Who this is for
Workers reviewing life insurance, retirement accounts, HSAs, and workplace benefits.
60-second summary
Open enrollment is a natural time to check beneficiaries. Review employer life insurance, supplemental life, retirement accounts, HSAs, pensions, 401(a), 403(b), 401(k), and any old accounts. Marriage, divorce, children, death in the family, new accounts, and job changes can make old beneficiary choices wrong.
Fact sheet
Accounts to check
- Basic life insurance.
- Supplemental life insurance.
- Retirement plan.
- HSA.
- Pension or 401(a) if applicable.
- Old employer accounts.
- IRA and brokerage transfer-on-death settings.
Life events that require review
- Marriage.
- Divorce.
- Birth or adoption.
- Death of a beneficiary.
- New job.
- New retirement account.
- Breakup or changed family relationship.
Primary vs contingent beneficiary
- Primary beneficiary receives the asset first.
- Contingent beneficiary receives it if the primary beneficiary cannot.
- Percentages should total 100%.
Documentation
- Save confirmation pages.
- Tell the right person where documents are stored.
- Review annually during open enrollment.
The old account problem
A worker changes jobs, opens a new retirement plan, and forgets an old employer account. Years later, the old beneficiary is still listed. Annual review catches this before it becomes a family problem.
Paycheck Impact Calculator
Common mistakes
- Only updating life insurance, not retirement accounts.
- Forgetting contingent beneficiaries.
- Leaving an ex-partner listed.
- Not saving confirmation.
- Ignoring old employer accounts.
Key takeaway
Open enrollment is the perfect annual reminder to update beneficiaries across insurance, retirement, HSA, and old accounts.
Finish with the open enrollment checklist
You reached the end of the article sequence. Use the checklist to review your benefits before submitting elections.
Want to run the numbers instead?
After the next article, you can also jump into a calculator or return to the full open enrollment path.
Paycheck Impact Calculator
Compare premiums, expected care, employer account money, and bad-year exposure before choosing a plan.
Out-of-Pocket Max Estimator
Use this when you want to understand how much covered in-network cost-sharing room may remain.
Open Enrollment Guide
Go back to the full ordered article path, tools, and final checklist.