Dan Cole

About the Author

Dan Cole

Dan Cole is the Research and Development Manager for FreeERISA, a leading employee benefits and retirement data website. With nearly a decade of experience guiding FreeERISA from an off-shoot of Judy Diamond Associates to one of the markets's top destinations with more than 750,000 users, Dan knows the ins-and-outs of the data behind this multi-trillion dollar industry and the people who make it hum.

Dan was a featured speaker on best practices at InfoCommerce Group's Data Content Summit in 2010, and previously wrote the introductions to the FreeERISA Daily eNewsletter.

Dan enjoys cooking, the great outdoors, and being nice to his mother.

• 20 best cities for health brokers (part 1)

  By Dan Cole  |  May 22, 2012

  Let's find out where the most lucrative markets are for health brokers.

• A tale of two cities

  By Dan Cole  |  May 14, 2012

  As I flew back to FreeERISA’s hometown of Washington, D.C., I wondered what the health insurance world looked like in a city of 1.3 million people compared to D.C.’s 617,000.

• The kindness of carriers

  By Dan Cole  |  May 7, 2012

  Last night I had a dream that I was a participant in something called the “Kindness Games.”

• How do you size a 401(k)?

  By Dan Cole  |  April 30, 2012

  In 2010 there were 362,757 401(k) plans with more than zero dollars in reported assets. All told, they added up to around $2.8 trillion.

• Why being a fiduciary can be a good career move

  By Dan Cole  |  April 24, 2012

  The DOL’s definition of who’s a fiduciary and who’s not a fiduciary seems to be a never-ending headache.

• A second look at small health plans

  By Dan Cole  |  April 16, 2012

  There was some controversy last week when I published data that indicated large health plans can pay 10 to 15 times as much to cover a participant in a health plan compared to their small policy counterparts.

• Small health plans cost 15 times more

  By Dan Cole  |  April 10, 2012

  Let's use atomic physics and marine biology to talk about health plan costs.

• Top 4 trends in 401(k) participation

  By Dan Cole  |  April 3, 2012

  Let’s assume for the moment that education is the key to 401(k) participation. But where can education provide the biggest oomph?

• Money in health care

  By Dan Cole  |  March 27, 2012

  I think we can all agree that there’s a huge amount of money at stake here. But how much?

• How many 401(k)s are there?

  By Dan Cole  |  March 20, 2012

  Plan sponsors have 210 days after the close of the plan year to file their form 5500s.