Steve Parrish

About the Author

Steve Parrish

Steve Parrish, JD*, CLU, ChFC, is National Advanced Solutions Consultant for the Principal Financial Group, Des Moines, Iowa. In addition to consulting with business owners and brokers, Parrish is a recognized industry authority, spokesperson and author. Parrish is a sought after speaker with industry organizations such as the Million Dollar Round Table and Association for Advanced Life Underwriting. He also takes time to address various chamber, legal, accounting and business groups.

Parrish joined The Principal in February 1997.  Prior to joining The Principal, he was vice president, marketing services for AmerUS Life Insurance Company. He began his career as an attorney and advanced underwriter in Minneapolis. He became a financial planner and agent in Atlanta, where he was a co-owner of Walker Parrish Financial Group. Steve received his B.A., Cum Laude, from Saint Olaf College and his Juris Doctor degree from the William Mitchell College of Law.

*JD is an educational degree and the holder does not provide legal services on behalf of the companies of the Principal Financial Group.

• Why fringe benefits?

  By Steve Parrish  |  August 13, 2012

  In less than 1,000 words, here is my overview of fringe benefits: what they are, and why they are used.

• Do your key assets go home at night?

  By Steve Parrish  |  July 9, 2012

  Traditionally we think of the key assets of a business as the capital assets (such as the factory and equipment), or the operational assets (such as their inventory). But if you’re any kind of firm where human capital is the key driver, the term “key asset” has a different meaning.

• Company stock: Benefit or burden?

  By Steve Parrish  |  May 30, 2012

  What can be better than giving employees a benefit that doesn’t cost anything? Plenty if that benefit is company stock.

• 10 key things to know about key employees

  By Steve Parrish  |  April 20, 2012

  Advisors sometimes ask me what defines a “key employee.” Now that Charlie Sheen quotes are passé, it’s not enough to respond that a key employee is one who is “winning.” We need to offer more meat to the definition.

• Don’t leave work without this benefit

  By Steve Parrish  |  March 15, 2012

  Seriously, less than a third of individuals own individual life insurance? Only a little more than half have life insurance from any source? This is financial madness.

• 4 items to consider regarding taxes in benefit planning

  By Steve Parrish  |  February 6, 2012

  Prognostication with taxes is always dangerous, but I’d like to suggest four items businesses should consider in planning for taxes this year—particularly as they apply to benefit planning.

• Benefits tax opportunity: deduct now, pay later

  By Steve Parrish  |  December 9, 2011

  A November revenue ruling offers an interesting opportunity for employers to do some beneficial year-end tax planning.

• Taxing our patience: Time to separate executive pay from talent retention

  By Steve Parrish  |  November 22, 2011

  We need a new name for the compensation paid to key talent in a business. “Executive benefits” is often equated with C-Suite perks in public companies, not with the incentives used in American businesses to encourage top performers to perform to their highest potential.

• Who cares about taxes? The employer does

  By Steve Parrish  |  October 25, 2011

  When I’m asked to help with an employee benefit design, one of my first questions concerns the employer’s tax structure. Unfortunately, sometimes the response is, “Who cares?”

• Hedging benefit plan costs

  By Steve Parrish  |  September 9, 2011

  Given that hedge funds and hedging are so much in the news, I began to think about the ways a company can hedge its employee benefit costs.