News
News & Views: The Real Life Rosie the Riveter
Newsletter – Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Last week we laid my mother-in-law to rest in the best possible way I can imagine, with celebration and remembrance. Hazel was a member of our country’s “greatest generation”. Born in the roaring 20’s, Hazel grew up in the Great Depression and came of age during World War II. In fact, Hazel was a real-life Rosie the Riveter!
When I think of the characteristics of my generation, I think about growing up in the Vietnam conflict, both abroad and at home, of my hippie brothers, Rock n’ Roll, walking to school (uphill both ways), and classrooms before an ADHD diagnosis existed. I was at the tail end of the so-called baby boomers, but I am totally not cool enough to be a GenXer. Instead, I’ve invented a new generation which I call the Lost Boys generation, sans Peter Pan and Captain Hook. Some of us have lost our marbles and others will never grow up. While you can paint a whole generation with broad strokes, I certainly wouldn’t recommend it! Otherwise, you will never be able to retire your baby boomers or retain your millennials.
Over the years, I’ve come to understand that different people have different abilities. A service mentality comes easily to a person that has a strong desire to please. A good underwriter is naturally curious; they want to understand the risk and find solutions because they get the details and the big picture. People who are naturally hardworking understand what it takes to get the job done. Put a pile of work in front of them and they always leave with a clean desk at the end of the day. As Jinny and I and our management team prepare for the future of the Tuscano Agency (and preparing we are), we know we must focus on having the right people in the right seats and capitalizing on their strengths both individually and generationally!
Insurance for our generation and beyond presents its own challenges. Our competition just doesn’t look like us anymore and sometimes it even feels like the rules of engagement have changed. Add to that, risk is changing. Your insured is much more likely to be sued for employment practices today than for a trip & fall. With current events in mind, how can we recommend anything less than million dollar limits for EPLI?
Nor can any entity completely avoid a Cyber Liability exposure. A policyholder is exposed if she has employees, takes payments other than cash, or stores data on a local or cloud system. If a breach happens, $50K limits hardly scratch the surface of the potential loss. I’m grateful that many package carriers now add this coverage on, but it is foolish to think they’d be much help if the ‘real deal’ happened.
Recently, Tim Hoelle, the Casualty Team manager here at Tuscano, was a guest on the Agency Nation Radio podcast talking about just these types of exposures and strategies for insuring them. You ought to check it out, even if you aren’t a millennial!
Never grow up!