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If you and your beloved are "going to the chapel," here are five tips to help you pick the best benefits. According to financial expert and author Neale Godfrey, you should:
Consider the options. Do both of you have health benefits? If you do, you are lucky because you have a choice of plans! Review each and decide whether you should cancel one of your plans with one person joining the other plan, or keep both.
Compare the bottom line. Review costs like premiums, co-payments and deductibles for your plan and your spouse's plan to help you decide which one to choose. If you find ways to save money on combined health benefits, it might help you save or invest in a 401(k) or IRA.
Prioritize the benefits you want. You may not want to give up your long-trusted family doctor or sacrifice a yearly supply of contacts to save a few dollars, so consider your comfort level and health needs before you choose between your spouse's health plan and yours. According to a Plan for Your HealthSM survey, having a health plan that offers a variety of choices is considerably more important to women in the recent/upcoming marriage category (41 percent) than to other women (24 percent).
Assess your financial habits and goals. You and your spouse may be a perfect match in most ways, but you might not know that you have very different views on managing money. Agree on long-term goals, such as retirement, and common investing strategies to reach them, such as managing a 401(k) plan.
Make a decision and act quickly. If you want to add your spouse to your health benefits, make sure to do it as soon as possible! For most health insurance coverage, you have around 30 days after your marriage to add your spouse as a dependent without providing proof of insurability.