Last week, I discussed what a stock option was and how there are two different kinds. When an employer gives you/grants you options, it is not considered a taxable event. It’s only when you DO something with the options that you have to pay attention and figure out if it is taxable or not. There …
Retirement Planning
Employee Stock Options, Part 1 of 2
What the heck is an employee stock option? Publicly traded companies may offer employees stock options as a form of incentive compensation. These options give you the right to purchase company stock at a specific price. There’s a lot of jargon to share when it comes to employee stock options. The initial price, when you …
What is Disability Insurance and Why Should You Have It?
Continuing with open enrollment month for your workplace benefits, let’s talk about disability insurance. Many people think about life insurance, especially if they have kids, but not everyone thinks about disability insurance, even though your chances of becoming disabled are greater than dying. According to a report published by the Social Security Administration in August …
What is Disability Insurance and Why Should You Have It?Read More
FSA’s & HSA’s
In my last blog, I talked about health care open enrollment. A few of the options that many employers offer for benefits are Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) or Health Savings Accounts (HSA). Are you familiar with FSAs/HSAs and how they are used? If not, read on for more information. FSA’s An FSA is an account …
What Exactly is Open Enrollment?
If you work for someone else, there’s a good chance that you are, or soon will be, in the midst of Open Enrollment season for your benefit choices. This is the period when your employer allows you to adjust or newly enroll in your employee benefits, like health insurance. It’s important to pay attention during …
IRA Vs. 401(k) Vs. ROTH – Part 2
Last week, we talked about the differences between an IRA and a 401(k). Both are types of retirement accounts, and the 401(k) is typically administered through an employer, whereas almost anyone can open an IRA. Now, we are going to talk about the Roth versions of these same investment vehicles. I described them as different …
IRA Vs. 401(k) Vs. Roth – Part 1
I have found that professional, super-smart people, that I personally know, do not know the difference between an IRA, a Roth IRA, and a 401(k). That will simply not do. You need to know this stuff. We’re going to fix that right now. The challenge will be keeping it short and sweet because there are …
The Ins and Outs of Long-Term Care Insurance
Some people think that when they get older and they have to go into an assisted living or nursing home facility, they will just be covered by Medicare or their regular health insurance. Wrong. Medicare doesn’t cover much of assisted living or nursing home stays. Your stay could be covered by Medicaid, which is for …
The Secure Act
The SECURE Act was officially signed into law on 12/20/19. It was passed by the house in the summertime, and what I heard last was that it *wasn’t* going to pass the senate, but lo and behold, it did. Like its name implies, it is supposed to make big changes to retirement accounts, and then …