The end of the year is traditionally open enrollment season, your annual opportunity to review your employer-provided benefit options and make elections for the upcoming plan year. Even if you're busy, take a look at the enrollment packets or information you receive from your employer. You generally only have a few weeks (or less) to make important decisions about your benefits, and with health-care costs rising, it's more important than ever to choose your benefits wisely.
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What if you were no longer here to provide for your family and loved ones? What if you couldn't watch your children grow, graduate from college, and begin their own families? What if your spouse couldn't afford the home, car, college tuition, or unanticipated medical expenses, all because you hadn't planned for the unexpected? Life is full of "what ifs," and we don't always have the answers to every question. That's why it's important to put a plan in place that will protect your family if you're not here. Life insurance can be an essential part of that plan.
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Medicare and Medicaid were signed into law 36 years ago to protect older and poorer Americans against the high cost of health care. Ironically, it's the high cost of providing health care through these programs that now threatens federal and state budgets, leading to calls for Medicare and Medicaid reform. Although these programs are often lumped together, they function quite differently. Here's a look at the coverage each provides.
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An employer-offered health flexible spending account (FSA) can provide you with a tax-favored way to pay for your qualified medical expenses. You can make contributions to the health FSA that reduce your federal taxable wages, and the health FSA can reimburse you tax free for qualified medical expenses.
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Health savings accounts (HSAs), Archer medical savings accounts (MSAs), health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), and flexible spending arrangements (FSAs) are all personal health accounts that may help you control your health-care costs. But trying to figure out what's what can be confusing. Here's a brief description of each type of account, including some of their major features and benefits.
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As the owner of a life insurance policy, you can generally borrow the policy's cash surrender value and use the proceeds for any purpose. Before you take a policy loan, be sure you understand the implications of the loan on the policy itself as well as any tax implications, now and in the future.
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The federal government is concerned about the rising costs of long-term health care for senior citizens and the disabled. And it is actually taking action.
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As older friends and relatives increasingly need our help, it’s not always possible for us to move back to personally oversee their care. The same goes for younger loved ones who face sudden illness or injury that robs them of their ability to care for themselves.
How can we best be in charge when we can’t be onsite?
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When it comes to life insurance, we've all heard the debate over whether to buy cash value life insurance, or buy term insurance and invest the difference. While cash value life insurance provides a cash accumulation account, it typically costs a great deal more than a similar amount of term insurance. The "buy term and invest the difference" strategy involves using the amount you'd spend on cash value life insurance to buy a less expensive term policy for the same death benefit and investing the difference on your own.
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If you're currently enrolled in Medicare, you've probably begun receiving information about your coverage. That's because the annual enrollment period for Medicare runs from November 15 through December 31. During this period, you can make changes to your Medicare coverage that will be effective on January 1, 2011. Even if you like the Medicare coverage you already have, it's a good time to explore your options, especially if your health or financial circumstances have changed.
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Are you receiving annuity payments but you'd prefer a single lump-sum payment instead? As appealing as receiving a lump-sum payment might sound, you may be under the impression that you're stuck with those annuity payments and a lump sum is out of the question. Not necessarily. You may be able to exchange your annuity for a lump sum through a secondary market for annuities.
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The health-care bill that became law in March won't be fully implemented for several years. However, by the end of this year, six important measures (detailed below) will take effect.
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Your life insurance needs often depend on a number of factors, including whether you're married, the size of your family, the nature of your financial obligations, your career stage, and your goals.
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If you're like most people, it's not that you don't appreciate the value of life insurance. In fact, many people believe they need more coverage. You probably wouldn't mind owning additional life insurance. It's just that you don't want to buy it.
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Pam Copeland kicks herself when she even thinks about it. She was cooking bacon to season lima beans for Easter dinner, just as she had dozens of times. She left the bacon to fry and stepped into the garage to say something to her husband. When she came back a few minutes later, she was confronted with a raging grease fire licking the cabinets.
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If you're renting a car over the holidays, chances are a clerk at the counter will try to sell you some pricey insurance options. Should you fork out the extra cash?
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In the aftermath of Southern California's devastating wildfires, you might be thinking more about your insurance. If your house is damaged or destroyed, what can you expect from your insurance company? How quickly will you be reimbursed? How much will you get, and how can you make the most of it?
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A year ago, I made a $343 mistake. I wrongly assumed that remaining in the health plan I had last year would keep my health benefits largely the same this year.
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When Scott Fowler quit his job at Wal-Mart to make a living as a painting contractor, he left his medical insurance behind. He and his wife went without health coverage for years because the West Covina, Calif., resident believed he couldn't afford premiums of $600 to $700 a month.
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You don't drive around thinking you have car insurance if you actually don't.
But when it comes to long-term care, despite the potentially devastating costs, millions of Americans continue to delude themselves into thinking they have insurance they don't.
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Sixty percent of Americans over age 65 will need long-term care at some point in their lives. The typical nursing home stay now costs about $70,000 per year - and much more in some cities. Few people can afford to pay such amounts for an extended period. Yet only about 7% of Americans have long-term-care (LTC) insurance policies, which cover nursing home, assisted-living and at-home care.
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Although finding a job may be the top priority for most new college graduates, parents are often more concerned about continuing their children's health coverage. Insurers typically drop kids from their parents' health plan once they grab that diploma (or by the time they turn 25).
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Now you can buy insurance that pays you for staying alive.
This so-called "longevity insurance'' pays you an income for life, but only if and when you make it to a certain age. It guards against the risk of outliving your money, arguably the top financial risk retirees face.
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Is a tax-deferred annuity a good investment for you?
If two insurance trade groups have their way, all investors will discuss that question with their insurance agents before buying.
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From time to time - not often enough for me - financial products come out that actually fill a need.
I'll discuss a couple today, and more in future columns.
While I find these products newsworthy, I'm not "recommending" them (in fact, neither fits my needs now). I will simply discuss the pros and cons.
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As I did last week, I will discuss two more fairly new types of financial products.
This time, I'll focus on broadly diversified international mutual funds and on index mutual funds and exchange-traded funds that invest in U.S. stocks with a history of raising dividends.
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A recent US Supreme Court decision against two participants in separate managed-care plans in Texas underscores how difficult it has become to sue HMOs, PPOs and other health insurance companies. Thus, it has become even more important to be a strong advocate for your own care.
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More than 69% of American households have some kind of life insurance, according to a 2003 report by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the US Department of the Treasury. But few of us understand how to get the most out of it. Five of the most damaging myths that lead to costly life insurance mistakes?
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The May 15 deadline to sign up for Medicare Part D is approaching. Miss it, and you could get stuck with a penalty -- 1 percent of the average national premium for every month you delay -- and you'll go without coverage until next year.
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Auto: Coverage will be less expensive if the student doesn't take a family car to school - if he/she maintains a B average or higher, you might be eligible for a discount.
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New term life insurance that promises to eventually return your premiums sounds better than it is. Standard term insurance is cheaper than whole life, but unlike whole life, premiums don't build cash value. New return of premium (ROP) term insurance, offered by several companies, including AIG and CNA Financial, promises to refund all premiums after 15 to 30 years, with partial refunds for shorter periods.
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Insurance plans almost everyone should have:
Credit-monitoring insurance stops would-be thieves from stealing your identity. Your credit card issuer notifies you within 24 hours of suspicious credit activity and helps with credit cleanup, if necessary. $50 to $120 per year.
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