Open enrollment.
In plain English
Outside this window, you're locked in unless you have a qualifying life event (marriage, birth, losing other coverage). Most people auto-renew last year's choices in five minutes. The expensive mistake is letting an FSA election, an outdated plan tier, or a missed HSA opportunity ride for another year out of inertia.
01Why it matters
It's the one chance a year to fix a benefits choice that quietly costs you, and the cost of skipping it repeats every year you do.
02The math, step by step
A family auto-renews a PPO at $450/month without checking the new HDHP option at $280/month with a $1,000 employer HSA contribution. That unexamined renewal costs roughly $3,000 a year, every year it repeats.
Illustrative example. The amounts here are hypothetical, chosen to show how the math works, not real quoted rates or figures.
03What this is NOT
Open enrollment is not the same calendar window everywhere. Employer plans set their own dates; the ACA marketplace has its own. Your employer's HR calendar is the source of truth.
Plain-English answers from our glossary. Receipts included. Never advice.
Educational tool. Answers come only from ClearMoneySchool's published glossary and are not advice. Why we never give advice