By 1706 Advisors, July 2025
Your Plan Shouldn’t Box You In
Too many businesses are stuck with benefits plans built for insurance companies — not for their team, budget, or growth strategy. In a month that celebrates freedom, it’s a good time to ask: Do your benefits reflect real independence?
According to the UBA Benchmarking Report, nearly 70% of small to midsize businesses are enrolled in generic plans with little to no customization. And the 2024 MetLife Employee Benefit Trends Study found that 42% of employees don’t feel their benefits reflect their personal needs.
What Benefits Independence Really Means
More Than a Network and a Deductible
Independence means:
- Designing a plan that fits your team’s real needs
- Offering voluntary benefits like mental health, pet insurance, or student loan help
- Unbundling pharmacy benefits or carving out stop-loss coverage
If you’re just clicking “renew” each year, you’re not in control. You’re in cruise control.
Reality Check: One-Size-Fits-All Rarely Works
What your creative agency needs looks nothing like what your manufacturing plant needs. Your entry-level team might prefer telehealth access over dental. Your CFO just wants predictability. Yet most plans are rigid. Guardian’s 2024 WBS shows that over half of working Americans aren’t prepared for short-term income disruption. Still, fewer than one-third of SMBs offer disability coverage.
This isn’t about offering everything. It’s about offering what actually fits.
What Independence Looks Like in Real Life
A 50-person tech company?
- Skip the Cadillac PPOs
- Prioritize on-demand mental health
- Layer in voluntary hospital indemnity without footing the full bill
A regional accounting firm?
- Offer flexible options for both retiring partners and younger staff
- Customize benefits without breaking your budget
Voluntary benefits = independence.
Custom networks = independence.
A broker who isn’t just a spreadsheet = absolute independence.
Getting There Without the Headache
Unbundling and customizing sounds complex. It isn’t — not when you’re working with the right advisor.
At 1706 Advisors, we:
- Ask strategic questions about your business and people
- Use data from MetLife, UBA, and Mployer Insights to benchmark what’s possible
- Build flexible plans that grow with you
- Handle compliance, so you don’t spend Friday night Googling “HIPAA rules”
Your Benefits Should Work for You
Don’t settle for cookie-cutter plans.
Don’t carry the full premium burden alone.
And please, don’t hand your team a 10-page benefits explainer they won’t read.
Instead, let’s build:
- More choice
- More clarity
- More confidence
Because independence isn’t just a July theme — it’s a strategy. And empowered teams stick around longer, perform better, and cost you less.
Action Checklist
- Audit your current plan for flexibility and relevance
- Survey employees on what they actually want
- Explore voluntary benefit add-ons and unbundling options
- Talk to your broker about alternative funding and plan design
Book a strategy session → Click here