One Way to Put Your Loved Ones First in the New Year

Very early in my career I was administering benefits and I had first hand exposure to a situation I will never forget. Two employees were killed unexpectedly in an auto accident. There was grief, shock and a heavy air about the company that was indescribable. Part of the role of the HR team was to dig into our files to help with the relevant claims for Life and AD&D insurance and attempt to comfort and correspond with the families on the final affairs of their loved ones. We discovered something very unfortunate about one of the individuals. The beneficiary on her Life Insurance, AD&D, and 401(k) was her husband with whom she was in the midst of a very ugly and drawn out divorce. She had never updated her beneficiary and so all we had on file was from when she enrolled many years before when hired. This news only added to the family’s suffering.

I share this with you out of care and concern and because the new year is an excellent time to check and update the beneficiaries on your life insurance, AD&D, and 401(k). Situations like the one I described are completely preventable! Typically you can update your beneficiaries online, through your benefit administrator or the carrier any time of year. However, I encourage you to put this on your calendar TODAY as a recurring item to check annually to ensure your affairs are in order. Hopefully this will help address the mostly positive life changes such as marriage, birth of children, designating a trust, etc. and give you peace of mind.

Here’s to a wonderful new year ahead!