ALERT! Open Enrollment Time!
Here’s an image for you: Mapgirl is windmilling her arms wildly in your face, shouting,’It’s almost time for open enrollment!’
For those new to this phrase ‘open enrollment’, it’s that time at the end of the year when companies allow you to switch around your benefits packages. Usually it means open enrollment for your health plan, 401K, Flexible Spending Accounts, etc. At this time, you’ll study different healthcare and prescription plans and rack your brain on what’s the best deal for you and your family. If you don’t already have a budget, now is a good time to set one so you can take advantage of open enrollment.
I typically plan out my healthcare expenses for the year with Flexible Spending. I know that I will spend at least another $4000 on dental expenses in 2007, and that $5000 is the maximum I can set aside. However, I only put aside $3000 this year. I need to ask myself if I’m willing to take another cut each paycheck to cover the maximum amount. 26 paychecks a year divided into $2000 is about $77. Could I set that aside for my health? Yeah, I probably could. And that will reduce my tax burden, which is pretty cool.
PaycheckCity.com is my favorite place for open enrollment calculations. I will run some numbers there, then punch them into a spreadsheet in different scenarios so I can see what effects changing my 401K contribution will have, or changing from an HMO plan to a PPO plan and the accompanying change in payroll deductions.
I know it’s not yet November, but time is really going to fly by if you don’t sit down and plan a little now. Later on, you’re going to get overwhelmed with information about plans, and the last thing you will want to do is figure out a brand new budget and what you can afford. (Heck, in the 5-10 minutes it took for me to write this post, I just figured out that I can probably afford $77 per check because I already have an idea of what I’m spending.)
Other news: I got the first of my replacement crowns yesterday. It’s a little weird, but I celebrated by having pork medallions for dinner. Tasty!
Wilks wrote:
Here’s a way to “withdraw” from your FSA http://highestechelon.blogspot.com/2006/10/heres-how-to-get-money-out-of-your.html#links
Posted on 17-Oct-06 at 11:24 am | Permalink
j t wrote:
yeah, thanks for the alert. my company has a “benefits fair” this week. they changed from “pos” to “epo”, which is like co-insurance that they cover 90% of all expenses with $0 deductible.
ouch, i hope your teeth are feeling okay!
Posted on 18-Oct-06 at 12:31 am | Permalink
Kansas Simplicity wrote:
Thanks for the motivation. How strange..I have our call today with our VP of HR and the new plans for 2007! Also, paycheckcity.com..I will check out that resource today to assist in my paycheck management. Thanks for the resources and enjoy those new ‘crowns’.
Posted on 19-Oct-06 at 11:12 am | Permalink