As someone who hasn’t used a dollar of health insurance so far in 2019, I’m supposed to pay 18% more for health insurance coverage in 2020.
Thankful 2019
2 minute read
I’ve got a ton to be thankful for in 2019 from ringing in the new year with some of my best friends and one of my favorite bands to traveling to Austin to getting married, just to name a few things. Those are the obvious things to be thankful for when reflecting on 2019, but there are so many things that most of us probably don’t think about on a day-to-day basis that we should be grateful for as well.
Progress Not Perfection
2 minute read
Last week, I had the opportunity to speak to the Indianapolis chapter of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network Indy (YNPNindy) for their November Professional Development event titled Financial planning on a Nonprofit Salary.
Guide to Employee Benefits Open Enrollment 2019
< 1 minute read
Over the past 6 weeks we’ve explored many of the employee benefits that may be offered to you from those that you may be over looking but should be considering, to those that you may have in place but aren’t optimizing, to those that may not make sense for you at all. Taking the time to be more intentional with your employee benefits elections and doing your best to optimize what’s offered to you while also making sure to not spend your hard earned money on those benefits that may not add you much value can go a long way in creating a better financial life.
Guide to Employee Benefits Open Enrollment 2019 Part 6: Other Employee Benefits
5 minute read
Have you ever looked through your employee benefits options during open enrollment and chosen to pay for something just because you weren’t really sure what it was, but it sounded important or you thought you might need it since it’s being offered to you? No one wants to pay for what they don’t need, but when it comes to employee benefits offered to us that we’re not sure whether we need them or not it seems like we often “play it safe” and pay for it instead of going without it. This can mean spending money on things that may not provide the benefits we thought they would.
Guide to Employee Benefits Open Enrollment 2019 Part 5: Dependent Care FSA
4 minute read
When I was a little kid, day care was known as grandma’s house. When I got a little older, before and after school care was at one of my sets of grandparents’ houses as well. That’s where my sister and my cousins and I would go after school to get a snack and play until our parents got off of work and were able to pick us up (I don’t seem to remember too much homework getting done there). I’m pretty sure I’ve never spent a day of my life in a day care facility or preschool or before/after school care (besides at grandma’s, of course). Unfortunately, this isn’t an option for most people and preschool, day care, and before school and after school care are all expensive. Really expensive. If you pay for dependent care so that you can go to work and earn an income, then there may be an option offered to you through your employee benefits to lessen the sting of paying for those expenses. Although I wrote about the Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA) earlier this year, I’m going to freshen it up for this employee benefits series to keep it top of mind.
Guide to Employee Benefits Open Enrollment 2019 Part 4: Disability Insurance
8 minute read
Running your household takes a lot of money. From your mortgage to your car payment to your groceries, it all adds up. And we haven’t even mentioned the other expenses you have to maintain your lifestyle like daycare or eating out or entertainment. Now imagine trying to pay for those things without an income and with no ability to earn. How long would your savings last? What would happen once you spend all that money?
Guide to Employee Benefits Open Enrollment 2019 Part 3: Group Term Life Insurance
5 minute read
Group term life insurance is a very common employee benefit that many people take advantage of. However, not many people think beyond the scope of the coverage offered through their employee benefits to consider why they need the coverage, how long they’ll need it, and if the maximum amount they can get is enough. If there are people who depend on your income and would be financially devastated if something were to happen to you, then this is a benefit that you should be taking more seriously.
Guide to Employee Benefits Open Enrollment 2019 Part 2: Health Insurance
7 minute read
When making employee benefits elections during open enrollment, choosing which health insurance option you’re going to go with over the next year seems to be something that almost everyone guesses at. Some people opt to choose the plan with the lowest deductible, some choose the option with the lowest premiums, and some choose whatever is in the middle. The problem with choosing your health insurance plan this way is that no real thought around how your and/or your family’s health situation is taken into consideration. With just a little education, I’m sure we can all figure out which plan might be most appropriate for our own personal situations.
Guide to Employee Benefits Open Enrollment 2019 Part 1: Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plans
7 minute read
This is part 1 of a series where I’ll be providing general education on many of the employee benefits elections that you’ll be faced with during open enrollment season. While there are some employers whose employee benefits open enrollment has already closed, many companies don’t have open enrollment until October or November. I find that many people take their best guess at making their enrollment elections, but have never really been well-educated on the decisions that they have in front of them or what might be best for their personal situation and don’t necessarily understand everything that they’re opting into or out of. Something that can make this even more confusing is having a spouse who’s employed at a company that provides benefits and trying to figure out how each employer’s benefits can work together for you. I’m hoping that this series of posts can help provide some education around some of the common benefits offered by employers and help people make better decisions for what might be best for their personal situation.