Private Wealth Managementwilliamblair.com Preparing For Life After Employee Benefits As you plan for retirement, you will have many financial questionsto address. You will likely focus on things like aligning your assetallocation with your target retirement date, creating a detailed budget Post-Benefit Planning–Not Just for Retirees Many of the topics describedin this piece apply to any employeepreparing to leave his or hercurrent job, not just those who willbe retiring from the workforce.Planning for life after employee In addition to these big-picture considerations, your retirement planning should alsoinclude preparing to manage the benefits that have been provided by your employer This piece looks at some of the benefits-related topics that workers need to consideras they approach retirement. Some of these items have a fairly short window for takingaction, so it pays to begin preparing well before your actual retirement date. Manyaspects of benefits planning depend on your employer’s specific policies and state laws, Medical InsuranceMedical care will likely be one of your biggest expenses during retirement, so it is vitally important to plan for how you will transition away from your employer-provided Medicare Medicare, which starts on the first day of the month you turn 65, will become yourprimary insurance if you are eligible and no longer covered by an employer plan,even if you choose COBRA or retiree insurance. If you are already receiving SocialSecurity benefits when you turn 65, then you will be automatically enrolled inMedicare. Otherwise, you must contact the Medicare office (medicare.gov) to enroll.You can enroll during the seven-month period that begins three months before the Private Wealth Managementwilliamblair.com EXHIBIT 1Tech + Market Share by Region If you are still working beyond age 65, your employer planmay continue to be your primary insurance. If this is thecase, you may want to sign up for Part A at age 65 (in mostcases it is free), and then you have up to eight months toenroll in Medicare Part B without penalty once employmentends. If you have retiree health coverage or continue your Health Savings Accounts If you had a Health Savings Account (HSA) through youremployer’s plan, you get to keep the HSA upon terminatingemployment and continue using it over your lifetimetax-free for qualified medical expenses. Once you turn 65,you will be able to use the funds in the HSA for non-qualified It important to know that once you enroll in any part ofMedicare, you and your employer can no longer makecontributions to your HSA. Employees should contact their If you retire before turning 65, you will need to think abouthow you will get insurance coverage until becoming eligible •COBRA – You can elect to continue your current coveragethrough COBRA. You must elect COBRA coveragewithin 60 days of terminating your employment, andCOBRA coverage is generally limited to 18 months.COBRA applies to medical, dental, and vision coverage foryourself, your spouse, and your eligible dependents.•Retiree health coverage – Some companies offer retiringemployees the option of converting the group coverageoffered to current employees to a group plan for retirees.Generally, workers have 60 days after terminatingemployment to elect retiree coverage.•Private insurance – You can purchase individualinsurance through an independent insurance company, If you had funds remaining in a Flexible Spending Account(FSA) upon terminating employment, you will stillhave access to those funds for dates of medical service prior Social SecurityYou may apply to begin receiving Social Security retirement benefits any time between the ages of 62 and 70. The longeryou wait to begin receiving benefits, the larger yourmonthly benefit will be; there is no benefit to delayingbenefits past age 70, however. You should contact the Social Private Wealth Managementwilliamblair.com Penalties and taxes Life Insurance If your employer offers group life insurance or if you carriedadditional voluntary life insurance for yourself or eligibledependents, you may be eligible to convert that coverageinto an individual plan upon retiring; a medical exammay be required, and premiums may change. You typically Regardless of which method you choose, you generallywill face a 10% early withdrawal penalty for any fundswithdrawn before reaching age 59½. Any withdrawals of Important dates Before deciding on your retirement date, you should talkto your company’s human resources department to find outif there are any important deadlines for being eligible forthat year’s retirement contribution. Many companies’profit-sharing plans require that an employee be employed 401(k) and Profit-Sharing PlansIf you retire or change jobs, you will have to decide what to do with the assets that are in your employer-sponsored Options for distributions You typically have four options when leaving an employer.You may take a lump-sum distribution in c