Jill Russo Foster

It’s Time To Update Your Health Insurance

It’s that time of year again for open enrollment for medical insurance. For Medicare you have until December 7 to make any changes to your secondary insurance and/or prescription coverage until December 15.

To enroll and/or make changes to your Affordable Care Act health insurance, you have from November 1 to December 22 in Connecticut. Check your individual state for your specific deadlines.

If you are coverage is through your employer, fall is typically the time to make changes as well. Please check with your individual state or company for possible changes to the deadline date.

If you want some general questions to think about to compare your options, here are some that you can consider when making your health insurance selection that is best for you:

1.   What type of insurance is this?
2.   What is the monthly premium cost and how much am I responsible for paying?
3.   Are there subsidies available for us?
4.   Do I have out of network coverage?
5.   How much are the deductibles for both in and out of network care?
6.   How much do I have to pay to see a healthcare provider?
7.   Do I have medical coverage out of state and out of the country?
8.   Will I be able to use my current doctors?
9.   What additional benefits are included (prescriptions, dental, vision, etc.)?
10.   Are preventative visits (physicals, routine tests etc.) covered without a deductible?
11.   What is the procedure for going to a specialist and/or the emergency room?
12.   How are disputed claims handled?

Ask these and more questions to make sure you have all the information to make the most informed choice for you and your family. Mark your calendar today to do this during your open enrollment each and every year as medical plans changes and so do your needs. If you miss the open enrollment period, you can only make changes if you have a life changing event.

Are you prepared for the next disaster?

So far 2017 has given us hurricanes, wild fires, earthquakes are more. Some of us are more prepared than others. Check out his article from the NY Times. Maybe this will help you with whatever weather disaster is next.

Have You Done This Yet?

What are you waiting for?

With the EquiFax breach and so many more, this is what you should do. Jean Chatsky’s tips for freezing your credit. Do this today!

Sing up for my newsletter, Money Choices and you will receive reminders three times per year to order your free credit report.

How Financially Savvy is Your State?

October is National Financial Planning month!

According to Wallet Hub, 2 out of 5 US adults grade themselves as a “C” or worse on their personal finance knowledge. To see the report and find out where your state stands, click here.

It’s never too late to learn about personal finances. Start by reading something each and every day. Check out my newsletter past issues and sign up to receive, Money Choices it in your inbox.

Take Time To Protect Your Identify Now

Well it happened again – this time EquiFax! This is not the first time nor will it be the last security breach.

Here are some suggestions that you may want to take to help to protect your identity:

• Personally, I am not a fan of doing banking on my phone, so I don’t have these apps. But I do have many texts (one for each transaction) and this way, I can catch anything immediately. I will be adding my credit cards to this process.

• In addition, I use two-step authentication for all my accounts. Having a code either texted or phoned to me to use to access my account.

• Check your credit report. I am a firm believer of this and now even more so. If you need reminders to check your credit for free three times per year, sign up for my newsletter here and you will get email reminders to check your credit every four months.

• Monitor your accounts. I typically check in a couple of times a month, both my bank and credit card accounts just to look for anything that I don’t recognize. If you don’t want to do this, make sure you reconcile your accounts monthly.

• You may want to set up credit monitoring service and/or freeze your credit report. You can check out my article on Credit Freeze here.

• Change your passwords regularly.They shouldn’t be easy to guess (use a combination of upper and lower case letters, number and symbols) and don’t you use the same password. Each account should have its’ own individual one.

Take the time now to protect your identity. It’s much easier to do this proactively than to deal with the turmoil of identity theft later.

Save

Fact Checking Charities

Fact Checking Charities

My heart breaks with all the information and photos from hurricane Harvey and now Irma. We all want to help and these people need our help. but you want to give where your money will do the best and not go to scammers. If you choose to give, and I’m sure you do, make sure your money goes to those in need through a charity that you have researched.

Unfortunately, it’s fairly easy to set up a charity, and fundraisers can legally keep most of the money donated to the cause. Not to mention the scammers who are out there to take your money. Before you donate, find out whether the charity is legitimate. You should also find out how your money will be spent.

You can start your research at www.Give.org (associated with the Better Business Bureau). This organization researches charitable organizations to find out how they use the funds they receive.

Here are some tips to help in your research:
• Find out if the charitable organization has a 501(c) status (IRS code for non-profit organizations). Non-profits have stricter requirements, and your donation will be deductible on your tax return.

• Find about how much of each dollar is being used for the cause versus administration costs. The more administrative costs, the less of each dollar is being used for those in need. Look for the lowest administrative costs.

• For cash donations, request a receipt to use as documentation on your tax returns. All donations over $500 will require additional paperwork, so speak with your tax preparer ahead of time.

• When donating non-cash items such as food, clothing, furniture, etc, you will need an itemized list of the items you donated and the total value. Most charities will ask you to value your own items.
Make sure you get a receipt for your donations with the charity’s information on it.

Do your research and chose the organization(s) wisely. This is a great way to help out others who are less fortunate than you during this hurricane season.

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Service Interrupted!

Today would have been the day for our newsletter, Money Choices to resume, after our summer break.

But with Hurricane Irma heading to Florida, we have put this issue on hold. It’s more important for my assistant to take care of herself, family and be safe. Wishing everyone in the path of these hurricanes a safe and uneventful experience.

Bear with us and we’ll be back soon.

Fees, fees and more fees!

How many credit cards do you have that charge a fee?

Do you pay:

annual fee?

foreign transaction fee?

balance transfer?

cash advance?

and more

We’ll you are not alone. There are so many credit card to choose from, that you can avoid these fees by having the right credit card for this situation. We have a card that we use for foreign travel – no fee. We have a low interest card 8% with no fees for when we need to finance a purchase (that we know we won’t be able to pay off in full when the bill arrives). So it’s understanding what your needs are and what credit card meets them.

CreditCards.com released a report listing what credit cards offer what. This will help you to decide if you have the correct credit card for your needs and may help you to save money.

What’s does your credit report and score say

Do you ever wonder what your credit report and score sway about you?

It might help for you to think of your credit report and score as your GPA. What you did in college was equated to a GPA. The same is true for you finances. What you did or didn’t do with most of your finances becomes your credit score.

Do you want to improve your credit? Then you need to make changes.

What do you want to know about your credit? I am working on a new program and want your input. Tell me specifically what you would want included – what info, what steps and more. Post your comments here.

Think you have bad credit

You may think you have bad credit, but you can change that by being informed. Information is the key to understanding what to do and what not to do. I truly believe that you control your own financial destiny.

To start, make a promise to be more informed – read more credible information, understand what is considered a good credit score and more. Learn this information and take steps each and every week to improve your credit score from where you are now. Make a plan!

If you credit is less than you desire, start by reading articles on my website, read this report from a survey that US New and World Report did with lots of helpful information that you may not be aware of. There is more information out there, but make sure it’s from a reputable source. Tomorrow, we’ll talk about your options.