Mental health focus at Tokyo Olympics is a reminder of the role that pressure plays
by Sarah Elizabeth Adler | AARP | August 2, 2021| Symptoms of Stress | Health Insurance
En español | Wins and medals aren’t the only things grabbing attention at this year’s Olympic games in Tokyo: Mental health awareness is also in the spotlight, after U.S. star gymnast Simone Biles’ decision to withdraw from some events in order to focus on her emotional well-being.
Olympians or not, we’re all susceptible to stress, whether from job or family pressures or obligations like caregiving. Here are the physical and mental signs that experts say could signal trouble.
1. Insomnia and difficulty sleeping
Can’t fall or stay asleep? Insomnia is a classic symptom of stress, says Connecticut-based clinical psychologist Holly Schiff. For example, Biles said she “could barely nap” before the Olympic team gymnastics final. And the consequences of lack of sleep, including fatigue and problems concentrating, can make it even harder to get through the day, creating a stress snowball effect.
To break the no-slumber cycle, Schiff recommends that you keep a bedside journal to jot down the worries keeping you up at night, whether that’s tomorrow’s to-do list or other preoccupying thoughts. “Getting it down on paper and theoretically out of your mind can be helpful and free up some mental space, so you can focus on getting a restful night’s sleep,” she says.
Protecting your business takes the right commercial insurance. Your policy can be customized by your insurance agent to give you all the protection you need and none that doesn’t apply to your business. At Shield Insurance Agency in Michigan, we have the commercial insurance policy experience you are looking for. We will make sure you have the commercial insurance mandated by the state of Michigan.
Mandated insurance
Commercial auto insurance
In the state of Michigan, all business-owned vehicles must be covered by commercial auto insurance. The required amount of commercial auto insurance you must carry is 20/40/10. That is $20,000 for injuries to one person in an accident with a total of $40,000 for the entire accident with $10,000 property damage. While this is the required amount, it may not be the correct amount for your business.
Workers’ compensation insurance
If your business has one or more full-time employees, you must have workers’ compensation insurance.
While these are the mandated commercial insurances, they are not the only ones that can benefit your business.
Not Mandated but a good idea
Commercial liability insurance
Between 36% and 53% of small businesses are sued every year. That means that your chance of being involved in litigation is pretty high. Not only could there be a judgment against you, but you would also be responsible for the legal fees that go along with defending yourself. Commercial liability insurance can make the difference between surviving and having to close your doors.
Commercial property insurance
If a covered peril hits your business, it could destroy everything you need to do business. Your inventory, your machinery, your raw materials, your office equipment, and your records. Without commercial property insurance would you be able to replace all these things and get back to work? If the answer is no, this is the insurance you need.
Contact Shield Insurance Agency in Michigan when you are ready to customize your commercial insurance.
By SAM KEMMIS of Nerd Wallet July 14, 2021 | AP News
So you want to travel on a budget. Who doesn’t? Yet it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the cheap travel tips, hacks and strategies out there that promise unbelievable deals on airfare and hotels.
In reality, there’s only one important tactic for traveling cheaply: being flexible with your travel dates, destination and plans. It might sound simple — or even simplistic — but you would be surprised how few travelers are willing to take this piece of advice to heart.
To be fair, this flexibility-first mindset requires a paradigm shift for many in terms of how they start planning vacations. It requires moving from this type of planning:
“I want to go to Amsterdam from Sept. 5th through 13th.”
To this:
“I want to go somewhere fun in September.”
For some, this degree of flexibility is simply impossible. Yet for those who can loosen their preconceptions about how to plan travel, it can lead to big savings — and maybe even more fun — whether you’re paying with cash or using points.
WHY RIGIDITY IS SO EXPENSIVE
The cost of travel depends on the interplay between many factors, including:
— Demand.
— Supply.
— Randomness.
— Number of options.
When you make specific plans from the get-go, you essentially constrain the last variable — you give yourself fewer options. This means that the cost of your trip will depend entirely on the first three variables, which are completely outside of your control.
This economic interplay will sometimes fall in your favor, and you’ll score a good deal on the exact destination and dates you wanted. But more often than not, you’ll end up paying more than average simply by starting with a severely limited set of options.
COVID-19 has put a strain on the manufacturing industry across the globe, as supply chain limitations and new health and safety regulations increase risk and threaten output. In fact, according to a recent report by Hitachi Vantara, three key challenges manufacturers struggle to manage as the pandemic continues include worker health and safety (74 percent of respondents rated a 3 or more on a scale of 1-5), productivity (66 percent), and supply chain disruption (65 percent).
As manufacturers look to address these challenges while managing costs, one solution shows significant promise: automation.
The effective deployment of automation equipment and processes can fundamentally change your business – and potentially reduce employee exposure to leading causes of workplace injury. In this article, we’ll review key reasons why the manufacturing industry is shifting to automation and three practices on how to incorporate it into operations for maximum impact.
Automation can increase productivity.
Even before COVID-19, manufacturers were looking for solutions to increase productivity despite significant reductions in the labor force.
According to FRED economic research, data indexed against 1990 benchmarks show that output has grown 44.2 percent in U.S. factories despite a 32.2 percent reduction in employment over the last 30 years. That means that the United States is producing 44 percent more goods than it did 30 years ago, with only 70 percent of the labor. In addition, according to Assembly Mag, more than 2.3 million manufacturing jobs created in the next 10 years will go unfilled.
Labor shortages are an ongoing problem for manufacturers, and automation offers a viable solution. According to Boston Consulting Group, manufacturing tasks performed by robots are expected to increase in the U.S. by 30–45 percent from 2015 to 2025, in large part because robots are less expensive and thus more accessible for smaller factories. But labor shortages aren’t the only motivation for automation. Automation technology also helps to increase labor productivity significantly, both by increasing efficiency and by reducing workplace injuries that result in the need to hire and train temporary workers.
Automation and worker safety: a symbiotic relationship
Workplace injuries are a key driver of loss for U.S. businesses, costing more than $1 billion per week and $59 billion annually according to Liberty Mutual’s 2020 Workplace Safety Index. And for the manufacturing industry, the top five injury causes account for almost $5.2 billion (or 63 percent) of injury-related costs. Looking at these top causes, which include handling objects, falls on the same level, being hit by objects, running equipment, and awkward postures, it becomes clear how automation can help improve safety and reduce costs.
With automation technology, employees can work smarter and safer, avoiding many tasks that lead to workplace injury in the first place. For example, collaborative robots, or cobots, can work alongside human workers to help increase efficiency on the factory floor. Workers may also be able to avoid or limit heavy lifting, repetitive tasks, and contact with machinery or harmful materials — top causes of injuries and workers compensation claims and costs.
In addition to creating a safer work environment, adopting automation can benefit workers in other ways:
By leveraging cobots to help with physically demanding and repetitive work, employees can focus on upskilling to more intellectually challenging jobs, which can lead to higher pay and greater job satisfaction.
Rather than doing repetitive manual labor, employees can focus on maintaining and reprogramming cobots and managing other automated systems.
And because cobots aren’t human, they can help improve overall factory safety – they are never sick or tired, and they never forget safety checks.
Three practices for effective automation installation
While the benefits of automation are clear, it can be challenging to determine the best strategies to implement automation effectively at your company. Here are three best practices to guide your process.
1. Focus on the most critical business needs.
Automation is modular, which means you don’t need to implement it across the board. Taking an agile approach and putting automation where it’s most critically needed will help you manage expenses and reduce confusion as you change procedures. If you want to reduce slips and falls, for instance, install sensor technology. To help drive more productivity, consider cobots. When you take this approach, you don’t need as much upfront investment, and you can more closely monitor how automation is impacting your bottom line.
After over a year of isolation, wanderlust is swirling in the air, as many seek safe ways to re-emerge into the world with much-needed vacation or reunion trips. Whatever that re-emergence looks like for you, there’s definitely a podcast that can help heighten the experience.
But make no mistake: mid 2021 is certainly not the wholesale Back To Normal we might’ve hoped for, especially in countries and communities with low vaccination rates. The delta variant of COVID-19 is a real threat for the unvaccinated. The only way to move toward a true return to life before the pandemic is to increase vaccination rates around the globe.
With the right safety measures, though, vaccinated folks are now being given the green light to travel and reconnect with each other in person again. That also means you’re going to need travel-friendly entertainment to keep you company along the way.
As an audio-only medium that doesn’t require eyeballs or even WiFi to enjoy, podcasts make for ideal travel companions. Whether you’re getting to your destination via road trip, train, or airplane ride, a great podcast can make the boring parts of going on vacation more exciting. Even if you’re just taking time off to go on a local stay-cation or far-off hiking trail, you’ll have some free time to kill.
Whatever your travel plans may be, these podcasts can help you kick back, relax, and explore the big wide world. Just be sure to remember to pack your AirPods.
1. Atlas Obscura
What it is: This 15-minute daily travel podcast is home to all the world’s strangest, most unbelievable wonders. Host Dylan Thuras and other Atlas Obscura field reporters transport you to a variety of incredible places around the globe, be it a museum or ancient monument. Listen to the people, stories, and histories that make these amazing destinations ideal spots for the curious traveler.
Why it’s great for vacation or travel: Regain that sense of wanderlust that reminds us why every corner of the globe has a unique adventure worth exploring.
2. Stuff You Should Know
What it is: A favorite of many podcast listeners, the long-running Stuff You Should Know was so popular it spawned its own dedicated network (including other daily podcasts in a similar vein, like Stuff You Missed in History Class.) Since it covers everything under the sun, it’s important to note that hosts Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant admit to not being experts on all these topics. Some with deep knowledge of certain subjects might even find their summaries frustratingly surface level. But they do a great job of at least sparking interest in a lot of important things we should all know about, which hopefully inspires listeners to research beyond what can be tackled in only an hour. [From our Best Daily Podcasts roundup]
Why it’s great for vacation or travel: Regain that sense of wanderlust that reminds us why every corner of the globe has a unique adventure worth exploring.
3. The Experiment
The American experiment, often repackaged as the American dream, is one of the biggest sources of miseducation in our country. In this WNYC Studios and Atlantic collaboration, host Julia Longoria applies the ideals of America’s past that were held to be self-evident, then measures them up against our current reality. Bringing the high ideals of this country’s founding to everyday experiences, The Experiment can even find lessons in trash reality TV shows like 90 Day Fiancé. [From our Best Educational Podcasts roundup]
Why it’s great for vacation or travel: Even if you’re a resident of the country you’re traveling through, there’s still so much to learn about the place we call home.
4. Blood Ties
What it is: Fiction podcasts are going through something of a renaissance lately, with Blood Ties as a great example of the genre’s evolution in the mainstream. While it isn’t “true” crime, the wildly popular mini-series scratches that same itch for an engrossing story. Follow Eleanore Richland (voiced by Community’s Gillian Jacobs) as her annual family vacation turns to catastrophe after her parents’ plane crashes under mysterious circumstances. While the story itself may not be real, the themes certainly apply to the real world, as Eleanore uncovers family secrets that test her ability to stay true to her morals even when it hurts her loved ones.
Be sure to check out the other 18 podcasts in this great article!
Shield Insurance came across this story and wanted to share. We hope you enjoy and visit this wonderful café! Maggie’s Be Café Opened June 14, located at 6490 28th Ave Hudsonville, MI 49426
by: Brittany Flowers Posted: Jun 14, 2021 / 10:00 AM EDT / Updated: Jun 14, 2021 / 10:00 AM EDT
GEORGETOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — There’s a new cafe in the Hudsonville area that’s serving “coffee with a purpose.”
Maggie’s Be Café is much more than your typical coffee shop. For employees like Maggie Fischer, it’s a sense of purpose and a place of inclusivity.
“The main goal is for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to find meaningful work and have a job and love to come to work and love what they’re doing,” said Virginia Fischer, Maggie’s mom and one of the founding members of Maggie’s Be Café .
Car insurance is necessary to protect you financially when behind the wheel. Whether you just have basic liability insurance or you have full auto coverage, it’s important to ensure that you’re getting the best deal possible. Wondering how to lower car insurance?
Here are 15 strategies for saving on car insurance costs.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
One of the ways to lower car insurance is through a discount bulk rate for insuring several vehicles and drivers at once.
Lower car insurance rates may also be available if you have other insurance policies with the same company.
Maintaining a safe driving record is key to getting lower car insurance rates.
How Much Does Car Insurance Cost?
Car insurance costs are different for every driver, depending on the state they live in, their choice of insurance company, and the type of coverage they have. But when trying to save money on car insurance, it helps to know what the typical driver pays.
On average, the typical person spent $1,190 on car insurance in 2018, based on the latest figures available from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)1. According to the NAIC data, car insurance premiums rose 30% between 2014 and 2018, despite the number of insured vehicles only rising by 7%1.
Data from AAA put the average cost of car insurance for new vehicles in 2020 slightly higher, at $1,202 annually2. The numbers are fairly close together, suggesting that as you budget for a new car purchase you may need to include $100 or so per month for auto insurance.
NOTE
While some things that affect car insurance rates–such as your driving history–are within your control others, costs may also be affected by things like state regulations and state accident rates
.
How to Save on Car Insurance Costs
There are a number of strategies you may use to save on car insurance. Once you know how much is car insurance for you, you can put some or all of these tactics to work.
1. Take Advantage of Multi-Car Discounts
If you obtain a quote from an auto insurance company to insure a single vehicle, you might end up with a higher quote per vehicle than if you inquired about insuring several drivers or vehicles with that company. Insurance companies will offer what amounts to a bulk rate because they want your business. Under some circumstances, they are willing to give you a deal if it means you’ll bring in more of it.
Ask your insurance agent to see if you qualify. Generally speaking, multiple drivers must live at the same residence and be related by blood or by marriage. Two unrelated people may also be able to obtain a discount; however, they usually must jointly own the vehicle.
If one of your drivers is a teen, you can expect to pay more to insure them. However, if your child’s grades are a B average or above or if they rank in the top 20% of the class, you may be able to get a good student discount on the coverage, which generally lasts until your child turns 25. These discounts can range from as little as 1% to as much as 39%, so be sure to show proof to your insurance agent that your teen is a good student.
Incidentally, some companies may also provide an auto insurance discount if you maintain other policies with the firm, such as homeowners insurance. Allstate, for example, offers a 10% car insurance discount and a 25% homeowners insurance discount when you bundle them together, so check to see if such discounts are available and applicable.3
2. Pay Attention on the Road
In other words, be a safe driver. This should go without saying, but in today’s age of increasing in-car distractions, this bears mentioning as much as possible. The more mindful you are, the more accidents or moving violations you’ll be able to avoid—events that raise your insurance rates. Travelers offers safe driver discounts of between 10% and 23%, depending on your driving record.4
For those unaware, points are typically assessed to a driver for moving violations, and more points can lead to higher insurance premiums (all else being equal).
3. Take a Defensive Driving Course
Sometimes insurance companies will provide a discount for those who complete an approved defensive driving course. Drivers may also be able to reduce the number of points they have on their licenses by taking a defensive driving, accident prevention, or other course.
Make sure to ask your agent/insurance company about this discount before you sign up for a class. After all, it’s important that the effort being expended and the cost of the course translates into a big enough insurance savings. It’s also important that the driver sign up for an accredited course. Every state has its own rules about accredited defensive driving courses.
4. Shop Around for Better Car Insurance Rates
If your policy is about to renew and the annual premium has gone up markedly, consider shopping around and obtaining quotes from competing companies. Also, every year or two it probably makes sense to obtain quotes from other companies, just in case there is a lower rate out there.
Remember, cheap doesn’t always mean good, and going with the lower-priced company isn’t always the wisest decision. That’s because the insurer’s creditworthiness should also be considered. After all, what good is a policy if the company doesn’t have the wherewithal to pay an insurance claim?
To run a check on a particular insurer, consider checking out a site that rates the financial strength of insurance companies. The financial strength of your insurance company is important, but what your contract covers is also important, so make sure you understand it. Insure.com’s site bases its insurance company ratings on data assembled by Standard and Poor’s.6
In general, the fewer miles you drive your car per year, the lower your insurance rate is likely to be, so always ask about a company’s mileage thresholds.
Things you need to know about the 2020-21 NBA season
Here are some common questions and answers about the format, rules, scheduling, structure, and health protocols of the 2020-21 NBA season.
The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association announced on Nov. 9 that they’ve struck a deal on rules for the 2020-21 NBA season, which will start on Dec. 22. On November 10, the NBA’s Board of Governors approved the amended Collective Bargaining Agreement for 2020-21 by a unanimous vote, allowing the 2020-21 season to begin. The NBA announced the 2020-21 season structure and format, including a playoff Play-In Tournament on Nov. 17.
In anticipation of the new NBA season, here are some common questions and answers about the 2020-21 NBA season.
Q: When does the 2020-21 NBA season begin and end?
Dec. 22 is the start date. The end of the 2020-21 season is tentatively scheduled for May 16.
Q: When did training camps open? When was the preseason?
Individual player workouts ran from Dec. 1-5 with Media “Week” taking place during the same time frame. Group player workouts went from Dec. 6-10 and the preseason ran from Dec. 11-19. In the preseason, each team played a minimum of two and a maximum of four games as part of the NBA’s 49-game preseason schedule. The game schedule for the 2020 preseason is available here.
Q: How many games will each team play in the 2020-21 NBA season
Each team will play 72 regular-season games, which is 10 games fewer than in a typical, 82-game NBA season.
Q: What does the 2020-21 schedule look like?
The schedule will be released in two segments, with the First Half of the schedule coming around the start of training camp and the Second Half of the schedule coming out during the latter part of the First Half. For now, the plan is for each team to play three games against each intraconference opponent (42 total), and two against each interconference opponent (30 games).
Q: How will the Play-In Tournament be structured?
The Play-In Tournament, which will take place after the regular season and before the first round of the playoffs, will include the teams with the seventh-highest through the tenth-highest winning percentages in each conference. For further information on the Play-In Tournament, click here.
Q: What are the Key Dates for the 2020-21 NBA season?
• Dec. 1-5: Individual player workouts and Media “Week” • Dec. 6-10: Group player workouts begin• Dec. 11-19: Preseason games • Dec. 22 – March 4: First Half of regular season • March 5-9: All-Star break • March 10-May 16: Second Half of regular season • March 25: NBA Trade Deadline • May 13-15: Class of 2020 Hall of Fame Enshrinement • May 18-21: Play-In Tournament • May 22-July 22: 2021 NBA Playoffs
A high deductible is often a great way to keep your insurance premiums down. However, you shouldn’t set a deductible that is so high that you cannot afford to pay the deductible when you have a claim. I’ve seen people change their collision deductible from a $500 deductible to a $1,000 deductible because money was tight and this allowed them to save about $10 per month on the premium.
Wouldn’t you know it, but not even 2 months later they ended up in an At-Fault accident. Money was tight so they didn’t have that $1,000 to get the vehicle repaired. It took forever to save up that $1,000 so they were down to one vehicle which made it tough getting back and forth to work.
Please make sure you have something in savings for an emergency. Whether it’s a car accident or your furnace breaks down. Emergencies will happen, but if you’re prepared, you can transform that emergency into an inconvenience.
On World Health Day, 7 April 2021, we will be inviting you to join a new campaign to build a fairer, healthier world. We’ll be posting more details here shortly, but here’s why we’re doing this:
Our world is an unequal one.
As COVID-19 has highlighted, some people can live healthier lives and have better access to health services than others – entirely due to the conditions in which they are born, grow, live, work and age.
All over the world, some groups struggle to make ends meet with little daily income, have poorer housing conditions and education, fewer employment opportunities, experience greater gender inequality, and have little or no access to safe environments, clean water, and air, food security, and health services. This leads to unnecessary suffering, avoidable illness, and premature death. And it harms our societies and economies.
This is not only unfair: it is preventable.
That’s why we are calling on leaders to ensure that everyone has living and working conditions that are conducive to good health. At the same time, we urge leaders to monitor health inequities and to ensure that all people can access quality health services when and where they need them.
COVID-19 has hit all countries hard, but its impact has been harshest on those communities which were already vulnerable, who are more exposed to the disease, less likely to have access to quality health care services, and more likely to experience adverse consequences as a result of measures implemented to contain the pandemic.
World Health Organization is committed to ensuring that everyone, everywhere, can realize the right to good health.
