We just finished our open enrollment paperwork, and like many other workers we faced a long and confusing list of instructions. They tried to distract me from the increased health insurance premiums by adding a bunch of optional “perks” like universal life insurance and paid identity theft protection. Christine Benz has a thoughtful Checklist for Open Enrollment Season. Here are my own thoughts as I went through the options: Health Savings Accounts (HSA). Doesn’t “triple tax-free” sound good? HSA contributions are tax-deductible (pre-tax money), they grow tax-free once there, and your withdrawals are tax-free when spent on qualified healthcare expenses. However, you have to be enrolled in a qualified high-deductible health plan (HDHP) to be eligible, which means… [Read More...]
40% of Americans Believe the Most Reliable Cars Are Built in the U.S. — Are They Right?
We often don’t consider the reliability of a car when it’s running properly. Instead, we just expect our car to continue working, and the more it does, the less we think about the possibility of a breakdown. If your car has a history of breaking down, perhaps you are a little more cognizant of what constitutes a reliable vehicle. Does your car start smoothly or sputter? Does your engine overheat? How many miles has your car traveled without an issue? Your answer to these questions may impact your perception of how reliable your own make and model is, but we wanted to take a more analytical approach. What cars are most reliable, and does our perception of reliability have a basis in reality or is … [Read More...]
Mastercard Free ID Theft Protection and Credit Monitoring
Data breaches are scary fact of life these days. If you have a Mastercard, did you know that they offer a Mastercard ID Theft Protection service to cardholders for free? If you activate it, Mastercard has paid on your behalf for a private-label identity theft protection service provided by Generali Global Assistance, Inc. (GGA). The same way that Safeway doesn’t actually make their generic version of Cheerios, Mastercard has outsourced this service. Thanks to reader Bill P for the tip. Services are provided by Generali Global Assistance, Inc. (GGA), one of the largest providers of private-label identity protection services in the United States. GGA has handled thousands of identity-related cases and has protected millions of customers since it began offering the service in 2003. … [Read More...]