I recently had a conversation with my youngest son, Luke, who is living in Florida where he is doing two years with Teach for America as a high school teacher.
The purpose of his call was to get my advice on his opportunity to participate in his employer's 403(b) retirement plan. He had a very vague understanding of how the plan works, its benefits to him, and what he should do, if anything. He asked many questions that I was able to answer. Before we ended our call he thanked me for helping him to understand all of the options he had, and for guiding him in this process.
As parents, grandparents, and family friends of those graduating from high school, college or technical schools, we have a unique opportunity and, I believe, a responsibility. Upon full-time employment, these young adults are often presented, for the first time, choices about health insurance coverage, group life insurance and retirement plan participation, among other possibilities. They have no experience as a frame of reference on these issues. As older adults, many of us do. In my practice, I frequently advise young adult clients or the children of my middle aged clients on these issues when asked to do so.
As an adviser or as a family member, it is very important to understand and, advise accordingly, how the best choices are a function of current age, family responsibilities, and employment timeline. Let me address an example of what I mean. The investment choices of a 23-year-old would probably not be the same of an individual of age 55 or 60 due to the number of years to retirement. But, if an individual such as my son knows they are only going to be working with a given employer for a short period of time, then the choices may not be what we would customarily recommend for such a young man because he will be leaving employment and needing and/or desiring to move his account balances to another personal or employer plan in less than two years.
Another example is the decision of what plan of health insurance to sign up for when multiple options are available. The young adult needs to weigh their ability to come up with a high deductible out-of-pocket amount in the event of a major health claim against the advantage of the lower premium associated with a high deductible option. What are their resources for paying this high deductible, and can the parents, if desired, serve as a backup if this need arises?
Each young adult's situation, and the decisions to be made, can be overwhelming. Too often they make no choices because they don't have the knowledge or skills to make them. Because of this reality, opportunities can be missed which can be detrimental to their current and future financial well-being. Children do not learn financial knowledge and understanding randomly or simply by living in the same household with a person who has this knowledge. We need to be talking with our children, and exchanging ideas with them, about making prudent financial decisions and the financial risks associated with not doing so. If you are not comfortable with this job, find an adviser to have these discussions with your children.
Beth Peckinpaugh Beasley, CLU, is in financial services with Peckinpaugh & Beasley Inc. She is a member of NAIFA-East Central Indiana and can be reached at 287-8310 or beth.beasley@comcast.net.
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