Complimentary program for women in business spotlights one company's inspiring employee benefits strategy

DES MOINES, Iowa (Business Wire EON/PRWEB ) February 18, 2008 -- Similar to many growing businesses, Society Insurance of Fond du Lac, Wisc., needed to juggle rising medical costs while providing a meaningful employee benefits program. The company's innovative solution will be center stage for women business owners during a complimentary teleclass from the Principal Financial Group®. “One Company's Award-Winning Equation: Employee Financial Fitness + Physical Fitness = Fiscal Fitness” is part of The Principal® Women in Business teleclass series, scheduled for Tuesday, March 25 at noon CST (1 p.m. EST, 11 a.m. MST and 10 a.m. PST.)

One Company's Award-Winning Equation: Employee Financial Fitness + Physical Fitness = Fiscal Fitness

Our nation's growing businesses seek education, strategies and information to help navigate the pressures put on their benefits programs

Society Insurance demonstrates that companies can commit to a program - in this case, a unique combination of physical and financial fitness for employees - strengthen its own fiscal fitness, and gain a competitive edge.

When our medical costs were rising, simply shifting costs to employees or cutting back benefits was not an option

Instead, we expanded our programming - now offering onsite health risk assessments with follow-up, disease management, on-going health education opportunities, weight management programs and health club benefits. Our winning approach is to help the healthy remain healthy and to help those managing chronic conditions to do so more effectively.

Meet the Guest Speakers

A recognized leader in supplying workers compensation and innovative insurance products to businesses, Society Insurance was named among The Principal 10 Best Companies for Employee Financial Security-2007. D. Holly Lifke, vice president of human resources for Society Insurance, will share the company's blueprint for benefits success, including:

83 percent employer-paid medical insurance premiums for employees and 80 to 82 percent employer-paid medical insurance premiums for dependents,

a 401(k) plan (in which 96 percent of Society Insurance employees participate) with discretionary employer match in all recent years of 125 percent of deferral up to six percent of pay,

a defined benefit pension plan,

a Roth 401(k),

100 percent employer-paid premiums for short- and long-term disability insurance,

one-on-one retirement planning guidance for employees and spouses,

full health club membership free of charge to home office employees, and

personalized employee benefit statement to employees annually.

“When our medical costs were rising, simply shifting costs to employees or cutting back benefits was not an option,” said Lifke. “Instead, we expanded our programming - now offering onsite health risk assessments with follow-up, disease management, on-going health education opportunities, weight management programs and health club benefits. Our winning approach is to help the healthy remain healthy and to help those managing chronic conditions to do so more effectively.”

Lifke will be joined during the teleclass by Renee Schaaf, vice president-retirement and investor services, The Principal®, whose team recently unveiled the complimentary best practices guide, The Formula for Success, offering leading benefit strategies.

Women in Business Teleclass Series

Annually, The Principal^® hosts a series of 10, complimentary 60-minute classes conducted over the phone for women in business with topics of particular interest to women business owners.

The Principal® Women in Business Teleclass Series, launched in 2003, features accomplished leaders and advice gurus, from bestselling author Suzy Welch to visionary Katrina Markoff of Vosges Haut-Chocolat. Speakers share information that provides women in business an edge. Topics range from how to evolve a marketing program to employee benefit best practices.

To learn more about The Principal® Women in Business Teleclass Series or how The Principal can help owners of growing businesses attract, retain and reward employees through the use of employee benefits, visit www.principal.com/women. Classes are held at 12 p.m. Central (1 p.m. Eastern, 11 a.m. Mountain and 10 a.m. Pacific) on the dates scheduled. Audio and notes of past classes can be accessed on the Web site 24 hours a day.

About The Principal 10 Best Companies program

The Principal 10 Best Companies for Employee Financial Security is a nationwide program that searches for and recognizes small and medium-size companies that excel in providing for employee financial security.

The program is open to any company with five to 1,000 employees. To qualify, all entrants must have been based in the United States and have provided a broad range of employee benefits for at least five years. Qualifying companies must, at a minimum, offer "traditional" employee benefits, such as those relating to retirement, health, life or disability. No entry fee is required, and employees of The Principal are not eligible to enter. Entry forms for the 2008 recognition program are available at www.principal.com/theprincipal10best/.

About the Principal Financial Group

The Principal Financial Group^® (The Principal ^®)¹ is a leader in offering businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement and investment services, life and health insurance, and banking through its diverse family of financial services companies. A member of the Fortune 500, the Principal Financial Group has $311.1 billion in assets under management² and serves some 18.6 million customers worldwide from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Principal Financial Group, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PFG. For more information, visit www.principal.com.

The views expressed by D. Holly Lifke are her own and not necessarily the views of any member companies of the Principal Financial Group®. The Principal Financial Group® and its members are providing these telecasts as a courtesy to give you the option to explore information on the subject matter presented. The Principal® did not create and does not claim any responsibility for the content within this presentation.

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¹ "The Principal Financial Group" and “The Principal” are registered service marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.

² As of December 31, 2007

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