapshot will enable advisors to “distinguish themselves from peers and provide a huge value add to clients, bringing significant peace of mind to have a second review on their insurance coverage by highlighting gaps or deficiencies in current coverage and more,” FP Alpha said.

America’s Health Insurance Plans will head into a tense budget negotiation period in Washington with a temporary leader who has experience on Capitol Hill. AHIP has picked Julie Simon Miller, its general counsel, to be its interim CEO, starting Oct. 2. Matt Eyles, the current CEO, announced in May that he would be leaving the post at the end of September. Eyles has been the CEO since 2018. What It Means AHIP represents many large major medical insurance providers and companies, including Aflac and Genworth, that sell other policies that are regulated as health insurance products. As the interim CEO of AHIP, Miller will shape health insurers’ efforts to defend the current federal funding levels and tax rules for Medicare, Medicaid, commercial major medical insurance and supplemental health benefits. Miller’s Background Miller began working for AHIP in 2005 and became its general counsel in 2015.