ProfNet Experts Available on Financial Resolutions, Benefit Plans, More

NEW YORK, Dec. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Below are experts from the ProfNet network who are available to discuss timely issues in your coverage area.

You can also submit a query to the hundreds of thousands of experts in our network – it's easy and free! Just fill out the query form to get started: http://prn.to/queryform

EXPERT ALERTS

• Feeling Good About Your Finances? Keep the Momentum Going With a Financial Resolution
• New Year's Financial Resolutions
• Ensuring Benefit Plans are Documented, Compliant, and Forward Thinking
• CVS-Aetna Deal Would Differentiate CVS from Amazon via Customer Loyalty-Building
• Economic Impact of California Wildfires
• Airline Scheduling and Holiday Travel
• Family-Run Businesses and Holiday Stress

MEDIA JOBS

• Deputy Planning Editor – The Wall Street Journal (NY)
• Agriculture Reporter – POLITICO Pro (VA)
• Investing Reporter – U.S. News & World Report (DC)

OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES

• Six Writing Habits to Stick to in 2018
• Blogger Conferences: Top Events to Attend in 2018
• Service Journalism: Newsrooms Dust Off Age-Old Practice

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EXPERT ALERTS:

Feeling Good About Your Finances? Keep the Momentum Going With a Financial Resolution
Ken Hevert
Senior Vice President of Retirement
Fidelity Investments
"Good financial times represent the best opportunities to achieve your goals and establish habits that can get you through good times and bad. Making financial resolutions can help you keep the momentum going and stay on track for financial prosperity in 2018 and beyond. If sticking to resolutions isn't for you, find ways to automate savings and make it easier to save all year round."
Hevert can speak to the findings from Fidelity's 9th annual New Year Financial Resolutions study, released today, Dec. 11, which reveals that the number of people feeling good about their financial situation is at an all-time high -- while those making financial resolutions for the year ahead has sunk to an all-time low. Hevert can also speak to the top sources of financial stress; some of the key financial moves people should consider in 2018; and the top financial resolutions, advantages of setting them, and how to make them stick all year round.
Contact: Mary Barrett, [email protected]

New Year's Financial Resolutions
Dave Ramsey
CEO
Ramsey Solutions
The list of top New Year's resolutions always include finances -- getting out of debt, getting control of spending, saving more, etc. Ramsey is the go-to expert for personal finance. His "Seven Baby Steps" provide a proven plan for getting control of your money, getting on a budget and building wealth. He can also address small-business and leadership topics in the new year: "The biggest thing about getting out of debt is that you really have to get angry about it. You work too hard to be this broke. You have to get into attack mode. This is your fresh start. Go from where you are."
Based in Brentwood, Tenn., Ramsey has authored five New York Times best-sellers, including "The Total Money Makeover," the go-to book for getting control of money. He's also the host of "The Dave Ramsey Show" (radio and podcast), the third largest talk radio show, with more than 13 million listeners on more than 575 radio stations and a variety of digital outlets. He is also CEO of Ramsey Solutions, his 25-year-old company that he grew from a card table in his living room to more than 600 team members.
Website: www.daveramsey.com
Contact: Beth Tallent, [email protected]

Ensuring Self-Funded Benefit Plans Are Documented, Compliant, and Forward-Thinking
Jen McCormick
Vice President, Consulting
The Phia Group, LLC, Braintree, Mass.
"Being self-funded puts the plan in a unique position to adjust their benefit design to align with the specific needs of an employee population. For example, the employer can modify their benefit design to include benefits that matter the most to employees -- making the plan, and employer, very attractive. Failure to update your plan design or benefit document could be detrimental as it may lead to issues of non-compliance. In addition, failing to stay on top of trends and cost saving techniques could add unnecessary costs to the plan. This review and update of plan materials would be necessary for any employer adopting a self-funded plan."
McCormick, a health care attorney and ERISA lawyer, is available to discuss self-funded health plans and a variety of health benefit compliance and regulatory issues. She holds a J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law, with certificates in estate planning and family law.
ProfNet Profile: http://www.profnetconnect.com/jenmccormick
Website: https://www.phiagroup.com
Contact: Matthew Painten, [email protected]

CVS-Aetna Deal Would Differentiate CVS from Amazon via Customer Loyalty-Building
Jie Zhang
Professor of Marketing and Harvey Sanders Fellow of Retail Management
University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The proposed $69 billion plan by drugstore chain CVS to buy health insurer Aetna comes as CVS and its peers face heightened competition from Amazon.com, which recently announced it obtained licenses to operate pharmacies in at least 12 states. Says Zhang: "With the move, CVS is looking not to take on Amazon directly, but to differentiate. CVS has long been looking for ways to strengthen relationships with customers, such as through its loyalty program. The push of CVS Clinics and now the acquisition of Aetna further enhance the company's ability to build long-term customer relationships and alleviate the pressure of price competitions with discount retailers."
Zhang serves on the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of Marketing and the International Journal of Research in Marketing.
Bio: https://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/directory/jie-zhang
Contact: Greg Muraski, [email protected]

Economic Impact of California Wildfires
Nicholas Reksten
Economist, Professor of Economics
University of Redlands
Dr. Reksten is available to discuss how environmental issues and events, such as the current California wildfires, impact the economy: "In addition to the terrible loss of human and other animal lives, the fires impose a number of other costs -- short- and long-term -- on society. More resources must be set aside for firefighting and rebuilding structures after the fires. Output can be lost or diminished when farms or other places of business are located near the fires and are either damaged or evacuated because of it. If the fires close major roads, people lose time in traffic that they could otherwise be spending in a more productive or fulfilling way, and, of course, their cars emit more pollution from running longer. The ash and smoke blown into the air by the fires drifts into nearby communities severely worsening air quality, which can exacerbate asthma and other respiratory problems, especially in vulnerable populations."
Website: http://www.redlands.edu
Contact: Jennifer Dobbs, [email protected]

Airline Scheduling and Holiday Travel
Tamas Terlaky
Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Lehigh University
Terlaky is available to share expert commentary regarding software scheduling modules related to the American Airlines pilot scheduling snafu, which may cause frustrating flight cancellations and delays for holiday travelers this year. Dr. Terlaky shares these thoughts on the pilot scheduling situation: "I was stunned to hear that such a problem can happen today. The airline crew scheduling problem is a classic problem, similar to the model and methodology we developed and used for the inmate assignment problem. It was pioneered in the 1980s and today all airlines are using, and relying on, such sophisticated scheduling optimization systems. Looking at the news, it seems to be quite clear that this major disruption is caused by some quite simple software bug. Based on how the problem is described in news reports, this is the picture: A software module, unchecked, allowed the pilots to schedule days off for the holiday season, and drop scheduled flights without putting a replacement pilot in the system. As Dennis Tajer, an American Airlines captain and a spokesman for the pilot's union, said, the software 'became Santa Claus for everyone,' allowing all pilots to take holiday as they wanted and drop assigned flights without checking the availability of a substitute pilot. Just to illustrate: Your banking software allows you to move the pay day of your mortgage or credit card shifted within a short time window (like from the 15th day of the month to the 3rd). This error is like your banking system without any penalty would allow you (and everyone) to take a half year pay holiday unchecked. In a sophisticated software system, this looks like a simple bug, and most probably the error was detected by the crew 'plane-pilot-route' scheduling module (the mathematical optimization module), which could not find any feasible pilot assignment schedule; simply there were not enough pilots (as most booked on to go on holiday)."
Terlaky is an expert in optimization methods and software, particularly for complex scheduling challenges. He and his research team recently won the international Wagner Prize for their work creating a scheduling optimization model for assigning inmates to correctional institutions that was recently adopted by the state of Pennsylvania.
Bio: https://ise.lehigh.edu/content/tam%C3%A1s-terlaky-0
Contact: Amy White, [email protected]

Family-Run Businesses and Holiday Stress
Michael Klein, PsyD
Psychologist
MK Insights LLC
During the holiday season, gathering with family brings joy – and, often, stress -- and that is typically compounded when working in a family-run/owned business. Says Dr. Klein: "When you work in, or own, a family business, holiday gatherings can be filled with stress not only based on family dynamics, but from various business-related issues. To have a joyous and successful family gathering, it is critical for individuals in family-owned businesses to keep work topics at work."
Based in Massachusetts, Dr. Klein is the author of "Trapped in the Family Business."
Expert Contact: [email protected]

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MEDIA JOBS:

Following are links to job listings for staff and freelance writers, editors and producers. You can view these and more job listings on our Job Board: https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/community/jobs/

• Deputy Planning Editor – The Wall Street Journal (NY)
• Agriculture Reporter – POLITICO Pro (VA)
• Investing Reporter – U.S. News & World Report (DC)

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OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES:

Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line.

• MAKE HABITS, NOT RESOLUTIONS: 6 PRACTICES TO WEAVE INTO YOUR WRITING PROCESS FOR 2018.  With 2017 coming to a close, we came up with six habits to weave into your writing process to help set you up for success in the new year: http://prn.to/writinghabits
• BLOGGER CONFERENCES: TOP EVENTS TO ATTEND IN 2018. This a monthly column of what's happening in the blog world. Here are top events to attend in the 2018: http://prn.to/2018events
• SERVICE JOURNALISM: NEWSROOMS DUST OFF AGE-OLD PRACTICE.  It's a newish term used by news agencies to describe what's been the backbone for many news operations – the feature and evergreen material that typically fill editorial calendars. It's the stuff that can be planned in advance. And it seems more and more news organizations are beefing up this content: http://prn.to/servicejourno

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