We love to see what's trending. We follow everyone from politicians, watching how the GOP candidates are doing against President Obama, to movie stars, musicians and reality TV personalities. In our attempts to save and accumulate money, we watch trends in bonds, stocks and other investments. And in our own way, we watch if we ourselves are trending up today.

I was checking to see how my favorites are trending when it occurred to me to make a list of what's trending in the employee benefit area.

Voluntary benefits, especially critical illness. Everywhere you turn it seems there's discussion about voluntary business opportunities. For example, assuming PPACA will result in broker revenue cuts, where is the new opportunity? Voluntary sales surely are one of the most significant answers. Critical illness has especially trended up in recent sales studies.