August 2007
Coordinating benefits for two-career couples
Working couples have an added complication when it comes to employee benefits--and an added opportunity. Often they can pick
and choose to get the best combination of perks.
That's especially important when it comes to health plans. In some cases, a two-career couple without dependent children can benefit by taking single health coverage from each employer instead of family coverage from one employer. This is especially smart if the company pays the full cost of insurance for employees but not for families, says Patricia Raskob, a financial planner in Tucson.
In other cases, it makes sense to opt for family coverage. Suppose Spouse A's company pays all of the employee's health-care expenses, and Spouse B's company pays only up to a certain dollar amount. Spouse A might take the family coverage, which would generate an expense for the added insurance, but Spouse B would be reimbursed for the amount the couple is paying Spouse A's company for family coverage.
Couples can also coordinate retirement plans. Stewart Welch III, a financial planner in Birmingham, Ala., tells of a couple in which one spouse had access to excellent guaranteed-interest contracts and the other had good stock-fund choices. "To build the best balanced portfolio," he says, "we used the former plan for all of the couple's fixed-income investing and the latter for all of their equity investing."
That's especially important when it comes to health plans. In some cases, a two-career couple without dependent children can benefit by taking single health coverage from each employer instead of family coverage from one employer. This is especially smart if the company pays the full cost of insurance for employees but not for families, says Patricia Raskob, a financial planner in Tucson.
In other cases, it makes sense to opt for family coverage. Suppose Spouse A's company pays all of the employee's health-care expenses, and Spouse B's company pays only up to a certain dollar amount. Spouse A might take the family coverage, which would generate an expense for the added insurance, but Spouse B would be reimbursed for the amount the couple is paying Spouse A's company for family coverage.
Couples can also coordinate retirement plans. Stewart Welch III, a financial planner in Birmingham, Ala., tells of a couple in which one spouse had access to excellent guaranteed-interest contracts and the other had good stock-fund choices. "To build the best balanced portfolio," he says, "we used the former plan for all of the couple's fixed-income investing and the latter for all of their equity investing."
