Making The Most Out Of Your Employer Benefits 

Employer benefits come as part of the package of any job. They come in many guides, depending on the position and grade of employment, but cover a variety of areas—from retirement planning to healthcare.

Whatever form they take, it’s essential to know how to make the best of them. The following discusses 5 ways to ensure that your benefits are working hard to ensure you’re in the best financial shape possible, both in the present and far into the future.

All About Employer Benefits 

• What employer benefits can I expect?
• How to best utilize employer benefits 

What employer benefits can I expect?

These might include any or all of the following:

• Medical: Including health, prescription, vision, and dental plans
• Retirement benefits: Pension, 401K, etc
• Legal assistance
• Relocation assistance
• Disability income protection
• Childcare benefits
  

Not every employment package offers the same benefits, but it’s important to understand how to utilize yours to the best advantage.

How to best utilize employer benefits  

The following details 5 ways to make the most of some of  the most common employee benefits.

1. Prioritize your retirement contributions: No matter what your age, or how far away retirement might seem, making this your highest priority will pay dividends in the long run. At a minimum, it’s recommended that you save at least 10% of your annual salary. Contributing the full amount that you need for your employer to match will greatly increase the final amounts you receive when retirement finally rolls around.
2. Consider the high deductible health plan: Contrary to popular belief, the low deductible option won’t necessarily be right for you. Those who’re young and in good health are unlikely to visit the doctor much, making it unnecessary to pay high premiums for a service that they probably won’t need to use.
3. HSA advantages: High deductible plans benefit from a government-authorized, tax advantaged way of paying for qualifying health expenses. This allows you to pay for elements, such as allergy shots and prescriptions, with pre-tax dollars. Another little known benefit of a high deductible plan is to use it to supplement your retirement - the money doesn’t expire each year (unlike a flexible spending account).
4. Don’t discount the disability option: While it can be tempting to ditch the short-term disability benefit, signing up for this will, should the worst happen, be a life-saver.. Finding yourself unable to work is hard enough to deal with—having to dip into your hard earned cash and reducing your retirement funding to do so makes an unpleasant situation even more catastrophic.
5. Roll a former 401K into your current plan: If the plan your current employer offers is a good one, consider bringing any former 401K into this one. Not only will it help increase it’s value, it will be easier to keep track of and—potentially—reduce any management fees you have to pay.
   

These are 5 of the most often overlooked ways to make the most out of your employer benefits. Of course, the ultimate method to make them work as hard as possible is to undergo an independent assessment from a financial expert. That way, your individual circumstances will be looked at and advice given to ensure that your situation is maximized to the full.

Contact Capita for your Personal Employer Benefits Overhaul 

When it comes to safeguarding your assets today and building on them for the future, no-one is better placed to provide quality advice than leading financial experts, Capita. Whether you’re at the beginning of your employment years, well into them, or heading towards retirement, it’s never too early or too late to make the very best of the benefits on offer.

 Visit https://www.capitafinancialnetwork.com to find out more and book your personal consultation today.