As benefit season rolls around, are you prepared to make the best choices for your family? Watch our video to learn how to assess and optimize your benefits package, ensuring it supports your long-term financial stability and immediate needs.

Topics Discussed:

• HSA Accounts
• Life Insurance
• Legal Benefits
• Identity Theft Protection 

Transcript:

Hi everybody. I’m Paul Sydlansky, and welcome to episode 18 of The Build. In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about the benefits season and important things you need to look out for to maximize your company’s benefits.

It’s October, which means that benefit season is upon us: the one time of year where you can make changes to the benefits that you select at your company. I’m going to give you four things to think about as you go through your benefit process.

The first: consider an HSA account. Of course, you need to make sure that your current medical plan provides the necessary coverage that you need. Has anything changed? Are you happy with your current doctors? But if you can, an HSA is an incredible account because it’s the only account that offers three different types of tax benefits. Number one, money that goes into the HSA account that you put in provides you a deduction on your taxes. Number two, the money can grow tax-free in there when invested. And number three withdrawals are tax-free. This makes this triple savings account one of the best investment vehicles out there. So if you have an opportunity, make sure that you can take advantage of an HSA.

Number two: life insurance. Oftentimes, you’re offered a basic amount of life insurance through your company, maybe one or two times salary, but don’t overlook the ability to get additional life insurance often at a group policy rate that can be pretty low. Now, the one downside of this is often if you leave your company, you lose that life insurance coverage. However, some companies allow you to port the insurance. This is why it may make sense to have complimentary term life insurance outside of your company in addition to what you’re holding inside your company.

Number three, and this might be the most important thing to look for, the legal benefit. A lot of companies offer for a small monthly fee of maybe 10 or $20 access to a subset of lawyers who can provide a basic set of benefits. These include things like drafting wills and standard estate planning documents that if you go outside this vehicle can often cost you thousands of dollars. So if this is something you haven’t done, I highly suggest you select your company’s legal plan and look for the opportunity to engage with one of their predetermined law firms and use the benefit and get your estate planning documents taken care of ASAP.

 a small monthly fee of maybe 10 or $20,The fourth thing to think about, which is sometimes offered in plans and we’re seeing more of it now, is identity theft protection. We believe that it’s just a matter of when, not if that all of us will have some sort of breach or identity theft. And what’s really important now is how you react. Having some sort of identity protection service in place like a LifeLock to help you if this happens is hugely important. Again, it’s probably going to happen to most of us. The most important thing is how you react and how quickly you can take the necessary steps to protect yourself. After that’s happened, having one of those services can really go a long way in speeding up that process.

In conclusion, four things to think about to pay attention. Number one, HSA account. If you can do it, look into it. Life insurance, make sure you’re taking advantage of term insurance if they offer it. Number three, legal plan. It’s often a benefit that allows you to get much, much reduced rates on some basic estate planning packages. And number four, identity theft protection. If there’s an opportunity to enroll at a discount, definitely look to do it. Don’t make yourself wait a whole year because you didn’t take the time to look for these. So take advantage now and make sure you’re updating everything to meet your current needs. Thanks for your time. We look forward to seeing you next time on episode 19 of the Build.

Lake Road Advisors, a Fee-Only, independent financial planning firm with offices in Corning, NY, Ithaca, NY and Portland, OR works with clients virtually all across the country. Paul Sydlansky, the founder of Lake Road Advisors LLC, has worked in the financial services industry for 20+ years. Prior to founding Lake Road Advisors, Paul worked at Morgan Stanley in Manhattan for 13 years. While at Morgan Stanley, Paul was a senior-level manager within the Institutional Equities Department. In 2018 he was named to Investopedia’s Top 100 Financial Advisors list. Paul received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Marist College and holds an MBA from New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business. Paul is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) and the XY Planning Network. They can be reached by phone at the Corning, NY office at (607) 438-2914, Ithaca, NY office at (607) 463-8400, or Portland, OR office at (607) 292-2172 or at the firm’s website at https://lakeroadadvisors.com/ 

The information provided is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice and it should not be relied on as such. It should not be considered a solicitation to buy or an offer to sell a security. It does not take into account any investor’s particular investment objectives, strategies, tax status or investment horizon. You should consult your attorney or tax advisor.