A nip in the air...

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-22-1999
A nip in the air...
1
Sun, 10-02-2005 - 1:37pm

...and my thoughts turn to charity giving and insurance enrollment at work. How about you? (HA, HA, HA!)

Really, in my area, all the companies start asking you to consider next year's donations to local charities. How is debt going to affect your giving to charity in 2006? Will you be able to give something, even something small when they start asking and handing you payroll deduction cards and expecting you to donate to meetand exceed charitable donation levels for your comapny, department, team? (I hate that pressure!) Is your company (like mine) looking to have you donate to be able to wear jeans to work or start having you buy cupcakes and muffins at a bake sale? Do I really want to donate $7 to have a coffee and donut with the head of my division? Do we have the money for this?

November tends to be the big insurance open enrollment period: Before you start thinking about cutting back on your current plan, really read and ask questions and evaluate what the differences are between the plans. Maybe you think saving 10 bucks premium is worth the cut in the amount of benefits, but maybe you'll think otherwise if you had an expensive illness and a lower limit to what you could spend. Consider the care and medications you take now in your decisions, too. What do you take into account when you have to sign up for benefits? What is the hardest thing about making healthcare plan decisions? Is your debt going to affect what you choose to do for health insurance for 2006?

Yup, the nip in the air and that first red leaf...time to think about fiscal 2006......

Best of luck with your planning! Littlesbigs

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2004
Sun, 10-02-2005 - 10:47pm
Hi, Littlebigs! Hmmm--Health insurance. We dont have much choice (only one kind of insurance), so that's a no-brainer. However---you really struck a chord with the donation thing. Each year, there is a drive for the United Way. People truly dont like to be pressured. I would much rather donate to charity of choice. We also have a fund-raising drive for new equipment, new building (a long way in the future). It can be a tax write-off. But this year, I am considering not doing it. I mean, it is $500/yr. If I could see where it was going, it would be a different thing. Any ideas on how to back out of it now? Whiz.