Your 2011 Personal

Employee Benefits Checklist

Beneficiaries

(1)  Each year, review your beneficiary designations to be sure they’re up to date. Check your 401(k) plan, your pension program and all your life insurance coverages. Do your beneficiary designations reflect your intentions? Hint: Look at your company provided plans and supplemental plans available through your employer as well as any personal policies you have.

Health and Wellness

 (2)  More than ever, know what your health plan covers and what it doesn’t. Health Care Reform has added new requirements, and employers have made additional changes. Know your plan provisions for 2011.

(3)  Staying healthy is the best way to control your health care expenses. Take advantage of preventive services in your health plan. Join wellness programs and be rewarded with incentives offered by your employer.

(4)  Designate your Primary Care Physician and make sure your doctors, dentists and pharmacies have the most current health plan coverage information for you and your dependents and, for newly eligible dependents, that they have a copy of the child’s current ID card on file. (Many plans now cover children up to age 26.)

Life Insurance Protection

(5)  Life insurance is often available through your employer – either company paid or employee paid through attractive group rates. Many experts recommend that you have life insurance of 5-10 times your annual pay. Review your life insurance coverage so it’s appropriate to your current situation and your expected future needs.

(6)  With interest rates still relatively low, consider group universal life coverage which may offer you more attractive interest rates within the cash value account feature of the program.

 Disability Insurance

(7)  Protect your future income by considering Long Term Disability insurance. Typical employees are much more likely to become disabled sometime during their working career than to have a life insurance event.

Long Term Care

(8)  Long Term Care coverage is valuable protection for your retirement assets. If your employer offers coverage, look into participating. If you already participate, take advantage of the available inflation adjustment features that will help you better protect financial resources you will need for retirement.

401(k) Plans

(9)  Stay up-to-date on your 401(k) accounts. Contribute at a rate that gets the greatest company matching contributions and maximize the tax effectiveness of pre-tax contributions and tax deferrals on investment returns. If you’re going to be 50 or older in 2011, maximize your catch-up contributions. If your plan includes a 401(k) Roth feature, see if it makes sense for you.

(10)  Review your investments. Review the investment alternatives that are available in your plan and the fees associated with each. Investment results in 2010 differed by asset class; does your account need to be rebalanced to achieve the diversification you are targeting? Take advantage of investment education and advice services offered within your employer’s plan, and don’t forget to monitor any 401(k) plans you participate in through a former employer.

Voluntary Benefits

(11)  Voluntary Benefits – employee paid plans that are offered as part of your Employee Benefits program – can offer a wide range of programs to meet your needs. These can include critical illness protection, additional life insurance, legal services, auto and home insurance, identity theft protection, purchase discounts and even pet insurance. Review your employer’s menu of voluntary benefits and sign up for those which meet your individual and family needs.

Managing Benefits Checklists^TM

Use checklists to manage benefits. 

Experts tell us that one of the best ways to manage in high risk situations and avoid costly mistakes is to use a checklist.

This seemingly simple tool has been shown to reduce medical errors in hospitals by some 50% and pilots don't take off without reviewing their pre-flight checklist.   

We've developed checklists to help you manage benefits.  These Managing Benefits Checklists are published in our newsletters.

Here's our latest Managing Benefits Checklist.

The beginning of each year is a good time to review where you are in each of the employee benefits plans covering you and your family. 

Your 2011 Personal Managing Benefits Checklist includes 11 key questions to help get you started. 11 for 2011!

Help is available.  

Be sure you’ve explored all the resources on the websites for your benefits plans.  Health plan websites often contain valuable information and links to other useful resources.  401(k) provider sites feature financial planning tools and retirement calculators to help you plan for your future.

Share this list with your friends.    Benefits are personal, and this is a list everyone can use! 

Of course, no list limited to 11 items can be all inclusive - rather, these are some key questions to think about now.  We welcome your input on other topics that could be added to future checklists.

Here's a link to download a PDF of a convenient reference format, including a workbook, of  Your 2011 Personal Managing Benefits Checklist™ and Workbook

Your Personal Managing Benefits Checklist™  and Workbook

11 steps to take in 2011 for your personal benefits

Complimentary copy

Available NOW!

Download here