A Healthy Display of Unity
By Amir Zaman,
WEA Insurance
employee benefits specialist
December 1997
All 36 locals in NTU-C bargain WEA health plan
Like most stories, the one you’re about to read has two versions.
Here’s the short version: On October 13, 1997, WEA Insurance presented
the leaders of the Northern Tier UniServ-Central with the “100% Participation
Award” because all 36 bargaining units within the UniServ bargained
a WEA Insurance group health plan.
| The leaders of Northern Tier UniServ-Central receive
the “100% Participation Award” from WEA Insurance.
They are (left to right) Gene Degner, UniServ Director;
Sharon Andersen, Secretary-Treasurer; Peter Antonie,
WEA Insurance Field Executive; Jackie Cody,
Vice President; Vita Smith, President;
Joe Cronick, WEA Field Representative.
|
The NTU-C covers Iron, Vilas, Oneida, Lincoln, Taylor,
and Price counties. It has 1,300 members. Gene Degner is the UniServ
director and is assisted by Bonnie Breivogel. Vita Smith is NTU-C president,
Jackie Cody is vice president, and Sharon Anderson is the secretary-treasurer.
What the short version of this story doesn’t tell you is that WEA
Insurance considers it important to recognize UniServ units for this achievement
because it’s the work of people like Degner, Smith, Cody, Anderson,
and Breivogel that ensures public school employees in Wisconsin have comprehensive
protection against the possibility of economic catastrophes.
The short version of the story doesn’t tell you that bargaining
a comprehensive health plan is hard work. It doesn’t tell you that
countless folks put in thousands of hours of voluntary work, at times
in adversarial circumstances, to bring this protection to school employees.
In NTU-C’s case, for example, the first school, Phelps, bargained
protection through WEA Insurance plans in 1980. Rhinelander, the last
school on the list, bargained it in 1997.
It doesn’t tell you that bargaining a comprehensive health plan
is one accomplishment, keeping it is another. In NTU-C’s case, the
schools that bargained a WEA Insurance health plan have kept it for all
these years. That’s a credit to the local leaders in the UniServ
and the UniServ staff.
Schools in the NTU-C are Minocqua Joint 1 Elementary, Boulder Junction
Joint 1 Elementary (North Lakeland), Lac du Flambeau Joint 1 Elementary,
Woodruff Elementary, Lakeland High School, Mercer, Hurley, Northland Pines,
Three Lakes, Phelps, Nicolet Technical College, Prentice, Phillips, Park
Falls, CESA 9, Rhinelander, Tomahawk, and Rib Lake.
TSA investing in a volatile marker
By Randy Logan, CLU, ChFC
WEA Tax Sheltered Annuity Trust
Since mid-October, the stock market has shown higher volatility (ups
and downs) than it has for quite some time. Investors’ nervousness
over the highly valued U.S. market combined with Asian financial problems
to present us with back-to-back record point swings (first down, then
up) on record volumes. Many WEA Tax Sheltered Annuity Trust participants
have called to ask the best way to deal with these types of stock market
gyrations within their TSA accounts.
There are four things every investor should do. These volatile market
swings serve as poignant reminders of these investment basics:
- The market is risky. Assess your own tolerance for risk. Be sure your
investments aren’t out of whack, so that you can “hang in
there” when the market “goes south.”
- Determine how much of your TSA money you might need over the short-term
(up to five years, or even 10 years for more risk-averse investors).
That portion should not be exposed to excessive market volatility —
if the market is depressed when you need money, you’ll be forced
to sell at a loss.
- The amount of your TSA account that is invested for the long-term
(10 years or longer) should be allocated based upon the risk assessment
you did in #1. Remember, even if you’re close to retirement, you
may live 20 years or more beyond your retirement date. So chances are
good that a substantial portion of your TSA will still be a long-term
investment.
- Hang on tight through the down periods, and avoid panic selling. If
you’ve assessed your risk tolerance and properly judged your timing
(as to when you need your money), you should be able to survive through
bad markets, and re-emerge when things are better again.
The WEA Tax Sheltered Annuity Trust has developed several educational
pieces that can help you assess your risk tolerances and help you make
long-term allocation choices based upon your risk tolerances.
And, of course, the Guaranteed Account continues to provide one of the
very best investment options available anywhere for short-term money,
and/or for more risk-averse (safety-oriented) investors.
For more information, or to request the risk assessment guide and/or
enrollment materials, call the WEA TSA Trust at 1-800-279-4030.
Randy Logan is a retirement consultant at the WEA TSA Trust.
Posted December 8, 1997