Starting a new job is exciting—with lots of to-dos, such as benefit and retirement plan enrollment. This helpful checklist gets you off to a good start on day one.
Quick takeaways
Changing jobs throughout a career is the new norm: People have an average of almost 13 jobs in their careers, and most of those jobs end in under 5 years.
Your previous and new human resources departments may provide you with this information, but key questions include:
- When do old benefits end and new ones begin?
- What are health insurance coverage amounts and effective dates, including health, dental, vision, disability, and life, if offered?
In addition, dig deep into supplemental and voluntary benefits at your new workplace. These are benefits in which your workplace offers you access to a specific coverage that is often a value-add for you—for example, hospital indemnity, which helps to pay for hospital stays.
If you have a coverage gap between previous and new benefits, there are a couple of options to help:
- COBRA: You pay the full premium for a short-term continuation of your previous health care coverage
- A short-term plan on the marketplace: Search your state and income to review options
- A spouse/partner insurance plan: This often requires sign up within 30 days of your last day on your previous job.
In general, before you leave an old job, you must use whatever funds you have in an FSA; otherwise you will lose those dollars. That means submitting claims before your termination date. If you have an FSA at a new job, ask for clarification on when you can start setting funds aside.
An HSA, on the other hand, travels with you, no matter the job. If you’re enrolling in a high deductible health plan (HDHP) at your new employer, you can often transfer your
Your last check from your previous employer job may include back pay, earned time off, commissions, or a bonus, if eligible. If you were eligible for stock options or restricted stock award, check with human resources about vesting and tax implications. (Many companies require you to exercise stock options within a certain amount of time, often 90 days from your termination date.) Compensation for tuition reimbursement depends on your old company’s specific program; HR is your best source of information.
At your new job, ask for details about the pay schedule—weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly—and then consider its impact on your budget, even in the short term. Do you have a gap between when you’ll get your last check from an old job but before a new pay period kicks in, and how will you cover expenses in this period?
If a previous employer provided a retirement savings plan such as a 401(k),
- Keep your money where it’s at, if allowed. Note though that sometimes a low balance (typically under $7,000) equals an automatic pay out, which you can choose to invest in an individual retirement savings account (IRA).
- Move your money to your new employer’s plan, if allowed.
- Roll 401(k) savings into an IRA.
- Cash out your account balance, which may come with taxes and penalties—up to 30%.
Your new employer may offer a retirement savings plan as part of your employment. If so, and if your job move equals a pay bump, consider saving more—even a little, or at least enough to get the employer savings match, if available.
No matter the compensation and benefit details of your new job, use the change as an opportunity to check and update beneficiaries on both old and new plans.
If you’re enrolled in an income-bound repayment option, a pay bump may equal a change in your monthly repayment totals. The
