The value of the right expert
Imagine this scenario. We have two couples. Couple #1: Sick Sally retired a while ago; she’s married to Sam. Sam is still working and carrying the family medical insurance. Couple #2: Working Wanda is approaching 65, but doesn’t plan to retire yet. Working Wanda’s husband Wayne is turning 65 in…
How do I know if my pension is valuable?
That seems like a weird title, doesn’t it. Aren’t all pensions valuable? After all, we’re past the golden age of the defined benefit plan, and most employers are all-in on just a defined contribution plan. Wasn’t it that pensions by definition are so valuable, that’s why they had to go…
Is your end of year bonus an actual thank you, or an insult?
The end of 2019 is approaching. Your employer has just announced a bonus! Possibly even a “we don’t usually do this” bonus! You should feel great! But have you stopped to consider if the bonus is such that it indicates actual appreciation, or a condescending pat on the head that…
Open Enrollment ends soon!
Many businesses are on a November 1st through November 15th open enrollment cycle. If that’s you, you’ve only got 1 day left of open enrollment, make your final selections. If you don’t go make selections proactively, the system will make some assumptions for you. But you may not be happy…
Coordination of benefits
You work, and are benefits eligible. Your spouse works, and is also benefit eligible. Your open enrollment periods, and benefit plan years, may or may not align with either. Never the less, to be efficient with your money (to avoid wasting it on premiums and to avoid having coverage gaps…
How to assess an employer benefit: Legal Insurance
What do I do if my employer just started offering legal insurance as a benefit for this year’s Open Enrollment? How do I decide if I should use this service? First, remember that insurance is to cover events that you cannot. The company offering insurance products are in it to…
Dependent care flexible spending accounts
This post had “Coming soon” as its text for way longer than I’d intended. Why? Because with kids in the picture, things never go as planned. Fortunately for the part of this that was due to a kiddo being home sick for 4 days in a row, from a child…
Open enrollment with dependents
Younger children who still live with you. Older children who don’t live at home anymore, but you still support with insurance. Spouse. During open enrollment it’s time to verify that you have all of the proper people connected to every benefit they need to be connected to. For every separate…
Tax savings of HSAs vs HCFSAs
If it’s not a clear-cut decision for you as to whether a traditional health insurance plan or a high deductible health care plan is the better choice this open enrollment season, it may be time to get deeper into the weeds by considering the tax savings of the HSA vs…
Coordination of traditional or high deductible plans with other components of your health benefits
I had a great question asked of me today, about combining a traditional health care plan with an HSA. This employee had gotten confused by their employer’s documentation about changes new to this year. This employer offers a variety of health related benefits: traditional health insurance plans a high deductible…