Eight Steps to Help Get You Through the Open Enrollment Jungle at Work

by Michael Dullaghan of Franklin Templeton, 11/7/25

(This article appeared in Kiplinger on November 3, 2025)

Wondering how to survive open enrollment this year? Arm yourself with these tools to cut through the process and get the best workplace benefits for you.

Open enrollment is an important time for employees to review and select benefits and those decisions can have a lasting impact on your financial future. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average employee benefits package accounts for 29.7% of total compensation for private industry workers and 38.4% of total compensation for state and local government workers.

But when the average employee has to choose from more than a dozen benefits it is easy to become fatigued while working through the open enrollment process. The steps that follow will help keep you on track.

1. Review your current benefits

Start by evaluating your existing benefits. Consider what worked well in the past year and what didn’t. Look at your health-care usage, out-of-pocket costs and any changes in your circumstances — such as marriage, the birth of a child or new health needs — that may influence your choices. Try to judge how much the upcoming year’s expenses may look like this year’s.

A tool that may help is “start, stop, continue.” Try to decide what benefits were missing this year that you would like to start in the new year, what benefits were not used that you might stop and what benefits were helpful that you want to continue. This exercise can help you group your benefits by category.

2. Attend informational sessions and read materials

Keep an eye out for emails and other communications that offer enrollment support. Your employer offers these resources because they want you to get the most out of your benefits. Use your human resource team to help you manage your decision-making. Consider talking to HR with your partner, if applicable, to help your family get the most out of your benefits.

3. Compare plans carefully

When selecting, compare plan premiums, deductibles, copayments, coverage networks and prescription drug benefits. Use available online tools or calculators to estimate your annual costs based on anticipated health-care needs.

Try not to get overwhelmed. Start by thinking about how well this year’s plan served you and your family. The complexity of plan comparisons makes relying on your HR team especially important. Start by telling them what you liked and did not like about this year’s plan.

4. Consider flexible spending and health savings accounts

Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and health savings accounts (HSAs) offer tax advantages for medical and dependent care expenses. Review contribution limits and eligible expenses for each account and decide how much you should set aside for the coming year. Remember that FSAs typically have a “use it or lose it” rule, so plan your contributions carefully.

And don’t let the acronyms confuse you. Perhaps think of your FSA as your “fast” account that generally has to be spent in the year it is funded and think of your HSA as your potential “hold” account which can be saved, if not needed, year-over-year and even invested subject to certain conditions.