I'm going to be a treasurer for my club, responsible for over half a million dollars. Would you recommend the club taking a bonded insurance policy for the treasurer and assistant treasurer? If yes, can you make suggestions on how to go about doing so. Thank you.
byrdshot on
I think Better Investing offers it. Check with them. Our club has never partakes. It does seem expensive. Do make sure you have a couple of members do an audit every year before you do the taxes. Bivio has excellent instructions. They also have many resources for new treasurers.
Good luck,
Kim Potter, Treasurer
BI Brighton Model Club
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S10, an AT&T 5G Evolution capable smartphone
-------- Original message --------
From: "Lavina Harjani via bivio.com" <user*35746700001@bivio.com>
Date: 1/29/21 8:21 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: club_cafe@bivio.com
Subject: [club_cafe] Insurance for treasurer?
I'm going to be a treasurer for my club, responsible for over half a million dollars. Would you recommend the club taking a bonded insurance policy for the treasurer and assistant treasurer? If yes, can you make suggestions on how to go about doing so. Thank you.
Pam on
Our club gets the bond every year through better investing. It covers all members who are members of BI. Not sure if it's necessary with bivio but we continue to get coverage.
Pam Kirk
Salsa and Blue Chips
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 29, 2021, at 5:49 PM, byrdshot via bivio.com <user*22890200001@bivio.com> wrote:
I think Better Investing offers it. Check with them. Our club has never partakes. It does seem expensive. Do make sure you have a couple of members do an audit every year before you do the taxes. Bivio has excellent instructions. They also have many resources for new treasurers.
Good luck,
Kim Potter, Treasurer
BI Brighton Model Club
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S10, an AT&T 5G Evolution capable smartphone
-------- Original message --------
From: "Lavina Harjani via bivio.com" <user*35746700001@bivio.com>
Date: 1/29/21 8:21 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: club_cafe@bivio.com
Subject: [club_cafe] Insurance for treasurer?
I'm going to be a treasurer for my club, responsible for over half a million dollars. Would you recommend the club taking a bonded insurance policy for the treasurer and assistant treasurer? If yes, can you make suggestions on how to go about doing so. Thank you.
John Munn on
If you deal only with checks, all the transactions are traceable and easily reconciled to the bank and broker statements on a monthly basis. I don;t know what being bonded would accomplish for you as the treasurer in control of the funds. It could ease the concerns of your partners, but at a cost. Regularly reconciling the accounts and having a partner serve as an auditor/comptroller could ease any concerns and help avoid the expense of being insured.
Our club gets the bond every year through better investing. It covers all members who are members of BI. Not sure if it's necessary with bivio but we continue to get coverage.
I think Better Investing offers it. Check with them. Our club has never partakes. It does seem expensive. Do make sure you have a couple of members do an audit every year before you do the taxes. Bivio has excellent instructions. They also have many resources for new treasurers.
Good luck,
Kim Potter, Treasurer
BI Brighton Model Club
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S10, an AT&T 5G Evolution capable smartphone
I'm going to be a treasurer for my club, responsible for over half a million dollars. Would you recommend the club taking a bonded insurance policy for the treasurer and assistant treasurer? If yes, can you make suggestions on how to go about doing so. Thank you.
GARY SERGIO on
Our club use to subscribe to BI's bond insurance for many years. It is pricey, but worth it if it provides your members with peace of mind. That said, all of your members should read and understand the policy fine print. When we subscribed,
if a member stole club funds, that person had to be apprehended, prosecuted, and convicted before the policy would pay for any loss.
Best of Luck!
Gary
Sidney IC
Peter Dunkelberger on
Pam Kirk--How much is the insurance and against what calamities are you insuring? I know that most Boards have bonding for their members, but I wonder about the necessity with these partnerships that meet frequently and share information across the board. I try to think about the worst thing that could happen, and I guess it would be a Treasurer who liquidates all the holdings and writes a check to themselves for the entire account amount. One guy said they had $500k in the account, but I don't think $500k will get one very far. Lesser amounts would be spotted quickly by other members, so one would have to go big or not do it. I wonder if Bivio has any stories they could discreetly (as in no names) relate that would make us think that bonding is a necessary expense.
Our club gets the bond every year through better investing. It covers all members who are members of BI. Not sure if it's necessary with bivio but we continue to get coverage.
I think Better Investing offers it. Check with them. Our club has never partakes. It does seem expensive. Do make sure you have a couple of members do an audit every year before you do the taxes. Bivio has excellent instructions. They also have many resources for new treasurers.
Good luck,
Kim Potter, Treasurer
BI Brighton Model Club
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S10, an AT&T 5G Evolution capable smartphone
I'm going to be a treasurer for my club, responsible for over half a million dollars. Would you recommend the club taking a bonded insurance policy for the treasurer and assistant treasurer? If yes, can you make suggestions on how to go about doing so. Thank you.
jeff clark on
From the Better Investing website:
The Fidelity bond covers theft of club funds by a BetterInvesting dues paying member of the club.
There does not need to be a conviction for the insurance company to pay the claim. The club only needs to prove to the insurance company that the funds are stolen for the insurance company to proceed with prosecution of the case.
For more information on investment clubs, please see the Investment Clubs section of our FAQ: http://faq.betterinvesting.org/index.php?action=show&cat=2
On Friday, January 29, 2021, 10:36:13 PM CST, John Munn via bivio.com <user*223700001@bivio.com> wrote:
If you deal only with checks, all the transactions are traceable and easily reconciled to the bank and broker statements on a monthly basis. I don;t know what being bonded would accomplish for you as the treasurer in control of the funds. It could ease the concerns of your partners, but at a cost. Regularly reconciling the accounts and having a partner serve as an auditor/comptroller could ease any concerns and help avoid the expense of being insured.
Our club gets the bond every year through better investing. It covers all members who are members of BI. Not sure if it's necessary with bivio but we continue to get coverage.
I think Better Investing offers it. Check with them. Our club has never partakes. It does seem expensive. Do make sure you have a couple of members do an audit every year before you do the taxes. Bivio has excellent instructions. They also have many resources for new treasurers.
Good luck,
Kim Potter, Treasurer
BI Brighton Model Club
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S10, an AT&T 5G Evolution capable smartphone
I'm going to be a treasurer for my club, responsible for over half a million dollars. Would you recommend the club taking a bonded insurance policy for the treasurer and assistant treasurer? If yes, can you make suggestions on how to go about doing so. Thank you.
jeff clark on
I see most of the Clubs on here are big boomers :-). We are a small club and have less than 30k. The insurance bond (aka fidelity bond) amount can be adjusted at each renewal period to the coverage your club needs, thereby determining the annual cost. .
From BI:
The cost depends on the amount of coverage purchased. There is a $1,000.00 deductible, with coverage ranging from $25,000.00 up to $250,000.00
The rates, which are subject to change each year, are listed on the notice sent to the club contact.
I can't get to the info on the rates for better investing.
However I 'googled' how much does fidelity bond insurance cost and came up with this ad from insureone: (this is for businesses - not sure if its same for investment clubs)
The cost of a fidelity bond increases with its limits
Insureon's analysis shows that policy limits have a direct impact on the amount small businesses pay for fidelity bonds. Higher limits cost more, but also provide better coverage.
The graph below shows that the cost of a fidelity bond goes up as the policy limit increases. The median cost of a fidelity bond with a $1 million policy limit, our most popular limit, is $1,054 annually, or less than $90 per month. A fidelity bond with a limit of $100K costs only $280 per year, or less than $25 per month.
Jeff
On Saturday, January 30, 2021, 09:36:55 AM CST, Peter Dunkelberger via bivio.com <user*26984900001@bivio.com> wrote:
Pam Kirk--How much is the insurance and against what calamities are you insuring? I know that most Boards have bonding for their members, but I wonder about the necessity with these partnerships that meet frequently and share information across the board. I try to think about the worst thing that could happen, and I guess it would be a Treasurer who liquidates all the holdings and writes a check to themselves for the entire account amount. One guy said they had $500k in the account, but I don't think $500k will get one very far. Lesser amounts would be spotted quickly by other members, so one would have to go big or not do it. I wonder if Bivio has any stories they could discreetly (as in no names) relate that would make us think that bonding is a necessary expense.
Our club gets the bond every year through better investing. It covers all members who are members of BI. Not sure if it's necessary with bivio but we continue to get coverage.
I think Better Investing offers it. Check with them. Our club has never partakes. It does seem expensive. Do make sure you have a couple of members do an audit every year before you do the taxes. Bivio has excellent instructions. They also have many resources for new treasurers.
Good luck,
Kim Potter, Treasurer
BI Brighton Model Club
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S10, an AT&T 5G Evolution capable smartphone
I'm going to be a treasurer for my club, responsible for over half a million dollars. Would you recommend the club taking a bonded insurance policy for the treasurer and assistant treasurer? If yes, can you make suggestions on how to go about doing so. Thank you.
Pam Kirk on
Peter- We paid $430 for $150,000, maybe 200,000. I don't have the form in front of me. Cost is allocated per club membership. I definitely have told the club it is not enough money for me to move my family out of the country but the vote was to purchase the Fidelity Bond. Our club has already chosen to have all members be BI members for the education offerings. Agree that bivio provides accountability with everyone having access to the books. The group may decide against it one of these years. Pam
Pam Kirk--How much is the insurance and against what calamities are you insuring? I know that most Boards have bonding for their members, but I wonder about the necessity with these partnerships that meet frequently and share information across the board. I try to think about the worst thing that could happen, and I guess it would be a Treasurer who liquidates all the holdings and writes a check to themselves for the entire account amount. One guy said they had $500k in the account, but I don't think $500k will get one very far. Lesser amounts would be spotted quickly by other members, so one would have to go big or not do it. I wonder if Bivio has any stories they could discreetly (as in no names) relate that would make us think that bonding is a necessary expense.
Our club gets the bond every year through better investing. It covers all members who are members of BI. Not sure if it's necessary with bivio but we continue to get coverage.
I think Better Investing offers it. Check with them. Our club has never partakes. It does seem expensive. Do make sure you have a couple of members do an audit every year before you do the taxes. Bivio has excellent instructions. They also have many resources for new treasurers.
Good luck,
Kim Potter, Treasurer
BI Brighton Model Club
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S10, an AT&T 5G Evolution capable smartphone
I'm going to be a treasurer for my club, responsible for over half a million dollars. Would you recommend the club taking a bonded insurance policy for the treasurer and assistant treasurer? If yes, can you make suggestions on how to go about doing so. Thank you.
Peter Dunkelberger on
Thanks Pam. $430 is not a lot of money in the scheme of things, but one wonders about the necessity.
Peter- We paid $430 for $150,000, maybe 200,000. I don't have the form in front of me. Cost is allocated per club membership. I definitely have told the club it is not enough money for me to move my family out of the country but the vote was to purchase the Fidelity Bond. Our club has already chosen to have all members be BI members for the education offerings. Agree that bivio provides accountability with everyone having access to the books. The group may decide against it one of these years. Pam
Pam Kirk--How much is the insurance and against what calamities are you insuring? I know that most Boards have bonding for their members, but I wonder about the necessity with these partnerships that meet frequently and share information across the board. I try to think about the worst thing that could happen, and I guess it would be a Treasurer who liquidates all the holdings and writes a check to themselves for the entire account amount. One guy said they had $500k in the account, but I don't think $500k will get one very far. Lesser amounts would be spotted quickly by other members, so one would have to go big or not do it. I wonder if Bivio has any stories they could discreetly (as in no names) relate that would make us think that bonding is a necessary expense.
Our club gets the bond every year through better investing. It covers all members who are members of BI. Not sure if it's necessary with bivio but we continue to get coverage.
I think Better Investing offers it. Check with them. Our club has never partakes. It does seem expensive. Do make sure you have a couple of members do an audit every year before you do the taxes. Bivio has excellent instructions. They also have many resources for new treasurers.
Good luck,
Kim Potter, Treasurer
BI Brighton Model Club
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S10, an AT&T 5G Evolution capable smartphone
I'm going to be a treasurer for my club, responsible for over half a million dollars. Would you recommend the club taking a bonded insurance policy for the treasurer and assistant treasurer? If yes, can you make suggestions on how to go about doing so. Thank you.