Health accounts, including HSAs and FSAs, are designed specifically for covering out-of-pocket medical expenses (excluding your monthly premiums). While they operate similarly, HSAs and FSAs offer distinctly different features and eligibility requirements.

Let’s take a look at what makes these accounts unique, and what sort of costs you can cover with your tax-advantaged health account.

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)

An HSA (Health Savings Account) is available to individuals and families enrolled in a qualified High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). If your health plan meets IRS criteria and you don’t have disqualifying coverage (like an FSA through a spouse or a Medicare plan), you’re typically eligible to contribute. 

The HDHP criteria for 2026 are:

• Individual deductible: $1,700 or higher
• Family deductible: $3,400 or higher
• Individual out-of-pocket maximum: $8,500 or less
• Family out-of-pocket maximum: $17,000 or less

And the contribution limits for an HSA this year are:

• Individual: $4,400
• Family: $8,750

Once you open an HSA (either with your employer or a separate financial institution), the account is yours to keep, even if you leave your job. The funds in the account don’t expire, meaning you can allow your savings to continue compounding and growing for as long as you like.

While you cannot use your HSA to cover your monthly premiums, it can be used to cover just about any other healthcare-related expense:

• Deductibles
• Co-pays
• Prescriptions
• Medical equipment (beds, walkers, CPAP machines, etc.)
• Over-the-counter medications
• Medicare premiums (after age 65)

HSA Tax Treatment

Aside from helping you build dedicated savings for medical costs, HSAs also boast a triple tax advantage:

1. Contributions are made pre-tax (or tax-deductible if made on your own)
2. The funds grow tax-deferred 
3. Withdrawals are tax-free when used for qualified medical expenses

That combination makes HSAs one of the most tax-efficient savings vehicles available. Unlike many other benefit accounts, HSA funds can be invested and allowed to grow over time, which is why some people choose to pay current medical costs out of pocket and treat their HSA more like a long-term savings bucket.

After age 65, HSAs become even more flexible. You can still take tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses, but you can also withdraw funds for non-medical purposes without a penalty (though those withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income). 

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)

Unlike HSAs, flexible spending accounts (FSAs) are not tied to high deductible health plans. An FSA is actually an employer-sponsored benefit account that allows you to set aside pre-tax dollars from your paycheck to pay for qualified medical expenses. 

Your FSA eligibility depends on whether your employer offers it as part of your benefits package. If they do, you can usually elect an annual contribution amount during open enrollment and fund the account through payroll deductions.

FSAs are also tax-advantaged, since contributions are made pre-tax, which lowers your taxable income for the year, and withdrawals for qualified medical expenses are tax-free as well.

Use It or Lose It

Most FSAs are subject to a “use it or lose it” policy, meaning unused funds are forfeited if not spent by the plan deadline (usually end of year). Some employers offer limited flexibility, such as allowing a small rollover amount into the next year or a short grace period to spend remaining funds. FSAs are also employer-owned, so if you leave your job, you typically forfeit any unused balance unless you qualify for continuation coverage.

Common Questions from HSA and FSA Participants

So, what can you buy with the funds stored up in your HSA or FSA? The IRS continues to expand eligibility, with more items getting added to the list every year.
We thought it’d be helpful to share some of the most frequently asked questions people have about qualifying HSA and FSA expenses:

Are over-the-counter pain relievers considered HSA-qualified expenses?
Yes, over-the-counter (OTC) medications, including pain relievers, can count as HSA-qualifying expenses. This is a relatively recent change that went into effect on January 1, 2020 as part of the CARES Act. As with other purchases, keep your receipts as proof of eligibility if necessary.

Where can I find a list of HSA or FSA-qualified expenses?
You can find the most current list of qualified medical expenses in IRS Publication 502.

Can I use my HSA for alternative medicine treatments?
The list of eligible expenses for HSAs has grown considerably and includes some alternative treatments, including Christian Science practitioners, acupuncture, and naturopathy. You may be required to provide a letter of medical necessity (LMN) from a doctor for the expense to qualify.

Can I use my HSA card at major pharmacy chains for qualified expenses?
Yes, you can use your HSA card to purchase qualifying items at major pharmacy chains and grocery stores (for eligible expenses only). You can also purchase qualifying items on dedicated marketplaces, such as HSAStore.com and FSAstore.com.

What products are covered under HSA/FSA qualified expenses?
As the criteria for HSA and FSA qualifying expenses continue to widen, the list of products and services has grown exponentially. Expenses generally qualify if they’re related to your physical and mental health. Aside from prescriptions, co-pays, deductibles, and other common medical costs, this can include some surprising medical expenses too including skin treatments and red light therapy masks, bicycles, smart watches, sun screens, air purifiers, etc. Just keep in mind, some expenses do require a letter of medical necessity from a doctor.

Need Help Maximizing Your Health Accounts in 2026?

There’s really been no better time to open an HSA or FSA, considering the rising cost of healthcare and expanded eligibility for qualifying expenses. If you have the opportunity to contribute to a tax-advantaged health account, it’s well worth the consideration, even if you’re in good health. Given the vast number of eligible expenses, it’s likely you’ll find some way to spend your savings (even when you’re facing “use it or lose it” deadlines).

If you’d like to discuss your options or learn more about making the most of your health savings this year, reach out to our team anytime. We’d be happy to discuss how your healthcare costs play into your greater financial picture and goals.

The post What Qualifies as an HSA or FSA Expense? Your 2026 Guide to Maximizing Health Savings appeared first on WealthChoice.

The gender pay gap sees women paid about 82 cents to every dollar earned by a man, according to analysis by the Pew Research Center in 2022. This pervasive divide is driven in part by gender and racial discrimination, workplace harassment, job segregation and a lack of workplace policies that support family caregiving, which is still most often performed by women.

Women who leave work to raise their children face decreased wages when they return. They also face very real biases about being less committed to their work, which can lead to a lack of growth opportunities. Age is another factor that is wrongly synonymous with “worth.” For women aged 45 and over, the pay gap extends to 73 cents for every dollar a man makes at the same age. When looking at race, the gap only grows.

As well as seeing my clients battle with this, I’ve experienced the gender pay gap firsthand.

After repeatedly confronting the unique financial challenges that women executives face, I knew I had to go my own way. WealthChoice was created as a place where I can do the work I love in a way I know will have the most impact, and that I am fairly compensated for.

It seems like the most basic request: to simply be paid the same as men who do the same work as us (or sometimes even less!). And yet a gender wage gap has been recognized in a shocking 94% of occupations, stretching all the way to the C-suite. The gender wage gap continues to permeate our professional lives, impacting the health, wealth and well-being of women across the whole of the US.

So What Can Be Done About the Gender Pay Gap?

My job is to advocate for the betterment of the lives of the women I work with. I take great joy in watching them find empowerment and satisfaction in their financial lives. So it really galls me when I hear of the unequal pay or stifled professional development they experience at work.

While I can’t change the numbers on their paycheck, a major way I can help my clients is by ensuring they use the money they do earn as wisely as possible. And the good news here is that there are certain wealth strategies we can put in place that will cushion their financial plan from the negative impact of the gender pay gap.

I recently took on a new client, a woman who is a top tier executive in a large tech firm. When discussing her income I sadly wasn’t surprised to learn of the pay disparity she experiences, despite her senior position.

We spent a lot of time chatting about how this affects her at work, and the mental and emotional toll it takes when feeling so overlooked and underappreciated by her male peers. Then – with an admitted glimmer of “We’ll show them!” – I set about telling her how I will help her work to negate this wage gap as much as possible through well considered and impactful financial choices.

Pay parity is a hugely important element we factor into our planning processes with our clients at WealthChoice.

After all, the earning power of women dictates our ability to live the life we want – and that is the hallmark of our approach to financial planning and the management of women’s wealth.

Working closely with our clients to understand their dreams, goals, ambitions and areas of personal fulfillment is integral to how we operate. Having a plan to maximize your income is critical for any executive – male or female – but it is a really important consideration for female executives, business owners and professionals who are battling an uneven playing field.

The Importance of Knowing a Woman’s Worth

When you’re not getting paid what you’re worth, you don’t get the opportunity to save as much as you should. That translates to lost incomes, lost social security benefits (which are scaled on your pay), and lost portfolio growth over time.

While we’re all familiar with the fact that women executives are paid less than men for doing the same jobs, a lesser known fact is that the average woman executive leaves a million dollars on the table over the course of her working life, simply by not knowing how much she is worth, or asking for what she deserves.

How is this possible, you ask? It starts with knowing your professional value. Where men generally have no problem asking (or overasking) for what they are worth, women seem instinctively averse to it. Moreover, women executives often don’t know the market value of their work. Women report salary expectations between 3 percent and 32 percent lower than those of men for the same job.

Failing to negotiate plays a significant role in wage disparity. A study from Carnegie Mellon University revealed that 8 times as many men as women graduating with a master’s degree negotiated the starting salary of their first job. The first job sets the tone for your earning potential over your entire career. By not negotiating, a woman stands to lose over $500,000 by age 60.

What Does the Gender Pay Gap Mean for Our Economy?

Gender equality around pay has long been an issue in the US labor market. June this year marked 60 years since the passing of the Equal Pay Act, which “prohibited discrimination on account of sex in the payment of wages”.

Yet the situation in the US is still only slightly better than the world average – where most women are paid around 20% less than men – but 18% less can still make a significant impact to a well-structured financial plan. This has a persistently negative impact on the American economy as a whole.

According to Moody’s Analytics, we can expect to see an additional $7 trillion injected into the global economy – that is about 7% – if the pay gap between men and women is narrowed more rapidly. The problem is, at the current rate, the gender pay gap will only be closed in about 132 years.

However, if women in the US were to receive equal pay, then it is anticipated that this would cut poverty among working women and add in the region of $482 billion to the American economy.

For example, in the state of California, where we have a number of clients, pay equality would equate to a significant economic boost. “If women were paid the same as comparable men in California, the state’s working women would have earned $51.8 billion more dollars, an earnings increase that, by itself, is greater than the entire economy of South Dakota ($45.9 billion)”, wrote the authors of briefing paper for The Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Heidi Hartmann, Jeff Hayes and Jennifer Clark.

How Does This Impact Women’s ‘Wealth Gap’?

As I wrote in my book, Corner Office Choices, no matter what industry you work in, being a woman in that industry will bring unique challenges that men don’t have to deal with. The response isn’t to resign ourselves, nor is it to get overly caught up in fighting for systemic change. Instead, the most constructive approach is to identify what those challenges are, and get the resources you need to overcome them.

Over the past two decades, very little has been done to fundamentally shift the status quo. This means more women play a juggling act with their time and their money, but with fewer opportunities to invest more into their own financial futures.

Just recently, the Center for American Progress think-tank released a paper determining that persistent gender pay gaps had cost American women $61 trillion in financial resources since 1967, when the Equal Pay Act was signed. While all women are impacted, Latina and Black women workers continue to be worse off.

The personal upshot of this is that women continue to be caught in a ‘wealth gap’, unable to catch up with their male counterparts. As Rose Khattar, Director of Economic Analysis at the Center for American Progress, said about the report’s findings: “That’s lost wages that could have been injected into the economy in the form of consumer spending. That’s wages that women could have used in terms of investments to build up their wealth.”

Just consider these three personal impacts that the wealth gap might be having on your own financial planning:

• Retiring in Style: The long-term implications of the gender pay gap are particularly noticeable when you start drilling down into the retirement income women can expect versus men. Since earnings over the course of a woman’s life are below that of a man, they receive less in pensions and Social Security which means that when it comes time to retire they can expect to have 70% of a man’s retirement income. Worryingly, many women go into retirement with less income than they had when they were working; making it impossible to maintain their standard of living.
• Emergency Fund Savings: As a female breadwinner, or as a working woman contributing to the family finances, some believe it is important for women to save even more into their emergency funds. This is, in part, due to the household demands on women and their more precarious standing in the labor market. And yet they have one hand tied behind their backs as they build up these savings.
• Investing in Stocks: Earlier this year a report by BNY Mellon noted that if women invested in the stock market at the same rate as men, there would be – at very least – an extra $3.22 trillion in assets under management. The gender pay gap was just one of the factors behind this imbalance highlighted in the report, the others being financial confidence, education around investing and less disposable income (which is where the pay gap really bites).

The Benefit of Women-Focused Advisory Firms

Many of the issues impacting how women accumulate wealth can be linked to personal preferences for investing – since traditionally women tend to be more conservative and have lower risk tolerances – but also because the financial world is geared towards men and, by and large, continues to be male dominated.

However, having a female financial advisor in your corner also makes a big difference. After all, women have unique financial needs and often find themselves handed cookie-cutter advice that might suit a man, rather than benefiting from crafted solutions that help them live their best life.

Women want more than just accepting what is pushed across the table at them, they value honesty and transparency, relationships built on trust and access to investing information that aligns with their personal values. Many women find they can get this by using a female advisor.

It’s important for women executives to recognize that no matter where they start, there’s only so much time they have left, and only so much money they can make within that time frame. It is vital to understand the long term implications of how they choose to use their resources.

My job is to help women executives understand that their current way of life is a choice, and to help them see what other choices are available to them. What do they need for their own life? What does quality of life mean to them? And what is involved in creating it?

At WealthChoice we tailor-make our clients a financial plan that not only takes the issue of gender pay disparities into account, but seeks ways to counter these issues and provide sustained financial stability and growth.

Please do get in touch if we can help you navigate any gender pay gap issues you’re experiencing. We stand as your advocate, support system, and ultimate cheerleader as you head to work every day and learn to bridge the gaping wage divide until the day eventually comes when we no longer have to. Until then, we’re here for you.

The post Women Executives and the Gender Pay Gap. What Can We Do? appeared first on WealthChoice.

Like so many working women before her, this woman was feeling overwhelmed by the demands of a professional career and a family. She was finding it challenging to manage intense full-time work while giving her spouse and young children the time they needed. She felt trapped, spread too thin and overawed by the demands of juggling almost every aspect of her life.

I was extremely grateful for the feedback I gained from this interaction, specifically because I know from past experience that the WealthChoice way can – and will – help her manage all these touchpoints.

For many executive women, life is a day-to-day tightrope walk while juggling career and family. Many of these women have little time to live life on their terms, let alone have some sort of financial strategy for the future they’d like to enjoy.

Fortunately, my brand of bespoke financial planning, which considers all aspects of a woman’s working and personal life, breaks away from the traditional one-size-fits-all model of financial planning to create holistic solutions that support busy breadwinner businesswomen and enable them to live their best lives.

Starting a Family Takes Precision Planning

The process starts with an open and honest conversation, an in-depth examination of your financial health, your goals and your specific personal and professional challenges. From there, we craft a life plan that works – for you!

In my experience, working women – and particularly breadwinner businesswomen – should begin to plan financially from the moment they start thinking about starting a family. This includes putting in place a plan for job flexibility and understanding the maternity leave options at their company.

In particular, it’s important to focus on the following:

• Know Your Maternity Leave Income Coverage: Questions you need to be asking yourself include: How long will I receive a salary from my company? Will it be 100% or a portion? Does my state provide disability for maternity leave? How will my income be impacted with a child? Will I be able to cover the increase in expenses if my income decreases?
• Reassess Your Budget: You’ll need to consider new budgetary line-items such as childcare, equipping your home for a baby, as well as clothes, accessories and food. Plus it’s critically important to decide when to start contributing to a college fund (I always recommend from the moment your child is born, so you get the full benefit of growth over time).
• Increase Your Insurance Cover: For every new parent it is an imperative to have life insurance. If you already have life insurance, then it’s important to review how much you have and assess if it is sufficient. Not only should you consider the medical costs associated with having a child, from prenatal appointments to childbirth classes, you should also consider the cost of insurance once you’ve added your child to your plan.
• Build Your Emergency Fund: Since your family is expanding it’s an excellent idea to put more into your emergency fund for those just-in-case moments. As a rule of thumb, it is good practice to have an emergency fund with at least six months of fixed expenses in cash if you are single, and three months if you have a working spouse or partner.
• Update Your Will: If you don’t already have a Will, then it’s important to have one in place before your baby is born. This document will ensure that your child inherits your assets in the event of your death and, if they are a minor, clearly states who will care for your child.
• Consider Upcoming Expenses: If your current home is small, then you’ll also need to factor in the possibility of moving house or investing in a bigger property as your child grows up. When you do start looking, remember that considerations like proximity to good schools and nurseries will now become really important.

On a more personal note, I resonated with this series of positive and affirming tips from life purpose coach Erica Carrico. Stop trying to be perfect, she says. Take time out to have fun, and to be open to help – be it a daycare or even a family organizer. Carrico also affirms my view that filling your own cup first is the best gift you can give to your family; it helps to keep you focused, positive and in the moment.

Advice for Entrepreneurs and Tech Startup Execs

A few years ago I read an article in Forbes magazine in which the writer suggested that as a female entrepreneur and mother, women should “accept that there is no such things a ‘balance’.”

For any breadwinner businesswomen at the helm of an organization – and especially those steering highly competitive tech start-ups – I would argue that balance comes naturally if you focus on prioritizing. This only works if you take the time to decide what is important – including you! – and tailoring your schedule around those commitments.

If, for instance, attending your child’s baseball games is a non-negotiable, then block out the time in your diary – just as you would with a client meeting. Turn off your phone, and give your full attention to the little person on the pitcher’s mound.

As Forbes contributor Nona Djavid wrote: “I do not check my email or Slack messages, and I focus on my current situation. I want him to remember that Mom showed up to every lesson to cheer him on and watch him improve.”

As a personal note, I still remember when my daughter told me that I never listened to her. It stung terribly, and I decided then and there to be more present. Now, I make sure my attention is 100% focused on my children when I’m with them or speaking with them from across the country.

Considerations for Women Lawyers

While all careers require heavy time commitments, a special word needs to go out to breadwinner businesswomen working in the notoriously demanding legal profession, where many regularly work more than 60 hours a week and a single week of vacation a year is not uncommon.

In a 2023 Law360 Pulse survey 31% of female lawyers said their work-life balance had deteriorated in the past year (compared with 18% of male lawyers) and 46% reported feeling continual stress (compared to 28% of men polled).

Fortunately mother-friendly legal firms are emerging across the US; practices that are turning their backs on traditionally glass ceilings and finding ways to support female lawyers through mentorship and career guidance. Some of the advice shared by female lawyers who find themselves juggling these very commitments, includes supporting one another, being adaptable, communicating your needs clearly, planning and prioritizing.

Even for women lawyers who choose to take on a part-time position to help prioritize family time, the unpredictability of the profession means that long hours are inevitable. Which means that, for any woman in the legal profession, full-time childcare is inevitable. One of the positive results of the 2020 pandemic was the ability for many in the legal field to have some flexibility around their work hours and location, so where possible it is advisable to build on those gains..

Remember: Outsourcing Is OK

In a previous blog I wrote – Female Breadwinners: The Challenges of Doing It All – I shared some eye-opening facts about women in the modern American workplace. For instance, that 41% of American mothers are the “sole or primary breadwinners for their families” who earn at least half of their household’s total income.

Not only are women often breadwinners at home, they are increasingly in senior positions in the office. This means that women need help. And they shouldn’t be afraid to ask for it.

I’ve had many conversations with breadwinner businesswomen who complain of a lack of time, but still insist on packing school lunches, cleaning and doing laundry. If you are dealing with intense hours and heavy work pressure then something has to give. If you push yourself to be all things to all people, that something to snap will be you.

By outsourcing to a housekeeper, or enrolling your child at daycare or with a trusted nanny, you are ensuring that you offer your family the best version of yourself when you walk through the door.

However, with the rising cost of childcare it is critically important to plan upfront for the costs associated with childcare, as well as the projected increases over the coming years. Fortune magazine puts the yearly cost of childcare in the US at $14,117, a figure that has accelerated by more than 41% in recent years. As a result, I work closely with my clients to ensure that budgets are in place to prioritize childcare, preschool and even summer day camps.

We also take the time to weigh up the IRS tax credit of up to $6,000 a year for two or more children versus making use of a Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA). Contributions to a Dependent Care FSA are capped at a pre-tax limit of $5,000 per calendar year (per couple), and these funds can be used to cover eligible dependent care services, like daycare. Since the FSA is only available to employees, it’s important to see which option best suits your situation.

What Does Your Ideal Life Look Like?

Before I took the plunge and started WealthChoice I had to ask myself the question: What does my ideal life look like? Today I challenge my breadwinner businesswomen clients to answer this for themselves, then to work with me to design a financial plan that supports her dreams and ambitions, and allows her to live life on her terms.

My approach is centered on choices – from the way you spend your money to the decisions you make around childcare, promotions and career decisions. Making the right choices for you is both freeing and empowering. If you’d like to work with me to help give power to your choices, get in touch and let’s chat.

The post For Breadwinner Businesswomen, Starting a Family Takes Precision Planning appeared first on WealthChoice.

Whether we take time out to explore the many wonders right here on our doorstep in the USA, or explore destinations further afield, travel is the perfect way to step back and re-energize. I speak from experience.

For me, travel opens my mind and gifts me precious time with my family. I plan for a week abroad each year, usually strategically taken around Thanksgiving when my workload is slightly lighter and I can feel comfortable being away from the office for a while.

The tips I share when it comes to travel are, therefore, grounded in my insights as a financial advisor, but supported by personal experience as a busy professional and business owner.

“Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.”
– Anonymous

The Joy of Getting Away from It All

Clearly I am not alone in my passion for travel and enjoying unique places and experiences. According to a 2022 luxury travel market report, an increasing number of wealthy Americans are eyeing bespoke international travel in 2023.

In addition, the report revealed that most wealthy travelers prefer spending on experiences as opposed to goods. This is certainly true of WealthChoice clients, most of whom share the annual goal of travel.

Some of my clients spend more on this passion than others, but based on our in-depth discussions and interactions, and irrespective of the destination in question, getting away from day-to-day demands is a significant priority.

For some, it’s just about having new adventures, experiencing the world on their terms, and enjoying a change of scenery. For others, it’s the health benefits of taking a vacation that inspires them to pre-book time in their schedules each year to get away.

Recharge and Reset

For busy female executives, the health benefits of taking a break are becoming increasingly important. This is particularly true of women working in high-stress roles or in male-dominated sectors, such as tech or the law.

For women fighting battles on all fronts, a vacation can be a chance to relax, reset and reflect. Time in a new environment, away from daily challenges, is often a precious moment to clear the mind and consider new ways of working, new areas for personal development, and opportunities to grow.

Reinvigorated after taking time out, it is quite common for our clients to return to work with a fresh perspective on what is important. As Leonardo da Vinci, the great polymath, once observed: “Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer.”

Since travel ranks so high on our clients’ list of personal priorities, it is an important focus area for me and my team. Believe it or not, a financial advisor like WealthChoice has a vital role to play in working with you to prepare for travel (particularly the international, cross-border variety), by providing both financial guidance and ensuring you can go away with the peace of mind that, while you recharge, your financial health is in safe and dedicated hands.

Have Budget, Will Travel

No matter the time frame, be it the standard week-long vacation, or a really indulgent two-week adventure, my clients choose to travel all over the world. Yes, they see travel as a luxury, but it’s one that I encourage them to plan for both financially and logistically.

Even for those in high-earning positions, it is always important to factor in the cost of taking time off – both financially and in terms of personal and work commitments. This is particularly true in demanding professions like law or if you are self-employed or run your own business. Whether it’s the length of your stay, your destination, what kind of accommodation you’re seeking, transport costs or how much you plan to shop while you’re away, I know from experience that it pays to be prepared.

Often travel preparation can be done with the help of your financial advisor who can assist with determining if and how your trip will impact your long-term financial goals and work this into your financial plan. They can also provide guidance on the following:

Let’s Talk Insurance

When visiting distant lands, anything can happen. That’s why trip cancellation insurance is an important consideration. Many of the best travel credit cards also offer some kind of protection for travelers, from baggage insurance to trip delay insurance. Another great resource to compare and buy travel insurance is www.squaremouth.com.

It’s also best to speak to your health care insurance provider about your travels to establish whether they will cover any possible medical costs abroad or if they sell temporary plans. Bear in mind, for instance, that Medicare cover generally doesn’t pay for care in another country, but a Medicare tie-in plan could cover costs incurred abroad. And don’t forget to take all your inoculations, especially if you are traveling to regions such as Africa or Asia.

What Does Estate Planning Have to Do with Travel?

If you’ve been putting off creating a Will or updating the one you have, it’s best to make the necessary arrangements before you travel. The peace of mind that comes with knowing your estate plan is in order ensures you can focus on the business of truly unwinding.

Remember to Combine Cash and Cards

It’s best to use a combination of cards and cash when you’re traveling, especially in Europe. Remember that cash is king so take a fair amount with you in the currency of the country to which you’re traveling.

When selecting a travel card, look for one that has no foreign transaction fees and enables you to seamlessly cash in rewards for travel. Some travel cards also offer a bonus system where you can earn rewards for travel-related purchases.

Investing in a new credit card a few months before your departure may also come with sign-up bonuses that facilitate cheaper travel or high-spend rewards. What’s more, it’s advisable to notify your credit card company of your travel dates so that they don’t block your transactions if they suspect suspicious activity.

High-End Considerations

While the financial and planning advice shared above applies to anyone planning a vacation – and particularly one outside of the USA – for high-earners a comprehensive travel plan might also need to consider making provision for the following:

• Private aviation costs: Since the 2020-2021 pandemic demand for private travel options, such as private jets and even renting out luxury yachts for the summer, has exploded. There are options available for those who chose to travel in style, be it leasing a private aircraft, to fractional ownership of a jet, or even loyalty programs courtesy of well-known aviation companies.
• Exploring bespoke, ‘bucket-list’ experiences: Whether it’s a luxury safari in Kenya or South Africa, leasing a hilltop villa on the Mediterranean, cruising around remote island in Indonesia or along the coast of Croatia, today’s traveler is looking to unlock unique and luxurious possibilities. Vacations of this variety will invariably come with a higher price tag, but if you plan well in advance for such ‘bucket-list’ breaks, they can be magical and even life changing.
• Emerging eco-travel options: A recent report by Virtuoso tells us that some 82 percent of travelers now want to travel more responsibly, and are seeking out more remote and unspoiled locations. They want to engage with local communities and learn about new cultures. Planning vacations of this type, complexity and often distance location, invariably required the services of a travel specialist. They should be treated as once-in-a-lifetime investments.

Live a Life Rich in Experience

Despite the financial outlay from these luxurious vacations, I am always at pains to affirm the travel choices my clients make, and encourage them to reward themselves appropriately for the high-pressure roles they carry off with such grace.

As I wrote in my book, Corner Office Choices: The Executive Woman’s Guide to Financial Freedom: “The first big step in financial planning is examining your passions and pursuits.” Passions are the interests you feel deeply about, such as travel, while pursuits are the particular goals and endeavors to which you are committed.

Without passion, and without reward, what are you working for?

Travel is, for me, an essential experience that both enriches my life and broadens my horizons. It feeds my passion for new, exciting and bespoke experiences. It represents quality time with family and an opportunity to recharge my batteries.

As a result, I find it extremely satisfying to help my clients make their travel dreams come true. Whatever your financial hopes, dreams and concerns when it comes to travel, remember: I’m just a call away.

The post When Travel Calls, Answer with Sound Financial Planning appeared first on WealthChoice.

Strategic and Tactical. You know the difference, right?

Strategic is thoughtful, it’s high level, it’s directed, intentional, and it’s what helps you pursue what you want.

Tactical is practical, it’s action steps, boots on the ground, and it’s how you get you want.

We’re pretty much clear on this difference, yet sometimes it’s easy to find ourselves lost in the complexity, buried in projects, stressed out and wondering (not out loud, of course) “what do I do next?” or “where am I, and what am I doing with this [business/career/job]?” or burned out and not sure why.

Know What you Want and Need

When you find yourself lost in this or some similar morass, ask yourself, “Am I driving my business? Or is my business driving me?”

If it’s the latter, know you are in good company. This is quite common for ambitious, high-achievers who’re action-oriented, exposed to a lot of opportunities, surrounded by other high-achievers, and often riding on momentum.

So, how did you get here?

• You may have tacked adrift and are no longer on the course you set out on. Or, you’ve had an epiphany, evolved your thinking, or adopted a new mindset, and your original destination or objective doesn’t fit this new frame of mind.

or

• You made a business plan, but you never really took seriously the idea that the business is simply a component in your very full life, and you didn’t start the strategic process by figuring out what you really want and need for yourself and that the business is only a tool for achieving THAT.

In either case, sit back, take a deep breath and make the time – squeeze it in – cancel other commitments if you have to, this is really important, make the time to go about this in the proper order:

1. In my life, what outcomes do I personally want and need for myself to feel happy, fulfilled, grounded and confident in my future? Figure this out before you focus on others and the business as we’ll discuss below.
2. What action steps do I need to take to achieve these outcomes?
3. What time and resources will I need to take the necessary actions?
4. Then, and only then, should you consider “How does this business serve my Personal Strategic Plan?”
5. Assuming the business indeed serves your needs, then “What outcomes does this business need right now to help me satisfy my personal needs?”

Protect the Asset¹

As you work on articulating your personal needs, you will surely adequately account for your family and others, and for the financial requirements from the business. But what about you? In a personal financial services company, the most important assets are the people. As a business owner, that’s you. And in a small business, you’re most, if not all the team.

In strategic planning, it’s essential to find your biggest points of leverage: areas that with attention will yield progress over and above the time commitment, and that will compound over time. Your energy and cognitive performance are the biggest leverage you have and they are mostly under your control. Your ability to optimize how you perform day in and day out: think, plan, focus, persevere, endure, and achieve, is almost completely dependent on you. You are a walking chemical cocktail and the quality of those activities are driven by how the chemicals flow or don’t flow based on what you do or don’t do on a daily basis.

Make a commitment to assess how well you are protecting the Asset. Here’s a way to get started, inspired by the book State Change by Dr. Robin Berzin. Each of these items represents an area that greatly affects the chemicals that are activated or prevented from activation, governing your mood, your energy, and your cognitive performance. Give yourself a rating in each of the following areas and start making a plan to improve those areas you know are lacking.

Be especially thoughtful about items 6 and 7. Failing one or both of those will tend to trump good results in the others.

Sitting down to do an honest assessment of your self-care is the tip of the iceberg. Addressing any one of these, never mind multiple areas, is a serious endeavor requiring motivation, planning, discipline, strategies and tactics – and it will take time. But the help is out there and if you don’t feel equipped to handle these on your own, follow Qii Consulting on LinkedIn and we promise you’ll be exposed to the latest relevant knowledge, resources and experts to help you put yourself first in your strategic planning.

*This blog originally appeared on Equita Financial Network

1. “Protect the Asset” is all about your wellness journey for a successful life. Thank you to Bridget Grimes of WealthChoice for articulating the business case for self-care.

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 “The highest form of wealth is the ability to wake up every morning and say ‘I can do whatever I want today’.”

In essence, true wealth is control of your time.  Time to spend with your family, friends, in a career you love, a hobby you enjoy.  Whatever is most important to you, but your choice.

Does that resonate with you?

Most of my clients long to have the ability to choose to work so that they could instead spend their time doing something they consider more meaningful, more fulfilling. Which pretty much underscores the fact that what they are doing now is not what they’d choose to if they truly had a choice.  In fact, control of our time has become more elusive now than for past generations. This lack of control over time has led to less happiness even though we are richer now than in the past.

So how do you create the financial wealth that allows you to have this control of time-to do what you want, with whom you want, when you want?

Focus on what you can control.

Personal savings, frugality, and your behavior are three critical things you can control and can be as effective in the future as they are now. Investment returns? Anyone’s guess what they’ll be. Is investing important? Absolutely! But can you predict your returns? No, no one can. Believe it or not, 40% of all companies successful enough to go public effectively lost all of their trading value over time. 40%! Trying to guess which investments will outperform is a fools’ errand, and cannot be controlled, but by focusing on these three areas you personally can control true wealth, control of your precious time, is within reach.

Savings

This part is really quite straight forward. As planners we encourage folks to save for goals that are important to them. But you can save without a specific goal and you can save more than you need for a specific goal. You can save just to save because life is uncertain and because saving more than you need gives you more options. If your goal is to contribute the maximum to your 401k every year, challenge yourself here by saving more than that. Open a non- retirement investment account and establish a monthly recurring contribution.

What can you do?  Make savings intentional and automatic, and you’ll wind up with more options, that can lead to more control of your life and time.

Frugality

We all know the saying “It’s not what you spend, it’s what you save.” Nothing could be more true. Living below your means is within our power and affords us the extra money we can put towards savings. I am not advocating here that you sacrifice lifestyle now for an uncertain future, but there is a balance.

Several years ago a story hit the media about an elderly gentleman in rural Vermont who lived a simple life and worked as a janitor. Nothing was terribly remarkable about his life, but when he died it turned out his net worth was more than $8 million. People who knew him were floored. How could someone with a modest income have so much money? This man, Ronald Read, lived below his means. He saved and invested, and held his investments over time. If we want true wealth we should aspire to be a little more like Ronald Reed.

What can you do?  Take a look at your monthly income and spending and decide on an amount you are willing to save, automatically, into an investment account.

Behavior

Doing well with money has little to do with how smart you are and a lot to do with how you behave. Ronald Reed exemplified this. In fact, how you behave may be more important than what you know.

If you think back to the beginning of the pandemic and March 2020, the market took a steep turn for the worst. Anxiety and uncertainty ruled. How you behaved under these circumstances made a significant difference to your financial situation just a few months later. As Housel shares, “your success as an investor will be determined by how you respond to punctuated moments of terror, not the years you spend on cruise control.”

What can you do?  Having an investment plan, sticking with it, keeping emotions at bay in times of anxiety and unrest can help you achieve that true wealth.

If your goal is to have more choices of how you live your life, financial freedom is the key. These three simple steps-savings, frugality, behavior-are all within your control. It’s truly why we named our firm WealthChoice. Smart choices can provide us with true wealth, and they are often simpler than we think.

The post 3 Steps to True Wealth appeared first on WealthChoice.

But owning a pet isn’t cheap. In addition to the basic costs such as food, toys and grooming, pet owners can spend more than $27.8 billion on veterinary bills every year, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

So when a client of mine recently asked me my opinion on pet insurance, my answer wasn’t clear cut. As a single woman, her only “child” is her dog. Understandably she wanted to know if it would make financial sense for her to spend on pet insurance.

Pet insurance may seem like an extra bill you’d prefer to avoid, but it’s important to factor in your personal situation. Can you afford not to have the financial fallback the insurance provides? How would you cope if your pet needed life-saving treatment that couldn’t be paid for?

Why Do People Get Pet Insurance?

Just as with my client, for many Americans, pets are their children. No expense is spared when it comes to the health of their pets. Since this can be quite expensive, pet insurance may help to defray major medical expenses.

Pet insurance is there to cover a risk that you cannot potentially afford, and as a sort of “forced savings” in the event of a claim. If your beloved pet required $20,000 for surgery, would you be able to pay it? Would you have cash in an emergency fund you could tap to pay the bill?

Essentially, by having pet insurance you are building that emergency fund via an external third party; the insurance company collects the money you might otherwise be setting aside for a potential major medical vet claim.

How to Look for Pet Insurance

One resource shared with us that Healthy Paws and FIGO seem to trade off as best value. Many insurance plans also include vet visits and other such foreseeable expenses. These drive up the cost of the policy for no reason, and can easily be budgeted for in addition to your monthly insurance payments, so be sure to look for pet insurance that only covers what you really need.

If you aim for true insurance for unplanned expenses, pet insurance may make sense. It offers financial reassurance, and helps avoid the heartbreak of having to decide whether or not you can afford to save your pet’s life.

Don’t Forget to Account for Pre-Existing Conditions

Be mindful of “pre-existing conditions” with your pets. Pre-existing conditions, breeding and cosmetic surgery aren’t typically covered, and accident and illness coverage can vary by provider, so it’s worth checking on what a policy will and will not cover.

Some pet insurance companies will deny claims for rescue pets due to potential pre-existing conditions,” so check to make sure that a company will cover your rescue pup.

Decide What Feels Right for You and Your Family

In our opinion, there is really no right way to go here. If you are inclined to pay for chemotherapy and other very large expenses that could potentially happen down the line, (and you don’t have a rescue), you might want to consider pet insurance.

If having pet insurance will give you peace of mind, there is a value in that, too. However, you could also consider saving monthly into your emergency fund an amount, say $100, that you would allocate to pet care.

If you’ve had an experience with pet insurance we’d love to hear it. And for more valuable information on all things financial, check out our book where you’ll find many of the trusted resources we use for smart financial moves.

The post Pet Insurance: Do You Need It and Is It Worth Having? appeared first on WealthChoice.

A recent study showed that 77% of all American employees will experience burnout at some point, and that on average only 74% of work is done in the workplace – the rest is taken home and done out of hours. Work is invading our lives. It is stressing us out, making us miserable and unhealthy. We just can’t seem to get that work life balance right.

The Work Life Balance Problem: Why Is It Harder for Women?

First, let me just say, I’m not going to patronize you and dwell too much on the obvious stuff. I’m not going to stereotype all modern men and husbands either. We all know that it takes two to run a household, but that the majority of housework and family-related chores still fall to women. So the demands on female executives who are also family women are astronomical, but we know this bit.

Women executives are seriously inspirational people. They are bold and driven, courageous and fiercely intelligent.

They are often at the helm of a successful business at the same time as steering the ship of their homelife as well. They are often commanding a serious salary, and living an expensive lifestyle. But it’s certainly not all luxury travel and cocktail parties.

The women I know really put in the hours to get where they are and where they want to be, and it often comes at the expense of another element of their lives. It might be their health; they may be struggling with stress which can lead to serious health consequences. Additionally, unfortunately, with increased work hours comes increased dependency on alcohol or substance abuse.

But it might be their personal life that suffers. While women executives may well be meeting and sometimes wildly exceeding their career goals, their personal ones aren’t even on the radar. For nearly all the professional women I meet, a good work life balance is elusive. But it really doesn’t have to be that way. There are just three things that any professional woman must do to achieve that seemingly impossible work life balance.

#1. Identify Your Passions and Pursuits

When I first meet a client, one of the tasks I set them is to identify their passions and their pursuits. Passions are the things that really make them tick, the things that they care deeply about, the things that can bring them joy. Pursuits are the achievable, more practical milestones that they want to tick off, such as paying down a debt, hitting a certain retirement savings goal, buying a vacation home.

I have a worksheet for this that I hand to clients, and it’s also included with my book; it’s that important. It helps my clients to picture their ideal life, a life that they are entitled to and that they are able to achieve. When a client of mine can outline exactly what she wants to achieve in both these areas, she can strip out the unnecessary stressors and drill down into the detail of their true picture of perfection. It is the first step towards a healthy, positive work life balance.

All that’s important is that the client really scrutinizes themselves and their ideals to be totally authentic to themselves. It doesn’t matter if the important aspects of life that they identify are simple – for example, being able to come home to cook a nutritious dinner for themselves and/or their family, instead of grabbing something quick between meetings. Or maybe it’s freeing up time every year for a family vacation or a trip, or devoting some time to a hobby, sport, or the local community.

#2. Set Yourself Goals

Once you’ve identified your passions and pursuits, you need to set yourself some goals. And write them down – you’re significantly more likely to achieve goals when you’ve written them down. Set yourself an ideal timeline, with incremental steps to make sure you’re on course to have everything as you want it. This will help you to identify realistic goals over fanciful ones, as well as separating short term goals from long term goals, more urgent milestones and ones that you can take some time over.

Although it might not seem immediately related, goal-setting really is a fundamental step of achieving the right work life balance. It keeps you on track. It keeps you in the mindset of monitoring how you are spending your time and how you are spending your hard-earned money.

But remember: these are not immovable goals. These goals need to be flexible, because people’s priorities often change. You need to periodically review both your ideas about your passions and pursuits as well as your goals to reach them. It’s okay to change course from time to time, as long as you do it with intent.

#3. Create a Robust but Flexible Financial Plan

The career of a female executive is riddled with challenges and it’s a lifestyle that demands you make sacrifices and compromises all the time. And once you have identified your passions and pursuits, and set your goals, how do you get there? You need the solid foundation of a financial plan.

So how does a good financial plan help to address the work life balance problem? The first thing to be aware of is that not all of them do. I don’t believe that conventional financial advice works for most women. Executive women face different challenges, and their financial plan needs to recognize that. Their financial plan needs to accommodate for all the stress points in their life, and provide solutions.

If their passions involve travel, they must make sure their financial plan accommodates it. If my client’s idea of a great work life balance involves working for themselves, their financial plan must facilitate them being able to set up on their own. This might involve some additional expenses in training, extra qualifications and upskilling, or investing in a retail space to pursue a commercial venture.

If a client feels overworked and on the brink of burnout, their financial plan may well need to accommodate a reduction in income – my client might do much better if they work just four days a week, and have an extra day of leisure time. Sometimes that helps them to strike an ideal balance for themselves. It really is about identifying where things are going wrong, and how to put them right.

Use Your Finances to Get Your Perfect Balance

My clients use their passions and pursuits to build their ideal life for themselves. It empowers them to say yes where they want to, and they can learn to say no when they need to. My clients can set boundaries as to their work hours and their work expenses, to make sure that they are devoting enough time to other aspects of their life that can imbue it with meaning and purpose.

Striking the right work life balance for you means looking at and listening to exactly what is important for you, and looking at your entire financial landscape. It means taking control and making adjustments where necessary. Sometimes it means putting your health or your happiness first.

I love seeing the transition in my clients. I meet them as busy, frenetic women executives with too much on their plates. They come back to me, a short while after our first meetings, having made some tiny adjustments, and they are living truly transformed lives. They are still ambitious and driven, still achieving their professional goals. But they are living fulfilled, well-rounded, happy lives.

If you need to address your work life balance, don’t wait to get in touch. I’ll be delighted to help you.

The post Three Things Women Executives Must Do to Get a Good Work Life Balance appeared first on WealthChoice.

We recently had Clinical Nutritionist Tara Coleman facilitate a webinar for us on Diet Skills to Help You Manage COVID Weight Gain. Tara shared that while many people are struggling with their diets during lockdown, she is seeing success with a number of her clients in three distinct areas. We detail those steps below-

1. Maintain Meal Planning

This doesn’t mean you have to plan out a complicated menu of meals you have to cook. This is having a food plan, having a plan for food for breakfast lunch and dinner. Rather than having no plan around a meal, which can lead to impulsive choices, knowing where your meals will come from is helping folks keep the eating on track. This might mean planning to get take-out for dinner on Tuesday and Thursday, cook dinner Monday and Wednesday. It might mean adding in a meal-kit meal for other meals. It’s knowing where you are ordering from, what meals you are cooking, just having a plan of action.

Tara suggested meal planning doesn’t have to be all or none, and it doesn’t have to mean Michelin starred meals. It doesn’t even have to involve cooking. It does require some level of planning. Perhaps you decide to meal plan for breakfast and lunch one week only. You can add in dinners incrementally. The success here is from having a game plan so that better decisions are made around the food you eat.

You can check out eatingwell.com for ideas on meal planning, and for customized meal planning you can reach out to Tara for a 30 day meal plan here.

2. Focus on Behaviors

For many people, their diet and their behavior around food pre-COVID was different. Tara suggested looking at the big picture here, rather than focusing on small details. What worked for you in the past? Why? When did healthy eating feel easier to you? You did something differently in the past around food and diet and that has shifted during COVID. If you think back on your diet behavior pre-COVID, reinstituting some of those successful behaviors will help.

3. Maintain a Support System

Our lack of connection during the pandemic has been one of the most frustrating parts of COVID for many. Isolation and loneliness have contributed to many of the diet challenges. What Tara has seen is something she refers to as “unhealthy habit stacking.” Habit stacking is when you take a behavior you already have and add a new behavior to it. For example, in the past you may have connected with friends over cocktails at a bar. Now, people are connecting for virtual happy hours over Zoom. Tara suggests instead you stack healthy habits here-skip the Rose and grab a mocktail or a glass of mineral water for the virtual happy hour. Choose to stack healthy habits rather than the unhealthy choices that are torpedoing our diets.

Tara also noted that having an accountability partner can really help here. This could be a friend, colleague, even a Habit Tracker-some way to help yourself stay on track and to celebrate the wins.
You can find more great diet information on Tara’s blog. And, if you are finding lack of sleep and poor diet are leading to cravings during COVID, check out Tara’s steps to conquer cravings at taracoleman.com/cravings.

At WealthChoice we believe wealth is nothing without your health and we are committed to sharing valuable resources like Tara Coleman who can truly make a difference to your quality of life.  If you’d like to learn more about how we help our clients live the life they want, you can contact us.

The post Three Places People are Having Success Navigating Diet During COVID appeared first on WealthChoice.

We recently reached out to Tara Coleman, Clinical Nutritionist in San Diego, California for ideas on how best to navigate the holiday mine field of food without guilt.  Tara graciously shared the article below:

When it comes to health and nutrition, the holidays often seem like a lost cause. No matter what you do, you always seem to start the year feeling like a victim of the potluck and back to square one. This year, I want you to use these 4 simple strategies that will allow you to enjoy the season and have no regrets on January 1!

Don’t Save Your Calories

Oftentimes when we are anticipating a big meal or holiday eating, our strategy is to either skip meals or eat as little as possible leading up to it. The idea is that cutting calories at the other meals will make up for the huge holiday meal. Although it may make sense in theory, I am here to tell you it is EXACTLY WHAT YOU SHOULDN’T DO.

When we skip meals or cut calories too low, we are ensuring with 100% certainty that we are going to follow that up with frenzied eating. You know what I’m talking about. The type of eating where you are starving, inhale the food in record time and then find yourself uncomfortable and maybe even sick. Our intention may be to save room so we can really enjoy the meal, but if we are being honest, when we set ourselves up like this we barely even taste the food. Moreover, we have changed the way our body metabolizes food and now it is more likely to be stored as fat.

Instead, I want you to eat normally leading up to your holiday meals. You will not “spoil” your dinner, you will still be hungry and you will actually get to taste and enjoy the food that you are eating.

Don’t Let Perfect be the Enemy of Good

Let’s be honest, the holidays are just different. Days are shorter, you are running around between social events, shopping and then you have to do all the normal life stuff. And, when you least expect it, someone in the family is going to get sick. So if you have the same expectations when it comes to your health and exercise in December that you do in January, you are going to fall short. Still, throwing up your hands and giving up until the 1st of the year isn’t the solution either.

Instead, I want you to change your expectations. Let go of perfection and shoot for good. Perhaps your normal 45min/day gym routine isn’t realistic this time of year, but maybe 2-3 days a week is doable. Or maybe Sunday meal prep isn’t feasible, but getting groceries in the house for breakfast and lunch and then planning where you will grab takeout for dinner will make life easier.

If you are still feeling overwhelmed or focusing only on what you aren’t doing, download my free habit tracker to help you simplify and keep moving forward.

Be Picky

There is a lot of wonderful food during the holiday season! Things that you look forward to all year. Things that not only taste delicious but are also nostalgic and carry memories and history. There is also a lot of junk. Things that we eat just because it’s there or we are stressed or because we haven’t been to the grocery store. Surviving the holiday season nutritionally isn’t about getting rid of the wonderful (in fact, I encourage it). It is about getting rid of the junk.

Remember the Reason

It is easy to get wrapped up in other peoples needs and expectations during the holidays. I also know that your health and nutrition is important to you. If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t have made it this far – seriously, do you know how hard it is to get people to read things on the internet?! Take a few minutes before going into a social situation to remind yourself of this so you can stay intentional.

The other aspect of remembering the reason – is the holiday season is not only about the food and celebration, but really about the people you are with. So, if you find yourself focusing solely on the food, take a step back and remember to connect and engage.

Ultimately, I want you to exhale and appreciate the season! Try and let go of the pressure of being perfect and allow yourself to cherish what truly makes you happy. Enjoy!

We are thrilled to have Tara join us for the January 2019 WealthChoice Community event on January 16th. You can find details of that event on the WealthChoice Events page of our webiste.  Tara Coleman is a Clinical Nutritionist in San Diego, California. She helps people get healthy, but she does it in a way that takes into account their lifestyle and goals, and then creates a custom plan for them.  You can read more about Tara here.

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