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Where does Pa. rank nationally in working remote?

Pennsylvania ranks 23rd in the country in having the highest percentage of males regularly working from home  at least one day a week, and 22nd in females working from home, according to the 2023 U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey. 

According to the survey, an average of nearly 27% Pennsylvania males work from home, while nearly 26% of Pennsylvania females are working remote. 

Massachusetts has the highest percentage of men and women working from home, an average of 38%. Mississippi has the lowest at just over 11%. 

Select Software Reviews analyzed the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey which reveals households where someone has worked from home in the previous seven days, and across a variety of demographic splits in each state including age, gender, income, and educational background.  

A spokesperson for Select Software Reviews said in a statement that the findings reveal there are more Americans earning a significantly higher salary working from home. As many high-paid roles involve working with colleagues, clients, or partners from different parts of the world, remote work allows professionals to collaborate across time zones without the need for constant travel, increasing productivity. 

The review noted that “Generation Z” has the highest percentage (33%) of remote workers. It also noted that there are several trends and factors that could influence the future of remote working in the U.S. Hybrid work models are becoming more popular, thus allowing employees to split their time between working from home and working in the office. This approach offers the flexibility and autonomy of remote work while maintaining a level of in-person collaboration.  

Remote-first companies make working from home the default option with physical office work limited. This can help organizations tap into a broader talent pool and reduce overhead costs associated with maintaining large physical office spaces. 

Some companies are also offering more flexible work arrangements, allowing employees to choose when and where they work, based on their individual needs and job responsibilities.

Kairos Health Systems names new president, CEO

Alisa Miller, incoming president and CEO of Kairos Health Systems in Lancaster. PHOTO/PROVIDED

 

Business management consultant and LeadingAge PA subsidiary Kairos Health Systems has appointed a new president and CEO to succeed Jennifer Wimer following her retirement. The Lancaster provider of insurance payer contracting analysis chose Alisa Miller to take over the role when Wimer, who has led the organization since 2002, retires on Oct. 1.

Miller joins the company with more than 25 years of experience serving senior living organizations and other health and human services providers. Most recently she served more six years as Chief Financial Officer for MHS Alliance and managing director of MHS Consulting in Goshen, Indiana. She also provided senior consulting in the senior living practice for a big-four accounting firm, according to a statement from Kairos.

“Alisa brings a deep understanding of the complexities providers are facing right now,” said Jarrod Leo, chairman of Kairos’ Board of Directors. “I have complete confidence her leadership will take what Jennifer has accomplished and continue the momentum to bring Kairos to the next level in terms of growth and development of services. We are thrilled to welcome someone of Alisa’s caliber and experience to Kairos, and look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead under her leadership.”

Along with providing insurance payer contracting, Kairos offers group purchasing, consulting and other services to members in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York and Tennessee. Its parent company, LeadingAge PA, is a Mechanicsburg-based nonprofit association.

“This is an incredible opportunity that combines my passion for senior services and my professional experiences,” said Miller. “Jennifer has positioned this well-established organization for growth. I look forward to expanding service offerings, growing our network, and providing our network with innovative solutions and resources.”

Financial experts talk financial planning and the need for a solid strategy

Thomas Williams, partner, senior wealth advisor and CEO at Domani Wealth. (Photo Provided)

Many new clients of Lancaster-based Domani Wealth looking for help on their financial or retirement plans bring with them what the financial advisement firm’s CEO calls ‘back of the napkin thoughts.’

“It is surprising how many individuals haven’t taken the time to do a retirement or a financial planning model,” said Thomas Williams, partner, senior wealth advisor and CEO at Domani Wealth. “They probably did some thinking on their own but in terms of putting numbers down and thinking through all of the possibilities, it takes time and its most likely time that they haven’t devoted.”

Williams has worked at the firm for 24 years and in that time, he’s seen that most people don’t give formal thought to the kind of money they should be saving.

Domani works with clients to build those plans and identify the risks they may have as they continue to work toward retirement or build savings in case other challenges arise. Risks like not having up to date estate documents and having one spouse in a marriage that is the majority wage owner are hazards that someone at any caliber of income can experience, Williams said.

Plans that are done without help from an adviser can also fail to take something like the possibility of long term care into consideration.

“People look at their financial plan and their accumulation of wealth but they don’t consider what would happen if one of them had to go to a long term care institution or get care at home,” Williams said, adding that many clients also ignore how severely inflation can impact a retirement fund. “Even if you look at inflation at 3% that gets pretty big in 25 years.”

Other financial institutions also make leeway with their clients who have yet to solidify their future plans by acting as financial ‘quarterbacks’ said Kevin Eisenhart of York-based CPA firm Eisenhart & Co.

Eisenhart & Co. leaves investment and retirement planning to other organizations but Eisenhart said that he and his staff are keen on helping their clients get to where they need to be in their planning.

“We can make recommendations about things we’ve seen, talk to our clients about saving retirement and if they are a business owner we may tell them to start saving for retirement,” he said.

If a client does come to Domani with past work from other financial advisers, their estate plan could be 10 or 15 years old, which can also pose a problem if a trustee has passed away or a friend of the family has moved out of the area.

With his clients that are business owners, Williams said owners can be so focused on their business that they ignore the personal side of their finances.

A business owner may not have prepared a power of attorney in case something were to happen that they couldn’t manage the business anymore or a buy/ sell agreement to manage their share of the company if they were to die prematurely.

“We find that there has been a lack of succession planning,” Williams said. “The owner dies or is incapacitated and the question is what now? We find that it is not often that there has been thought given to succession, with the business identifying a person or a team in position to run the business.”

When planning for retirement or for a potential accident, the planning phase is a continuous process and not an event, he said.