Planning your financial calendar for 2024
The hardest thing to do about tackling something new is to start. So I’ve started you off with an outline of what you might want to consider doing in 2024 on the financial front, so that all you have to do is put it on your calendar and do it….
Why did my high deductible health plan’s deductible go up?
This fall during open enrollment you may have seen your employer state that the deductible for your high deductible health plan was going to increase “in accordance with 2024 IRS requirements”. What does that mean, and how does it impact you? While the words to describe this type of health…
New benefits go into effect January 1, 2024
For most employees, the new benefits elections you made in November 2023 go into effect January 1st 2024. And if you’re on Medicare, January 1st is when Medicare plans change over too. With those transitions, the benefit rules you’re used to may have changed, and you need to be aware…
Using your 2023 benefit funds before they time out
Many of the benefits you have through your employer have time constraints on them. Before your new benefits begin January 1, 2024, if you have any limited use funds, they will disappear after December 31st. Now is the time to spend them! What are limited use funds, that need to…
Test to Treat: COVID-19 treatment in Minnesota
I already published about the newly expanded federal program that rolled out nation-wide last week, to a limited set of recipients, providing testing and treatment for COVID-19 and the flu. But that program’s limited set of recipients didn’t include your average working American. Fortunately for those of us in Minnesota,…
Test to Treat – Nationwide and free to Medicare recipients
An average American couple at age 65 in 2023 may need approximately $315k saved and earmarked to grow just for health care expenses in retirement. With the onset of COVID-19 and a summer of Canadian wildfire smoke that plagued Minnesota and many other northern parts of the country, masks, testing,…
Need a boost to your cancer treatment? Try financial planning
For patients with a serious cancer diagnosis, their world can be spinning out of control. They have a new major emotional challenge, and a time and energy drain, as well as the obvious actual medical implications. But have you thought about the financial implications of getting a cancer diagnosis? Even…
How The Inflation Reduction Act Benefits You
Today, August 16, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act . While it is confusingly abbreviated IRA, it has no impact on your tax advantaged savings vehicle with the same acronym. So what does the Inflation Reduction Act mean for you? Only a couple of factors will…
Should I sign up for a HCFSA or an HSA?
First of all, that primarily depends on which health care plan you’re signing up for, they bundle separately. If you sign up for a traditional health insurance plan, you can elect a HCFSA. If you sign up for a high deductible health insurance plan, you can elect a HSA. Then…
Why do I want a good credit score?
Historically, individuals knew each other. The family unit knew whether they could loan money to Uncle Fred or if he was a drunkard who would squander it all. Church members knew if a farmer had been down sick and needed help getting their crops in at harvest time, or if…