Financial Products, Oh My! How to Navigate IRAs, Life Insurance, and Health Insurance Without Losing Your Mind
🧱 Financial Products, Oh My!
Why Clarity Comes Before Action—Especially This Time of Year
Every fall, it starts…
Your inbox fills with well-meaning advice:
“Open an IRA!”
“Don’t miss out on tax-saving strategies!”
“You need more life insurance!”
“Switch your health plan before the deadline!”
It’s like the Wizard of Oz, financial edition:
IRAs, life insurance, and health insurance—oh my!
And if you’re feeling overwhelmed, you’re not alone.
🎭 The Open Enrollment Trap
Let’s start with the scariest one: health insurance.
Every October, open enrollment rears its head, and even the most organized humans start spiraling. PPOs, HMOs, premiums, coinsurance—ugh.
But here’s the problem: most people choose their plan based on fear or default, not because they’ve actually thought about how it fits into their real life or goals.
Choosing the cheapest plan may cost you more long term.
Going with the “best coverage” might not be cash-flow-friendly right now.
And choosing based on what you think you should do can leave you unprotected in the ways that actually matter.
👉 Health insurance is a tool. But it only works when it supports your bigger financial picture.
🩺 How to Actually Read Your Health Insurance Plan
(So you don’t end up overpaying—or under-covered.)
Health insurance plans are intentionally confusing.
Premiums, deductibles, coinsurance, out-of-pocket maxes—most people don’t actually know what they’re looking at.
Let’s fix that.
Here’s what you really need to understand when you’re comparing plans during open enrollment:
🧮 Key Terms to Know (in plain English):
Premium = What you pay monthly just to have the insurance (even if you don’t use it).
Deductible = The amount you pay out-of-pocket first before insurance kicks in.
Coinsurance = The % you pay after you meet your deductible (ex: 20% of the bill).
Out-of-Pocket Maximum = The most you’ll pay in a year (excluding your premium). After this, insurance covers 100%.
🧠 How to Estimate Your Real Cost:
If you're healthy and rarely use healthcare:
Your total yearly cost = Monthly premium × 12
(Plus any doctor visits or prescriptions until you hit your deductible)
If you have ongoing needs or big expenses:
Your total yearly cost =
(Monthly premium × 12) + your out-of-pocket max
*In some cases, this could be higher if the care you need isn’t covered or is out-of-network—just one more reason it’s worth reviewing your plan details carefully.
👉 Pro Tip: Look for plans where your out-of-pocket max is something you could realistically cover in a worst-case year.
🪄 Extra Pro Tip:
I get it—some of these out-of-pocket maximums are outrageous.
If it doesn’t feel realistic to fully cover that number today, ask yourself:
“What’s a realistic amount I can save toward it over the next year?”
Even if you can’t hit the full number, setting aside something helps turn an emergency into a solvable situation—and that’s a win.
👀 Other Important Details to Check:
Emergency Room visits – Copay or subject to deductible? That changes the bill big time.
Urgent Care visits – Some plans charge $50, others $150+.
Telehealth or virtual visits – Covered or not? Flat fee or coinsurance?
Prescription tiers – Is your daily med Tier 1 or Tier 4? You want to know.
🎁 Hidden Perks You Might Be Missing
Lots of health insurance companies offer incentives for simply being proactive with your health—things like:
💳 Gift cards for annual screenings, vaccines, or wellness quizzes
🏃 Discounts or bonuses for logging steps or fitness challenges
👩⚕️ Free preventive care (checkups, mammograms, colonoscopies)
🧘 Wellness apps and mental health support subscriptions
👉 Check your insurer's member portal—you may already be eligible for rewards you're not using.
💀 The Product & Strategy Pitch Parade
Once your health insurance is picked, the next wave of “opportunities” arrives:
🧰 The Products:
Life insurance (term, whole, universal, indexed—you name it)
IRAs (Traditional, Roth, SEP, etc.)
Solo 401(k)s—or a bigger retirement plan for business owners
🧠 The Strategies:
Tax-loss harvesting
Charitable giving
Business deductions and write-offs
These aren’t bad. In fact, many of them are powerful tools.
But here’s the catch:
Products and strategies are not substitutes for a plan.
Year-end often becomes a time where people scramble to “do something smart with their money” before December 31. And suddenly, everyone’s pushing tax-saving moves or investment changes without ever asking:
Does this make sense for you?
Will this strategy still serve you six months from now?
Does it actually align with your goals—or just save taxes today?
A Roth conversion might be the perfect move—or it might cost you more than it saves.
Donating to charity might reduce your tax bill—or do nothing at all if you don’t itemize.
And tax-loss harvesting could offset gains—or trigger wash-sale issues that create a mess next year.
✨ These aren’t magic bullets. They’re just tools and tactics.
Without a clear plan behind them, they can create more confusion—and even costly missteps—rather than the clarity and progress you’re hoping for.
🔍 What to Do Instead: Start With the Plan
Before you open that new account, buy more life insurance, or say yes to a tax-saving strategy “just in case,” pause.
Ask yourself:
What am I trying to accomplish financially in the next 6–12 months?
Does this decision make sense for where I’m headed long term?
Am I choosing this to solve a problem—or avoid a feeling?
Do I fully understand how this affects my business and personal cash flow?
Better yet?
Work with someone who isn’t trying to sell you a product—but instead wants to help you build clarity and take aligned action.
🎯 Final Takeaway: Action Matters, But Alignment Matters More
Moving money, buying protection, and optimizing tax strategy is important.
But it only works when it’s tied to your real life. Your real goals. Your real version of success.
✨ Clarity before action. Always.
Because clarity is what makes your decisions stick.
✅ Need a Guide? That’s What We’re Here For.
If you're stuck in the insurance spiral or drowning in year-end product pitches, take a breath. We’ve helped dozens of entrepreneurs, families, and business owners sort through the chaos—and make real progress with their money.
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