by Andrew Bruneau, Tanglewood Neighbors
Route Three Life Health and Disability is a full-spectrum insurance agency. Founded in 1995, it has grown over the past 28 years through expansion and acquisition to include group benefits, insurance, estate, trust planning, wealth transfer as well as special needs and philanthropy. As a Third-Party Administrator (TPA), Route Three can design and manage group health plans for employers with 25-2500 employees.
Ralph Weber is the company principal. Ralph holds his CFP designation in both the US and Canada focusing on cross-border planning issues. His advanced planning designations in CLU, ChFC, ChSNC, and AEP give him an extensive background to help with a wide range of planning issues. Ralph notes that we live in complicated times with a labyrinth of taxes, rules, mandates, and laws that have access to a wealth of information and just as much misinformation. Insurance, benefits, and trust laws are complicated but necessary parts of our lives.
Something Ralph finds interesting is that healthcare for most companies is their second largest expense, yet most companies don’t have a CFO for their health plan. Starbucks spends more money on healthcare than they do on coffee beans. Healthcare is a huge expense, but so many companies have very little oversight about how the insurance companies are spending their healthcare dollars. The “funny” thing is, and not funny “ha ha”, but rather funny ironic, is that companies that spend a great deal of time and effort in increasing revenue and controlling expenses, yet spend so little time controlling their healthcare expenses.
Ralph’s biggest inspiration in his life is his family. “They inspire me every day to be a better person,” says Ralph. His greatest inspiration at work is his client base. Meeting his client’s health and financial needs within their stated budget is the reason why he loves coming to work every day.
Ralph’s wife is the Pediatrician-in-Chief at Texas Children’s Hospital. They live in Tanglewood along with their son, two dogs, and their rabbit. The rest of the family lives all across North America and Europe, so a lot of time is spent traveling and visiting friends and relatives. Ralph and his wife are very active in their son’s activities, both in and out of school.
Ralph and his team at Route Three recognize that every person is unique no matter how similar their circumstances. That means that the same solution cannot be applied to different people. Having said that, their experience in dealing with similar situations for different people helps Ralph and the Route Three team recognize what's needed to improve any plan.