Episode 5: Maximizing your Employee Benefits with Danny White

in this episode Hunter and Danny Discuss the framework of how to be decide on health insurance, Disability insurance, Group Life insurance, and more. Hunter Briefly discusses retirement plans. if you are a business owner and would like some help with offering group benefits shoot Danny an email at Danny@twotwelvebenefits.com or go to their website Two Twelve Benefit.

if your would like a personal review please reach out to Hunter at Hunter@palmvalleywm.com

palmvalleywm.com

Check out the Palm Valley Wealth Management Website
PalmValleywm.com

Check us out on
Instagram
LinkedIn
Facebook
Listen to the Podcast Here!
Apple
Spotify

Transcript

VoiceMeeter Output (VB-Audio VoiceMeeter VAIO)-7: 0:09

And welcome to the Retire Early, Retire Now podcast. This is episode number five, and I am your host, Hunter Kelly, owner of Palm Valley Wealth Management. And in this episode, we will discuss your open enrollment packet. We touch on this packet in episode three, but wanted to get a little bit more granular in the health insurance. And some other ancillary benefits. And we'll bring on a guest, Danny white with two 12 benefits. But before we dive in, just want to remind you guys, this podcast is for educational purposes. This is not financial advice. This communication Should not be relied upon as a sole factor in an investment making decision. If you would like help, please seek a tax or legal professional and please keep Palm Valley wealth management in mind when making those considerations. we have Danny White on here with 212 benefits, and we're going to cover open enrollment packets, if you are an employee of a business, you likely have some sort of packet with your health insurance options, maybe some disability options, retirement options. Um, and some changes that may need to be made, or maybe you pick the same thing as you pick last year. But just really wanted to give you a little bit of education around some definitions of some things that used to confuse me. But yeah, I just wanted to talk about open enrollment and let Danny take the floor a little bit and share his knowledge. So the way Danny and I met is we do some business networking through a business organization called B and I. Um, and oddly enough, we actually went to the same high school, did not attend the same years, but, uh, but ended up graduating from the same high school. So he's since got into group benefits and is an expert in that field. And uh, so I thought it would be very valuable to bring him on and talk about health benefits. So, um. Bye. Danny, tell us a little bit more specifically about who you serve and how you help people. Yeah, Hunter, well, I appreciate you bringing me on. I was excited for this one. so yeah, 212 Benefits, we're a local benefits broker and what that means is we're kind of a middleman. between businesses and the insurance carriers. So, we help local businesses and again, we're Jacksonville, Florida. I don't know what the, range of, of listeners where you're from, but greater Jacksonville, Florida area. so we help service local businesses, in Florida and we're licensed in Georgia as well, kind of implement and then manage those employee benefits that you offer your employees. So, it kind of ranges like Hunter said, the, the health insurance, dental vision, The disability, et cetera. So I'm just kind of whole gambit of things. Yeah, so normally I don't hear about people, getting any group benefits right out of college. So, so how'd you get into group benefits? Yeah, so as a boy, I'm sure the, the question is always asked, what do you want to be when you grew up? And, and, you know, you always hear astronauts and firefighters and actors. And I did not say I wanted to be a benefit broker, but here I am. So I was at UNF. University of North Florida for public health wanted to go a physical therapy route, but after interning for a close family friend, kind of realized the passion wasn't there, but to graduate, there needed to be an internship of sorts and on the long list of partners to 12 benefits was one where, you know, I had this kind of inkling to go towards a financial route, but I was so far into the program for public health. I couldn't, restart. I didn't, I didn't want to have to redo all my credits. So, health insurance, it's a happy medium of public health and finance. So the closest thing I was going to get, so decided to intern, but honestly fell in love with the industry as messed up as, as our health insurance market is. Again, fell in love with it. And here I am. Yeah, there's definitely a big need for education, especially in this. This world where health insurance can get pretty complicated and for someone that maybe is like a Tradesperson or just works for a corporation that has nothing to do with insurance It can be really confusing and that's kind of what I want to touch on today is some of those basic definitions and then the framework of well How should I pick my health plan and and what's a FSA and things of that nature? So so I appreciate you bringing it on here and, let's go ahead and dive into it. So generally the big decision for during open enrollment is health insurance because that can be the biggest cost, right? And whether that be an emergency surgery or something that's planned, or maybe you need to be put on a new medication that you weren't expecting, whatever that case may be, it gets expensive real quick. And so. Depending on what plan you pick, can can really impact the cost of that. And so, let's all kind of just let's just start on the easy one or what I would say is pretty basic. All right. So we have a couple of different plans that is in each of these plans have something in common called a deductible. And so what, what is a deductible and how does that work? Yeah, so in your health insurance options, you have, like you said, what's called a deductible. And that is going to be the amount that you, the insured, are going to be responsible for. paying before the insurance carrier steps in to help you out, so to speak. that number varies greatly. You might have a plan design that has a 1, 000 deductible where you are going to owe 1, 000 worth of health care before they kick in to help you. You might have a high deductible plan where it might be 6, 000. so that. That deductible is the amount that you need to meet and that's going to come out of your pocket before they help you out And so, I know you're your next question. So just to segue into it smoothly How do they help you? What do I mean by help you out? That's what they call co insurance And so co insurance is is a split a percentage split typically it's 80 for the insurance carrier 20 for you It might be a 50 50 split. It might be 100 percent for the carry and you don't have to pay anything, but that percentage split is after you've met your deductible, they're going to pay X percentage of the claims from then on out. And you're going to pay the other percent. Good, analogy there. A good explanation. so what you're saying is if I've met my 1000 deductible and then I have another 1000 expensive, my, my co insurance is 80%. The insurance company would cover 800 of that and then I would have to front the 200 Correct for that bill. Correct. Perfect. Yep. and then at some point, the insurance company will start to cover a hundred percent, which is called the out of pocket max. So how does that work with the deductible and the co insurance and, and, and all that? Yeah. So the maximum amount of pocket as the name implies, it's the most, it's the maximum amount that you are going to have to pay potentially if you, if you meet it, the max that you're going to have to pay. For medical expenses in that year. so if you're a maximum out of pocket is let's say 2, 000 where your deductibles 1000 the most you are going to pay. It's predictable is 2, 000 after that. the insurance carrier will step in and they're going to cover every other expense that you have. and so that coinsurance again, that kicks in after your deductible and helps you. with payments up to that maximum amount of pocket. So that's, that's probably the most common question I get when I do a review for open enrollment packets is, is, so The out of pocket max also includes a deductible. So it's not 2000 plus the 1000 deductible. It's all combined. Correct. Yep. That 1000 deductible is part of that maximum out of pocket. I'll add this, there's, there's one more term that a lot of people and again, it's probably one of the better known terms, but it still has a misconception as a copay. And that's, it's, strictly just a flat rate. It might be 40, it might be 100, but it's a predictable known cost that you're going to pay for specific services, whatever is outlined in your plan design. And it's typically your, your urgent care visits, your primary care physician visits, your specialist visits, as well as prescriptions that you might have. And so a very important note, and this is across the board for all plans, group health insurance, or if you get it through the marketplace, your co pays. They do not go towards your deductible. They go straight towards your max out of pocket. They bypass that deductible. So, if the very first service that you use in your plain year is a, is a, let's say a specialist visit and it's a co pay, even though you've had no money go towards your deductible, that co pay will be going towards your maximum out of pocket first. So that's something that's a huge misconception where people think the copays go towards their deductible. Yep. Yep So it's it's not a double whammy there. It does help toward that overall cost But you still have to beat the deductible which is which is good good knowledge there And so the next decision or the next Thing that most people look at is, okay, I see this thing that says HMO and PPO, which one is better? What are they? So, in a, in a quick blurb here, explain kind of what an HMO is and a PPO and then how they differ a little bit. Yeah. So a PPO we'll start there. It's, it's going to have out of network benefits. So you have your in network providers, right. And in network just means that the insurance carrier you're using They have basically contracted with this provider and said, Hey, if you use us in your network, we are going to basically give you that business. we're going to incentivize our, insured. To use you instead of someone that would cost more in our out of network. So with a PPO, you're going to have an out of network benefit as well as a network. and those typically are nationwide networks as well. So if you're in the state of florida and you're on a PPO plan, if you are in Idaho and you have something happening, you need to seek care. you are still going to have in network doctors, even though you're in a completely different state and you're from florida. an HMO. On the other hand, there's no out of network benefits. So again, that same example, if you're in Idaho and you need to seek care, there's no one that's going to be a network. for the most part, I should say, yeah, plans vary. there's some HMOs where they do have a nationwide network, okay. there's some that have just a statewide network and there's even some HMOs that it's very localized what they call neighborhood plans where it's just a regional. So if you're in Jacksonville, if you're on a local network, it might be certain hospital systems within Northeast Florida. Now, what if there's an emergency? You're out in Idaho, you're hiking and you break your leg. How does that work? Yeah. I should also mention that as well, that if there is an emergency situation, they will see you. The price associated won't be pretty, but they will. Yes, you will not get turned away. Okay. Sure. And and so how do I determine? What's what are some questions I should ask? About these two different types of plans which one would I guess steer me toward HMO or PPO? Yeah, so Excuse me, at first glance, it seems that PPOs are better naturally because there's network benefits. It's going to be nationwide. That sounds so much better, but there's obviously a price associated with it. When you go on a PPO plan, the premium that you pay every month, it's going to be higher. And so it's really give and take and getting bang for your buck. So a question to ask yourself is. Do I have any providers that I'm kind of married to that I need to see right? I have extreme loyalty to this one doctor because I've seen them since I was a kid or whatever it might be right for a particular condition that corrects and doctor only provides care for. Yep. If that's the case, And they're not in network for maybe an HMO option and you would really like them in network that PPO might make sense for you, even though it's a higher premium, if you are maybe an avid traveler, maybe your job requires you to go place to place in different states. A PPO might make the most sense, even though it's a slightly higher premium, but an HMO, it's had a bad rap, but it really is a good choice. If you're, you know, you stay local, I'll You're not going all over the place. You're not particular with who you seek care from as long as they're in network. an HMO might make more sense, because of the lower premium associated with it. Awesome. And so we've touched on it a little bit. And when we talked about deductibles and coinsurance and everything else. So, just thinking back to personal experience, I mentioned before we got on here that we did my wife and I just had to select our plans. And so we have a high deductible. or a high premium. So generally we would pick the high premium because we were in a stage of life where we're with kids and a lot, a lot of medical expenses involved in that. And so, one explain kind of the difference between the high deductible and the high premium. and then two, we'll kind of get into why we should pick one or the other. Yeah. So. a higher premium plan and a higher deductible plan, they have an inverse relationship where if you have a plan that's a higher premium, you're tend to going to see a lower deductible. I'm going back to the deductible. It's the amount that you're going to pay out of your pocket before the health insurance carrier kicks in to help you. so a higher premium for a lower deductible, whereas a higher deductible plan, like I've said, it's, it's going to have a lower premium associated with it. I would kind of say some of the The benefits of each maybe a higher premium plan like like hunter mentioned when you have life situations, you know, you're going to use your insurance, right you have predicted you have known Circumstances that are going to lead to you needing to use your insurance often that higher premium plan Which is going to be that lower deductible? Well might be the better option because you're going to get more bang for your buck. Yeah. Yeah, I liked it because I knew My outlay every month, outside of the medical bills that we got, I kind of knew, okay, this four or 500 a month, whatever it ended up being, I know that that's coming out and then the extra expenses when I got my medical bills. We're not astronomically high. Whereas on the other side where if I had a high deductible, well now, yeah, my, my premium is maybe a fraction of what that higher premium was, but, but now I have to plan for a 5, 000 expense or something of that nature. Yep. So. Yeah. And then the vice versa, the higher deductible plan. If you're someone you're, maybe you're younger and you're, you're healthier, you don't typically seek care. That's the case for me specifically. I know that where, you know, I don't see the doctor often. I don't, there's no predictable or known, circumstances that are going to be coming up where I'm going to need to, get really get banged for my buck for my plan. I'm okay with a high deductible plan. it's going to be a lower premium for me every month. And in the case that there is something catastrophic, I am covered. but you know, I'm playing those odds and that's what health insurance is. It's really a risk analysis. And so, yeah, if you're younger, you're healthier, you, you don't really have the need for seeking much care that the higher deductible lower premium plan. Yeah. My wife and I had a long discussion about this the last couple of weeks because, I guess I were, we're done having kids, and, and. We don't expect any of us knock on wood to have any medical expenses that are abnormal outside of just checkups. And so it's a little terrifying knowing that, hey, we could have a bigger expense, but mathematically, it makes more sense for us to go to the high deductible. So that's the, the 1 that we ended up. go with after I pleaded for her and me and my wife are in the opposite boat. I mean, as when we have kids in the future, that's something we're gonna have to talk about is right now we're probably about to touch on this. We're on an HSA eligible plan where it's a higher deductible. but you know, as you start having kids and those expenses pop up, you're going to want something to cover you quickly. Yeah. And that's kind of what I wanted to lead into. But before we lead into the HSA, the other thing that I noticed, and I don't know if this is common through all plans, it was at least with Mayo or my wife works. once we contribute to the HSA. And basically put away the quote unquote premium that we're not paying anymore. the out of pocket max ended up being fairly similar. So. We would end up paying the same. So I thought, Hey, we can just save for that potentially big expense through the HSA. but if we don't, then we get to keep that money versus just giving it to the insurance company. Yeah, right. So you'll find often that, you know, with an HSA plan, the deductible might be high, let's say 6, 000 for deductible, but that max out of pocket will also be 6, 000. it's the same. And so typically in those instances, the co insurance is 100%. So as soon as you meet your deductible. You've also met your max out of pocket and that's it. if you know, you're going to meet your max out of pocket on a non HSA eligible plan, where maybe your deductible is 2000 and the max out of pocket, 6, 000, you're paying 6, 000 either way. Yep. And like Hunter said, you still have that ability to, to, yeah. And it makes it more predictable on the higher premium, which is what we've done the last few years. And so now I'm hedging that we won't hit the out of pocket max again, knock on wood. And then we'll be able to roll that over, which leads me into to HSA versus FSA. So. and in the recent years we have, I don't know if we've maxed it, but we put a fair bit into our F. S. A. and so tell me a little bit, about F. S. A. Versus H. S. A. And how those, work together with the different plans. Yeah. So an H. S. A. Health savings account. you are able to contribute pre tax dollars into that account. it's employee owned. So, if you enroll, like I had mentioned on an HSA eligible plan, which could also be known as a high deductible health plan, you have access to an HSA where you can contribute that money. one thing that I love about it and I'm sure Hunter loves as well. anyone that is into the finance aspect of it, you're able to invest. and that's something that I personally do. it's just me right now on my health plan. I again, don't seek care often. So I'm just stashing away money in this HSA, getting my employer contribution, investing it, and it's just going to grow and. Down the line, I'll have more in my back pocket to, to go towards expenses. So it has the, investment capabilities. another great thing and probably the best is the tax advantages, the contributions, triple tax. Oh yeah. It's one of, is it the only one? I don't know. Yeah, it's the only one. So it goes in pre tax. So just using easy numbers, you make 100, 000, you max it out at 8, 700, and I just made my easy math hard. what is it, you basically take 8, 700 off your income, and then it will grow tax deferred. So, my goal is to hopefully not use all of my money in my HSA the following year. So I can roll that over. And then what I would generally advise is once you get to your out of pocket max and cash and anything over that, you can start investing. and then eventually when you need that for medical expenses, then it would be tax free. And then the other thing that a lot of people don't know is once you hit age 65 You can actually use that, for retirement and some special rules and stuff where you don't have to use it for medical expenses. So if you can keep stacking it and stacking and stacking it one, you could use it for medical expenses, maybe to supplement an early retirement. Or, if you ended up not retiring early, you could end up using it later on down the road for, more retirement expenses, not necessarily health. You know, there's actually something I've heard a tip where. And I started implementing this where if you contribute to an HSA and you invest that money, if you're able to paying for your health care expenses out of out of pocket, just continuing to let it invest, but save your receipts. and then down the line, even if it's 10 years later at a health expense, That I incurred in 2023, but now it's 2020, 2033. I can submit that receipt and be able to pull that money out tax free as well. Yup. Yup. Yup. I don't know the exact, I'd have to look that up, but I don't know if there's a, timetable on that, but yes, yes, I, I know you can do that. and then the other thing, a friend of mine actually asked me to touch on this. he's like, hey, would it make sense for me to just go ahead and pay out of pocket, and let that HSA build up so that I can get some of that money invested? and, and so I, I think depending on your cash flow, obviously if you can handle it and run out your, and honestly what your tax situation looks like, do you want? that defer growth or, you want to take the deduction this year and whatever the case may be. Then yeah, I don't think that would be a terrible idea to consider, Hey, let's pay a couple of years out of pocket if we can handle it and let that start to grow tax deferred because now you got to, you got extra money outside of your 401k and everything else that is kind of in a quote unquote retirement fund. That's how you beat the system, ladies and gentlemen. These, these health carriers won't name names, but that's how you beat them. Let's hope, let's hope it's going to take a. And then the other thing I wanted to touch on, is, I touched on it in episode three, but that dependent care FSA, big deal for those who either have children that they're paying for some sort of child care or even maybe a family member that is disabled. and they, pay for some sort of care. You can put up to 5, 000 in there. get that tax deduction. I recently got into a LinkedIn discussion on this. the Congress is talking about, doubling the, contribution limit into HSAs, but I really feel like the dependent care FSA being increased would, would make more sense. they didn't add an inflation rider on there. So if you back, I think it was in the mid eighties, if, if they would add it. that inflation increase, it would be double what it is now. Wow. And so like, I pay north of 10, 000 a year for, for daycare, and it's only part time, like nothing crazy, and, and I wish I could be able to deduct all that, and so I, I feel for those families that, that don't get that as well. and so, I guess let's just kind of recap and get into some questions. So if I'm, if I'm looking at a high deductible versus a HMO, we kind of touch on this. are there any other questions that I really should be asking myself? Like how do I, how do I maximize the self insurance? so that I know I'm picking the right one. Yeah. So again, the age old question and one of the most important is Is there any foreseeable events happening in my life, right if it's marriage or divorce or maybe you're planning on having a baby Those are huge Those have huge implications on the type of plan that you're gonna gonna choose also And this isn't really my, my wheelhouse is more hunters, but what's my budget? obviously that matters because if you can't pay for it, then why choose it? so that's a big one as well. I would say is budget. Yeah, that's kind of the sometimes it's the the chicken or the egg Right. It's like I I like this higher deductible plan because it it It's less on my pocketbook every month. But if if I don't have the cash flow to support the deductible, then I'm kind of screwed there. But if I don't have the cash flow to pay for the premium, it gets tight sometimes. So just being very diligent about taking time to review those, especially as premiums change. Honestly, the biggest reason we took a look outside of not having Children and the future is like the, the premium increase like 200 a month. And so we were like, yeah, is it really worth paying that premium, then to go to the lower to, lower premium and then putting in the HSA. So made us think a little bit. And so, the next thing that, that Danny, provides as well. is disability insurance. This is really, really underrated. I think, I've had a number of clients get into car wrecks, break bones where they couldn't work for a while, and so what disability insurance is going to do is it is going to pay you some sort of benefit, some sort of cash benefit. If you're unable to work and, and again, I touch on this a little bit in the third episode, but there is going to be what's called an elimination period. So it could be a 90 180 day elimination period. And if a doctor says, Hey, you are disabled for whatever reason, this insurance company will pay you a benefit. And so, where I wanted to bring Danny in on this is. It's just, I guess tell us what a common benefit is, what this, is it a percentage? Is it a, actual hard number? what does that look like for a lot of companies? So there's really two different options within disability insurance or short term and long term disability. and they're, they're a little different, obviously the name kind of helps imply what that difference is. But with short term disability, you're looking at anywhere from 40 to 70 percent of your income. with a maximum on it. Mm-hmm. So if you're making, let's say a hundred thousand dollars, again, the policies vary depending on the way it was quoted, but anywhere from 40 to 70% of your income can be covered up to a maximum of, let's say$2,500 a month. they do put those maximums on there for whatever reason. I don't know, but, fluctuates. Yeah. I mean, they're probably just trying to, trying to actuarily save their butt a little bit there. Yeah. Right. and yeah, those waiting periods. It tend to be anywhere from 30 to 90 days as well in the limit duration. so again, this is looking at covering your income in the case of, an illness or, an injury up to, let's say, 6 months typically. sometimes up to a year, but other. Tend to be anywhere from three to six, maybe a year that'll cover you. And so now let me ask you this. I've seen this, a couple of times and this is tick tock. So who knows if it's true or not, but, so if I, if I'm a soon to be parent and I know that I'm pregnant now or not me, but, someone who's pregnant now, and I know that I'm going to have the baby in March or April or whatever, the following year. does short term disability cover something like that? That's a good question. So it depends on what carrier. Yeah, it really does. It depends on the policy and the way it's written. And that's the main thing with pretty much anything that you quote, any, any type of insurance, health insurance, dental vision, disability life, the way they can structure the policy. It varies so drastically, it's hard to pinpoint one exact answer, but, definitely I would advise if someone has that exact question going to, if they know their broker, that's great. I think it's important to your broker, but I know a lot of companies don't. So in that case, go to your HR department and they can kind of help you get that squared away. Yep. So it's, what it's telling me is make sure that you're talking to HR to, to find a policy that will cover you, absolutely help their employees out. And so, Kind of go off off subject here a little bit. short term disability is good. I think it's a really good option If you haven't saved your three to six months once you get to that point where you saved your three to six months I I feel like Short term disability is not as valuable and I won't say it's a waste of money because you're certainly getting a benefit if you get an injury or something of that nature, but, that's why we save that. So we can save that costs and use it elsewhere to something that may be a bigger priority. And so, so I'm assuming that long term disability works very similar. And what are some of the durations that you see that employers provide? Yeah, so typically for for long term disability, One, the waiting period. It can be a little bit longer. You're not typically going to see 30 days. It might be 90 days, but the duration you can get anywhere from two, two years, five years is pretty typical, but I mean, even 10 and then in a rare case, there might be a lifetime. so I would say the average is five. And again, I hate this answer is annoying, but it is true. It depends on the way the policy is written. Yep. Yep. And so, generally speaking, what I've seen, and this is obviously anecdotal, but some of the studies I've read as well, most people aren't breaking their neck and becoming disabled forever. the, the vast majority of people are tearing their ACL or having back surgery, where maybe it's a one or two year deal. And so I, I think the two, depending on, again, your situation, maybe a two or five year. plan would make most sense. And that's probably what most employers are offering. and so then you have to look at, okay, well, well, what's the amount of coverage I have? Right? So we go back to making 100, 000 for sake of easy numbers. Well, if they're only covering 40 or 50 percent well now, how do I Go ahead and fill that gap, right? And so there's a number of ways that you can do it. The least common way I've seen in a handful of times, and Danny and I talked about it before we got on the podcast, but sometimes the employers will offer a buyout plan where, yes, I only get 40, 000 a year, but I can buy up to 70 percent or something of that nature. The other thing is, as I would say, get with a financial advisor that will help you determine. how much coverage you need, because maybe you don't need 100 percent because the, if you decide, hey, I need this extra coverage and you go with a private plan route with like a principal or mutual of Omaha or what have you, those benefits are going to be tax free where if the employer is paying for 40, 000 or 50, 000 that you would get from the employer is not. Really, 40 or 50 is 40 or 50 minus your tax rate, whereas if you went to a private policy, if you got another 40, 000 benefit, that's going to be completely tax free, so you can adjust your benefit a little bit for that. And so, um, again, I think this is probably the most underrated insurance. and the most needed because it's most more likely that you're going to become injured and not be able to work for a period of time than you are to actually pass away. And, and that segments into me into the next thing that we'll talk about, which is, which is life insurance. And so what are some common things that you see that employers offer as far as life insurance? Yeah. So I'll preface it with this, that, you know, if you're getting life insurance through your employer. Typically, it's going to be a group term life policy, a GTL policy, and it's employer paid, which is nice, but it's not going to be enough. so if you're banking on just that one policy, you might want to look somewhere else. And again, that varies depending on your situation, but they typically cover, I mean, you might get the benefit of 10, 000, sometimes 25, 000. In a rare case, it's a nice benefit of 50, 000. but those are really the increments that we see with, with the. employer paid group term life. And then, you know, on top of that, they might offer as a benefit, voluntary policy. And again, it will be term life as well. where you can buy up in increments of 10, 000 up to, let's say, 250, 000, 500, 000 in some cases, maybe even a million. But, again, on that voluntary basis, the big, the biggest benefit I see to this is that Generally speaking, it's much more cost effective to do it that way than to go out and get your own personal policy. Now, there, there are some downsides to the group policy because if you leave, you, you lose it generally. sometimes you can buy into a permanent policy, but then that gets expensive. and so. So, the group is good because you're, you're getting a group rate, but there, there is some downside as maybe you're not getting enough coverage or, if you some, for some reason leave the, the job, then, then you're not going to be able to keep it. And so, that's when you would want to talk to somebody about getting, one, analysis to make sure you have proper coverage, but two, getting a personal policy that, that can go with you. And so what, as we kind of close out here, what are some other common benefits? I know we talked again a little bit before the podcast, just getting ready for it. I guess bells and whistles that other employees, maybe that you don't specifically offer, but, kind of some cutting edge stuff that you see in the business. Yeah. So, well, first of all, not cutting edge for these two, but dental and vision insurance is a pretty obvious one that employers offer as well. but I would say, so it's funny, we call them shiny objects. and it's like you said, the bells and whistles, the, extra road. Curricular benefits that people might offer. one might be what they call ID or legal shield And that kind of is identity theft protection Again, not not too familiar with that one, but I know there's a lot of brokers out there that that do partner with ID and legal shield. Yeah. Yeah, and and obviously that's important today's Age, but let's back up real quick. Dental and vision. What are some things that we should be asking if we need it? I know that we have a reimbursement plan. So we actually don't quote unquote use insurance when we go to the dentist We just have them invoice us And then we get reimbursed for whatever we, we use up to a certain amount. so I guess, is that most common or how does, how does that all work? Yeah. So when it's, you know, when it's through your employer, honestly, a lot of the policies are written the same kind of way. the usual customary rate. Typically 99%, which just means if you go out of network, you're still going to pay in the 99th percentile of what you'd pay if it was in network. So there's really not much variety in pricing for, for dental. I would say 1 thing to look out for, because not a lot of employers do this. No, I shouldn't say not a lot, but it really is 50 50 on if your employer includes this or not. And it's, orthodontia. And so having that benefit for your children, that's huge. some. I've heard horror stories where an employee thinks that there's orthodontia on top of their dental insurance and they go and they get some dental work with their child and then it's not and so then they have to fork over some crazy amount. yeah, I mean, I remember when this is probably 15 close to 20 years ago, I remember my braces costing like, I don't know, 2, 500 bucks and no, no telling what it costs now. So I can't imagine expecting that to get covered or at least a portion of it and then getting hit, hit with that full bill. Right. I don't, you know, it's funny. I don't really hear much about braces anymore. Cause if it is a line, everybody's talking about him as a line. I actually just went to the dentist the other day and they're like, you'd be a good candidate. I was like, I've heard this in my entire life. Cosmetically, sure. Yeah, it's so expensive. I think, so they gave me, like an invoice for it. I think it was like 4, 500 bucks from this line. You could do a payment plan and all that, but I mean, geez, for cosmetic purposes. That's the other thing my wife and I were considering because we have a significant amount in our reimbursement plan. And it would cover about half the cost and, cause we got to, we got to use it by the end of the year and her cousin's a dentist. So we're going back and forth. I want you to do it. So we'll, we'll keep you updated. Yeah. So yeah, those, excuse me, those benefits, we often see as well. And then the last thing, it's called Teladoc. It's. that's actually growing probably out of all the quote, unquote, like I said, shiny objects, that's probably growing the most. And it's, I think really ever since COVID, you know, you get virtual care. a lot of the times it's a per employee per month basis that the employer pays. So they kind of sponsor this Teladoc plan for you. and it kind of just helps supplement your, your health insurance policy where you might get, primary care physician visits virtually for free. Well, I can see how it helps the employer because now the employee doesn't have to take off a whole day to go sit in the waiting room for three hours to say, Oh, you have a sinus infection. Here's your, here's your antibiotic. Right. And, and then for the employee, it's nice because now I don't have to wait into that. A waiting room for three hours to tell me that I need antibiotic, right? And they don't have to pay the copay. Yeah, exactly. So it's a win win. I can just get my Augmentin or whatever antibiotic I'm getting and go on my merry way. And I don't, I don't suggest this, but what I've seen with some employees that maybe they think they can't really afford Traditional health insurance premiums are sky high, which they are trying to combat that. But because it's so high, they almost use Teladoc as a replacement. And again, I wouldn't advise that it's not all encompassing a Teladoc plan isn't. You're not going to be able to go to the emergency room and flasher your Teladoc app to them and be like, Yeah, we'll take you. Well, they will take it, but you're gonna pay a lot. but it is good in addition to your health insurance for sure. Where again, you don't pay those copays and any prescription Phillips that you get. There might be a coupon makes it cheaper for you. So Teladoc is, like I said, especially since COVID has really taken off. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's awesome. the last thing I did want to cover, and this is not Danny's specialty, but I'm sure he'll join in on the conversation, is obviously those retirement benefits. So a couple of things to consider one, what are you saving? How much do I need to increase it? if you're, if you know that, hey, maybe I got a raise this year, I got a significant bonus, things of that nature, what I generally recommend, not necessarily specifically, but generally, hey, just increase it 1 percent each year, right? And so that's a number that you won't. Fill quite, quite as hard each year. and then next thing you know, you pick your head up and, and you're saving 15, 20% of your income toward retirement. And then the other thing I'd like to mention is if you have a Roth option, we wanna make sure, hey, Should I continue doing Roth? If I've been doing it, should I start Roth? If I, if I haven't, and where does that make sense? And, and honestly, it, it varies on situation to situation. But if your, tax rate is going to be higher later on down the road, maybe you're early in your career. The Roth may make more sense, but if your tax rate is going to go down, maybe you're retiring soon. Well, that pre tax may, may make more sense. And then you can do some Roth conversions. I kind of spoke in that, that last episode, to convert at a lower rate. And so, just give that a thought and then also make sure, Hey, does my allocation of my investments make sense? Or one, my risk tolerance, like the, the market has been very volatile this year. Was I up? late at night because I'm worried about my money going up and down. so should I tone down the risk or, should I vamp it up? Because it's not bothering me at all. and then the time horizon, when do I need this money? Is it 20 years from now? Is it five years from now? and so all those things to consider. And, And then that should be most of your open enrollment packet. And so, I guess, Danny, do you have anything else to maybe add on, to employer benefits? Yeah, so a couple of things. One, If you're listening to this and you're an employer, there are, and I'm not going to get into details here, right, especially if it's an employee of a company. It's not in their wheelhouse, but there are ways to combat the rising costs of health insurance, which, you know, to 12 benefits we're doing. There's a lot of other brokers out there that are also starting to implement these different products, that insurance carriers are starting to offer. Where you can get a little bit more creative, you can potentially get money back and there's some creative ways to do it. So if you're an employer listening to this, or maybe you're an employee and you want to mention it to your boss, there's, there's different products where you're no longer renting. I like to say your insurance, where you're paying your premium for benefits that you might not even use if, if you don't take advantage. So, that's number one, number two question for you, Hunter, going back to the kind of retirement accounts. I personally. Do 401k, HSA, and a Roth. Out of those three, rank them best to worst. It depends. Yeah. So, just knowing what I know about your situation, the Roth is gonna be the best thing. You're young. Yeah. Your income is going to continue to grow like crazy. so the Roth is going to be most beneficial because you have that time to let it grow, assuming that you're, you're in some growth oriented investments. and, and your tax bracket is only going to increase theoretically, right? and then I would say the, the next thing would probably be the 401k just because of the amount of money that you can put in there tax deferred. So as your income grows, that can be a good vehicle, to defer those taxes later on down the road. And the HSA, is probably just as good as both. but you can't put in as much, but it's there as you need it. And I would say, don't, don't save that money for later on down the road. If you do have an expense and it's crunching your cashflow, like it's there for you to use it. So, so for you, it's definitely off, because, because of where you're at in life, but if you were 55 and. Make it a million dollars a year. Then I would say the Roth maybe might not make as much sense for you. All right. Sweet. Well, awesome. Well, again, let us know where we can find you. if, if an employer is listening to this, let's say, I want to look into group benefits, how can they reach you? Yeah. So I, well, I appreciate that. you can email me Danny d a N N Y at two 12 benefits. com. And that is completely spelt out. T W O T W E L V E benefits. com. Awesome. Well, I appreciate it, Danny. Um, this is a good time. I definitely learned how much patience he had dealing with these mics earlier. So I appreciate it. Um, and if you have any questions about financial planning or would like someone to review your, your benefit package, would you make sure that you were picking the right one? Uh, I'd be happy to do that. So you can reach me at Hunter at Palm Valley, wm. com or check us out at Palm Valley, wm. com and we'll see you in the next one.