Financial Planning During Open Enrollment

It is never too early to begin thinking about your Open Enrollment options at work. Decisions regarding your workplace benefits are critical in accomplishing your long-term financial goals. How you structure these benefits can influence items like your tax efficiency related to your income, retirement savings goals, and your appropriate emergency fund amount.

At Open Enrollment, start to review all the benefits decisions that you will need to make as soon as you can. Health insurance coverage will likely be your biggest decision. Study the specifics related to each plan option. If your plan enables you to contribute to a Health Savings Account, this will typically be the most financially rewarding option. Due to their long-term tax advantages, combined with flexibility in the use of the account balance over time, these accounts can be a powerful tool in preparing for retirement. This is also a great time to review your overall budget to determine if you can increase your contribution to your workplace retirement plan. If you have life insurance through your employer, this may be a good time to research other standalone policies (as you would lose your workplace coverage with a job change).

Given our current low unemployment environment, if your current position does not offer these types of benefits, it may be time to look for a new position that does. Your long-term financial future is dependent upon it.

by Mark S. Reagan – Financial Advisor