By Karina EliasSpokane Journal of BusinessSmall employers in Washington state face double-digit increases in health-care insurance rates for 2023, in some cases.In most instances, those small employers, which the state defines as those with 50 employees or fewer, are sustaining the largest increases in premiums in years.Seattle-based Premera Blue Cross,...
Periodically checking and updating beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance is prudent.The next time you navigate the online portal or the old school paper form to write in your updated beneficiary selection, look a little harder at some options you may have previously overlooked.Often, the beneficiary selection is...
Some of the most amazing companies in the world are hiding in plain sight, right here in Washington.They’re located inside industrial buildings and office parks that we drive by every day, often without a second look. They’re in the heart of our metro areas, the outskirts of suburban communities and...
To “build back America” key workers must return to job sites.It is not good enough for President Joe Biden to lean back on low unemployment numbers claiming success when employers cannot find workers.Inflation is a huge deterrent. It has been running at over 8%.Last April, the New York Post reported:...
In 2019, CISI Capital Markets and Corporate Finance estimated the U.S. equity markets had a value of $30 trillion and the U.S. bond markets had a value of $40 trillion.More than half of all the money that goes into Wall Street investments goes into bonds. Yet many individual investors don’t understand...
Different business entities, like corporations and limited liability companies, are governed by default laws published by state legislatures. Nonprofits in Washington are similarly governed by specific statutory requirements that govern the organization, its powers, its duties, and its oversight (both internally by folks like the directors and externally by the...
What’s at stake over a once obscure economic measure – the labor force participation rate? The quick answer: A lot for the current and future economy of the greater Tri-Cities.Machines and robots are replacing labor in some occupations. But growth of an economy still largely depends on the growth of...
For decades, Washington has reaped the benefits of forward-thinking leaders who constructed a series of hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers. The low-cost, carbon-free renewable electricity generated by the dams supported thousands of jobs, and the irrigation made possible by the dams turned Eastern Washington’s soil into fertile...
If you live in Spokane, you know about its waste-to-energy facility which burns up to 800 tons of solid waste a day and can generate 22 megawatts of electricity. That is enough to power 13,000 homes.It is part of Spokane’s overall system that encourages recycling and waste reduction along with...
Will my taxes go up or down in retirement?Sneaky sneaky, asking such a loaded question, when everyone knows the answer is, “it depends.” But it’s a very interesting question to ponder, so let’s take a look at some key issues that could impact the answer.The answer centers on one thing:...
