Wealth & Wellness

A 3-minute read on the free money you are already owed twice a year, and why almost nobody collects both halves of it.

An employer 401k match is about the closest thing personal finance offers to free money: put in enough to trigger it and the return shows up before markets even move. Even so, a meaningful share of eligible employees contribute below the match threshold, which amounts to declining a raise nobody has to ask for twice.

The preventive visit works the same way. Most health plans cover an annual physical, plus a set of age-appropriate screenings, at no cost beyond the premium already being paid. Skip the appointment and the plan does not refund the difference; the money is simply gone, spent on coverage nobody used.

Both failures look like inaction rather than a cost, which is exactly why they last so long. Nobody feels the loss of a match they never opted into, or a screening they never scheduled, the way they would feel a bill. The fix for each takes about the same fifteen minutes: check the plan document for the match percentage, check the insurance portal for what is covered at no cost, and put both on the calendar this week.

P.S. Tomorrow: the difference between calling yourself an investor and calling yourself someone who wants to retire early, and why the label survives a bad year but the target does not.