Richard A. Matthews, CEBS started in the insurance business in 1973 with Equitable Life of New York. Early on he gravitated to the group benefit business with a special focus on Qualified Plans.

In 1984 he left the Equitable Agency to start his own shop with two partners. Dick began spending more of his time developing a practice based upon using a Defined Contribution strategy for clients. While this lead to an excellent increase in business and revenue, the nature of DC plans with massive amounts of employee choice results in a huge amount of paper pushing and administration.

In 1998 Dick was drawn to the online admin solution offered by Employease. As a matter of fact, his agency became the “poster child” for Employease by putting his entire book of business on the system and treating the Agency as the client - not the employers.

As he became immersed in the digital admin of employee benefit information, Dick realized the overwhelming need for someone to act as the liaison between the software vendors, insurance companies, and independent agents. So in 2008 he began to dial down his personal practice (in particular the focus on group health benefits) and direct his efforts calling on agents as a consultant. Dick is one of the very few (only?) people who can see a solution from every side of the desk - software, benefit, employer, employee, and agent. This provides a very unique insight for an independent agent or broker.

As part of his exposure to the digital universe, Dick realized that he could live anywhere there was an Internet connection. So he and his wife Martha moved from (cold) Michigan to (warm) Hilton Head Island, SC in 1997, where they currently reside.