<p>If you told HR to make the deduction, and they didn’t, you have a case.</p>
<p>A few companies ago, I worked for a company that had a bonus plan, and I checked the box to have 401k contributions made from my bonus.</p>
<p>For three years in a row they didn’t to the withholding from the bonus. I didn’t care because I hit the maximum anyway through contributions from my regular paycheck.</p>
<p>After the third time I sent them an email saying “btw you aren’t doing the 401k from my bonus even though I checked the box, thought you might like to know.”</p>
<p>About 4 months later I finally heard back. Because I had checked the box, they were legally required to do the withholding, and since they didn’t they had to make it up to m e, even though I hit the max contribution for each of those years. And they had to figure out how much money I would have made if they had made the correct withholding and give me that, too.</p>
<p>So my 401k got bonused up to the tune of about $6500. I didn’t complain. :D</p>
<p>Maybe, but I had no idea they were required to do anything, and like I said I still made the full contribution for the year. I was just giving them a heads-up.</p>
<p>They could have waited until I sued or threatened to, and then paid me.</p>
<p>I give them some credit because I would never have known they owed me anything.</p>
<p>For those who plan to do a lot of overseas travels or cruises after retirement, do you know of any cost effective options for health insurance? I hadn’t checked this aspect previously, but I suspect our traditional insurances may not provide adequate (or any?) coverage.</p>
<p>DrGoogle, if you do nothing else for your cholesterol, go for the fish oil supplements. Easy, and makes a big difference. In fact, my HDL appears so high that I cut down on the supplements, though I don’t know if it can get too high. My BIL eats a very unhealthy diet, but lots of fish oil supplements, giving him a very low overall cholesterol number.</p>
<p>My insurance WILL provide some coverage for medical care when I travel in the US and internationally, up the usual & customary charges. If I want medical evacuation, I have to purchase that on my own as my insurance doesn’t offer that. I’m looking at MedJet Assist, as I have only read good things about it. It gives the most control to the insured/patient and lasts a trip or a year or multiple years.</p>
<p>H has strong family HS of prostate cancer, and he had high PSA numbers before (and already had a biopsy too) so has to avoid fish oil. I take it every day.</p>
<p>Another great food for health is grits - a serving has 3 gr of protein, 130 cal but fills you up, 10% daily carb. I never liked it growing up, but it has become a great addition to my diet.</p>
<p>Anyone have hip trouble w/o family HS? I am seeing MD tomorrow - I am worried about spread of cancer. Friends that had same kind of cancer spread to low back. I also have the crud again, so making sure not strep throat or ear infection. Sort of tired of being sick, but hope this is all non-serious.</p>
<p>I have gone to just buying butter. We use it for recipes anyhow. Simplify life. I skip on toast and enjoy my favorite jelly. Can’t give up too many things - just try to work the best combination.</p>
<p>Some employers’ plans are going up quite a bit in cost - this is from a friend:</p>
<p>“RANT WARNING The new health insurance bill is here, and it’s $180 per month increase for the coming year. That makes last year’s 100$/month increase seem reasonable. That’s a total of $280 per month increase over our 2012 insurance premium for a family of 4. That’s more than $3360 per year that my family NO LONGER HAS to pay bills, save for college, or invest for retirement. That isn’t the premium cost, that’s just the INCREASE in premium cost in the last 13 months. AFFORDABLE CARE ACT my a$$. And yes, I realize every company is different and that offering competitive benefits is a way to keep quality employees. But those of us who pay a king’s ransom for our new “free” yearly check ups really miss the days when we could pay a reasonable copay for them. We’d also like to be able to afford to carry a deductible that wouldn’t cause us to take a second mortgage in the event we experienced a true health crisis. My copays are higher and my deductible is triple what it used to be. Our family qualifies for the highest discount on insurance that they offer. And in order to qualify for this honor, we submit to blood tests and health screening, whose results are sent to our insurance provider each year. They have determined that we have healthy habits and are in good health. Lucky us. I can’t imagine how you’d afford it if you have high cholesterol. RANT OVER”</p>
<p>Grits taste good, but I’m not sure they have a whole lot of nutritional/health value. They are a refined carbohydrate–don’t have much fiber in them and almost no vitamins or minerals. </p>
<p>I have read reports about fish oil and prostate cancer, and doc also said H is not to take fish oil.</p>
<p>Most of us need to ‘fill up’ a little and cut calories. I’m not in any way a nutritionist, but anything that is lower in calories and can fill me up and be good for me. Alternate with oatmeal.</p>