It’s the time of year when you are invited to review your employer and government health benefits through Open Enrollment, so our focus this month is on helping you make the best decisions when it comes to your health and money. 
If you are still working and have benefits through your employer, you should be receiving a packet allowing you to review and make changes to your employee health benefits. This is why I’ve invited CPA and financial planner, Wayne Titus, to help you dive deeper into your options to help ensure you get the most bang for your buck, as well as well as important tax-planning steps to take before the end of the year. Be sure to check out Wayne’s interesting article on Health Savings Accounts, Flexible Spending Accounts, and Health Reimbursement Accounts so you can learn the difference and decide which best suits your needs.
If you are 65 or older, October is when you will be able to review and change your Medicare benefits. Medicare expert, Jo Murphy, will be sharing ways to save money on health care benefits, how to choose the best health care benefits that fit your needs, and where to go to get your health care benefits questions answered. Don’t miss Shari Wenokur Smith’s informative article about Medicare Open Enrollment.
Making smart choices about your life, your health, and your finances is our mission here at Smart
Women’s Empowerment, and to make sure we are addressing your concerns, we have conducted several surveys with our Smart Women community, and what we learned has been eye-opening. In fact, we have created our 2019 editorial calendar based on your responses. I’ll share the full results of the survey in next month’s Smart Women, Smart Choices, as well as what we have planned for you in coming year.
Next month, is National Caregiver’s Month, and since 73% of you told us you would be interested in a course specifically on “preparing to become a caregiver or care receiver,” we will be bringing you guests interviews and resources for this important period in your life so you aren’t caught off-guard.
In the meantime, be sure to schedule time to review your benefits, check out the two great articles in this month’s Smart Women, Smart Choices, and join the conversation on Smart Women Talk Radio this month. Remember, if you miss the live show, you can listen on our website or on your favorite podcast venue. Our shows are now available on Spotify, iTunes, iHeartRadio, and several other podcast venues!
Katana Abbott, CFP®, is a Retirement Coach, founder of the Smart Women Companies, and the host Smart Women Talk Radio with over a million subscribers. For over 30 years, Katana has shown women how to take charge of their life and finances and believes it’s never too early to plan for expected and unexpected events like retirement, encore careers, moving abroad, or preparing for long-term care. She has written several books, created a financial literacy course, and is a popular speaker. Katana has been honored by NAWBO as one of Detroit’s Top 10 Business Women, receiving the Breakthrough Award. To download her new ebook, The Five Biggest Money Mistakes Women Make and How to Fix Them, visit www.katanaabbott.com
