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Home insurance auto insurance health insurance 55% of US workers don’t have disability insurance and more business news – Chattanooga Times Free Press

Most workers don’t buy disability coverage Fifty-five percent of U.S. workers don’t protect their income with disability insurance even though one in four persons has a chance of suffering a disability before they die, according to a new study released Friday by Unum Group. The Chattanooga-based insurance giant, which is the world’s biggest disability insurer,…

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Published on September 30, 2020

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Most workers don’t buy disability coverage

Fifty-five percent of U.S. workers don’t protect their income with disability insurance even though one in four persons has a chance of suffering a disability before they die, according to a new study released Friday by Unum Group.

The Chattanooga-based insurance giant, which is the world’s biggest disability insurer, said seven out of 10 Baby Boomers disability coverage despite being more likely to need it.

“People are more likely to protect their homes, phones, or cars than their most important asset: their income,” said Chris Pyne, executive vice president of Group Benefits at Unum. “But without a paycheck, they likely wouldn’t even have these other assets.”

As for why people lack the protection, a third of workers say they’re healthy and don’t need it, 29% say they can’t afford it, 11% don’t see the value in it, and 10% don’t know what it covers. Of those who had to file a disability claim within the past five years, 99% were glad they had disability coverage.

UPS expands board to promote diversity

UPS is expanding its board of directors with two appointments it says will add expertise and diverse perspectives.

The shipping giant announced the appointment of Eva Boratto, a female, and Wayne Hewett, who is Black, to its board.

Boratto, 54, is the chief financial officer of CVS Health. She was previously an executive at pharmaceutical firm Merck. UPS has long focused on expanding its health care business for handling of temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals and other goods. CVS partners with UPS for package pick-ups and drop-offs and for development of drone deliveries of prescriptions.

Hewett, 55, is a former CEO of pharmaceutical packaging firm Klockner Pentaplast Group and agrochemical company Arysta LifeScience. He is a senior advisor to global equity firm Permira, sits on the board of Home Depot and Wells Fargo and is non-executive chairman of DiversiTech Corp. and Cambrex Corp. He previously worked for General Electric as vice president of supply chain and operations.

UPS previously had 13 people on its board, and will now have 15.

Average car loan up $4,000 from year ago

The average new car loan in the second quarter of this year was $36,072, according to Experian Automotive, nearly $4,000 more than the typical loan a year earlier.

What’s likely driving the auto borrowing binge is that interest rates are so low; the monthly cost to finance that extra $4,000 only adds about $18 to a monthly payment. And low gas prices are adding to consumers’ judgment, as it encourages some buyers to go for the bigger (less fuel efficient) car.

Experian Automotive says the average car loan now runs for about 71 months. Four in 10 new car loans in the second quarter were for more than 73 months.

EU countries want digital currency rules

Finance ministers from five of Europe’s biggest economies are calling for the European Union to produce strict rules for new, privately backed digital currencies and ban those that don’t comply.

The ministers from Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands said in a joint statement Friday that new regulations being drawn up by the EU’s executive Commission — and expected this fall — should seek to “preserve our monetary sovereignty and address the risks to monetary policy, and on the other hand protect EU consumers.”

France’s Bruno Le Maire stressed “one very simple principle: the (European) Central Bank is the only one to be allowed to issue currency, and this point is something that cannot be jeopardized or weakened by any kind of project, including the so-called Libra project.”

Facebook has backed the Libra project for a so-called stablecoin, a digital currency linked to existing currencies.

Spanish Finance Minister Nadia Calviño noted that European officials have long expressed “concern on the development of these wrongly called stablecoins — crypto-assets is a more correct denomination.” She said that Europe could pave the way for a global standard.