Maximize Your Benefits: A Guide for All Employees

Anyone who works at a company that offers benefits owes it to themselves to maximize those benefits. The broad choices available today may provide flexibility, but for many, they also create confusion. Few resources explain the pros and cons of the various offerings. Employers shy away from giving advice, concerned about potential liability. In the end, employees are left with little guidance on how to maximize the array of benefits offered. Certified financial planner Neil Downing, whose columns are published by newspapers nationwide, provides the answers every working person needs. In Maximize Your Benefits: A Guide for All Employees, Downing clearly translates tax, legal and investment jargon into simple terms that everyone eligible for benefits can both understand and use to full advantage. He explains: * how company benefits fit into a household's overall financial plan * issues related to pensions, vesting and defined benefit plans * the pros and cons of participating in cafeteria plans and flexible spending account opportunities * defined contribution plans (such as 401 (k) plans) -- if, how and when to invest * health insurance benefits: deciding between traditional plans versus HMOs, plus issues of portability and staying insured * How monitoring a plan ensures workers get what they're promised * How to negotiate your benefits