Benefits, Insurance & Financial Considerations Through Life’s Changes
Benefits, insurance, and financial protection needs can change when your personal, professional, family, or business circumstances change.
These guides provide educational starting points for identifying benefits, insurance, and financial protection areas that may deserve attention during important transitions.
Starting or Growing a Business
Starting or expanding a business can create new responsibilities for both the owner and employees.
Areas to consider may include:
- Individual versus group health insurance
- Employee benefits
- Owner life and disability protection
- Key person exposure
- Business continuity
- Retirement benefits
- Future succession
- Personal and business financial priorities
Career & Employment Changes
Starting a new job, leaving an employer, becoming self-employed, or losing employer-sponsored coverage can affect multiple areas of your financial life.
Consider reviewing:
- Health insurance
- Coverage termination dates
- Enrollment deadlines
- Available employer benefits
- Life insurance
- Disability coverage
- Retirement accounts
- Income protection
- Coverage for dependents
Marriage & Growing Your Family
Marriage, birth, adoption, and other family changes may create new benefits, insurance, and financial responsibilities.
Consider reviewing:
- Health insurance
- Dependent coverage
- Life insurance
- Disability and income protection
- Beneficiary designations
- Emergency savings
- Employer benefits
- Long-term financial priorities
Caring for Aging Parents
Helping an aging parent can involve healthcare, insurance, caregiving, housing, and financial considerations.
Areas to review may include:
- Medicare
- Existing health coverage
- Prescription coverage
- Long-term care
- Caregiving responsibilities
- Important financial and legal documents
- Beneficiary information
- Family communication
- Coordination with appropriate legal and financial professionals
Health, Disability & Life Changes
A serious illness, injury, disability, or other major health event can affect income, insurance, employment, and family responsibilities.
Important questions may include:
- What health coverage is currently available?
- How could income be affected?
- What benefits are available through an employer?
- Is disability coverage available?
- Are existing life insurance policies and beneficiaries current?
- Does health coverage need to change?
- Which financial obligations require immediate attention?
Understanding available resources can help individuals and families organize the decisions that may need attention.
Retirement & Medicare
Approaching retirement can create several interconnected decisions.
Areas to consider may include:
- Retirement timing
- Employer health coverage
- Health insurance before Medicare
- Medicare eligibility
- Medicare enrollment timing
- Prescription coverage
- Retirement income
- Life insurance
- Long-term care
- Beneficiary designations
- Other financial protection needs
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Selling or Transitioning a Business
Selling or transferring a business can affect ownership, income, retirement, employees, taxes, and family finances.
Areas that may require coordination include:
- Business valuation
- Succession planning
- Buy-sell arrangements
- Ownership transfer
- Retirement planning
- Insurance coverage
- Employee benefits
- Personal financial protection
- Legal and tax considerations
These decisions may require coordination among several professional advisers.
Estate & Legacy Considerations
Estate and legacy planning can involve decisions about how assets, responsibilities, business interests, and financial protection should be handled during life and after death.
Areas to discuss with appropriate professional advisers may include:
- Beneficiary designations
- Life insurance
- Ownership of assets
- Estate planning documents
- Business interests
- Family responsibilities
- Charitable intentions
- Legacy objectives
Legal and tax matters should be addressed with appropriately qualified legal and tax professionals.
Financial Wellness & Decision Making
Financial wellness includes understanding your financial responsibilities, available resources, risks, and priorities.
Helpful practices can include:
- Understanding your employee benefits
- Reviewing insurance periodically
- Maintaining appropriate emergency savings
- Reviewing beneficiaries
- Preparing for major life events
- Understanding healthcare costs
- Evaluating financial protection needs
- Asking questions before making significant decisions
- Reviewing your strategy when circumstances change
The goal is to identify the decisions that deserve attention and make informed choices as circumstances evolve.
Not Sure Where to Start?
Choose the path that best fits your circumstances.