Open Enrollment: Are Your Employer Benefits Still the Right Fit?

Open enrollment is easy to treat like a routine administrative task.

Review the options. Keep what you had last year. Click through the forms and move on.

But employer-provided benefits are often among the largest components of total compensation, and they deserve more attention than that. Health coverage, retirement plan features, insurance benefits, tax-advantaged accounts, equity compensation, and other workplace resources can all affect your financial life.

Open enrollment is a good time to ask a simple question: Do the benefits you currently have still fit your life today?

Start With Your Current Health Coverage

Health insurance is often one of the largest benefits provided by an employer, but many employees keep the same plan year after year without much thought.

That may be fine. Or it may not be.

Age, health, income, cash flow, and emergency savings all matter. A high-deductible plan may have been a good fit before. A lower deductible or different copay structure may make more sense now. Or the reverse may be true.

If you are married or have dependents, review whether your spouse or dependents are covered in the most appropriate place. Employer contributions, premiums, provider networks, and prescription coverage can all affect the answer.

The best plan is not always the cheapest one. It is the one that still fits your actual situation.

Review Health Savings and Spending Accounts

Many employer benefit packages include Health Savings Accounts, Flexible Spending Accounts, or Health Reimbursement Arrangements.

These accounts are easy to overlook once they are set up.

If your employer contributes to an HSA, FSA, or HRA, confirm that you are capturing the benefit. If you use an FSA, pay attention to any use-it-or-lose-it rules. If you have both HRA and FSA funds available, understand the order in which those funds should be used.

If you are enrolled in an HSA-eligible high-deductible health plan, look at how the HSA is being used. Depending on the available investment options, it may support both current healthcare expenses and longer-term goals.

The point is not simply to have these accounts. It is to use them deliberately.

Revisit Your Retirement Plan Elections

This is also a natural time to revisit retirement plan decisions, even if those elections are available outside the enrollment window.

Retirement plan elections are often made once and then left alone. Over time, that can create drift.

Review your current contribution level, investment allocation, and available plan features. Your allocation should still reflect your goals, risk tolerance, and need for diversification. Plan fees, expense ratios, and investment options also deserve a look.

Contribution type also matters. Many plans offer pre-tax, Roth, and sometimes after-tax contribution options. Your current mix should reflect your tax situation and goals, not just whatever you selected when you first enrolled.

If your employer offers a match, confirm that you are contributing enough to receive the full amount. It may also be worth reviewing whether catch-up contributions, in-plan Roth conversions, after-tax contribution options, or other plan features are available.

If you still have retirement accounts from prior employers, review whether rolling them into your current employer’s plan makes sense based on the plan rules, fees, and investment options.

The point is not just to participate. It is to ensure the plan is being used effectively.

Understand the Protection You Already Have

Employer-provided insurance can be valuable, but it should not be assumed to be complete.

Start with disability coverage. If your employer provides disability insurance, review how the policy defines disability, how much income it may replace, and how long you must wait before benefits begin. That waiting period should be considered alongside your emergency fund.

Taxation matters too. Benefits tied to employer-paid premiums may be taxable as income. A personally owned disability policy paid with after-tax dollars may fit differently into the plan.

Life insurance deserves the same review. Employer-sponsored life insurance can be convenient, especially because group policies generally do not require underwriting. But convenience is not the same as adequacy.

Review how much coverage you currently have and whether it still fits your needs. Also consider portability. If you leave your job or your health changes, replacing employer coverage later may be more difficult.

Look Closely at Equity Compensation

If you receive stock options, restricted stock units, or other equity compensation, make sure you understand what you already have.

Review the stock plan, grant agreement, and relevant employer forms. Vesting schedules, grant dates, exercise dates, holding periods, tax implications, and clawback provisions can all affect decisions.

Equity compensation can be valuable, but it often comes with rules that are easy to miss. A review helps ensure you understand what has vested, what may vest later, and what decisions may be required along the way.

Do Not Leave Fringe Benefits Unused

Some employer benefits are valuable precisely because they are easy to forget.

Student loan assistance, legal services, travel benefits, fitness programs, fertility benefits, parental leave, and mental health counseling may all be available through an employer plan.

These benefits may not matter every year. But when they do matter, they can be meaningful.

Before paying out of pocket for services, review what your employer already provides.

Review Benefits as Life Changes

Employer benefits should not be static because life is not static.

Marriage, children, changes in health, career moves, and shifting financial goals can all change which benefits matter most.

A benefit election that made sense a few years ago may still be fine. Or it may quietly be out of date. Open enrollment gives you a defined moment to check.

That does not mean you need to change everything. It means you should confirm that the benefits you keep, change, or decline still fit the life you are actually living.

In Summary

Open enrollment is more than a deadline. It is an opportunity to review whether your employer-provided benefits still support your health, family, taxes, insurance protection, and long-term financial goals.

A thoughtful review can help you make better use of the benefits you already have while identifying changes that may deserve attention.

The goal is not to use every benefit available.

It is to make sure last year’s elections do not become this year’s assumptions.

WHWM is here to guide you in identifying your priorities, developing a plan, and making adjustments along the way. By choosing WHWM, you're partnering with our Founder and President, Stephen Bodwell. As a CPA and CFP® professional, Stephen is committed to helping you achieve your financial goals and aspirations. Don't hesitate to take the next step toward realizing your dreams. Schedule your complimentary, no-obligation 30-minute consultation with Stephen. 

Walnut Hill Wealth Management, LLC (“WHWM”) is a registered investment advisor offering advisory services in the State of Texas and in other jurisdictions where exempt. The information provided is as of the date indicated and is subject to change.