Your Advocate Aurora Health System Benefits & Career: Financial Planning for Employees and Executives

Do you work for the Advocate Aurora Health System? Get the resources you need and expert insights from financial professionals who specialize in helping Advocate Aurora Health System employees make the most of their compensation package and benefits.

Whether you’re a new Advocate Aurora Health System employee or you’ve moved up the ranks into a management or executive leadership role over a multi-year career, it’s important to make smart money moves with your income and employee benefits. For example:

✅ Do you know the right moves to make to get the greatest value from the Advocate Aurora Health System benefits available to you?

✅If you’re thinking about leaving Advocate Aurora Health System for another job or planning to retire from the company in a few years, are you taking the right steps today to ensure you will receive all of the compensation and benefits that you’ve earned?

Get the Most Value from Your Advocate Aurora Health System Benefits and Compensation Package

Throughout the year, Advocate Aurora Health System provides its employees and executives with updates about their benefits ranging from health insurance and health savings plans to retirement plans like a 401(k) and deferred compensation plans. While the company offers many useful resources and access to knowledgeable staff who can assist with questions, you’ll also find financial professionals not affiliated with the Advocate Aurora Health System who specialize in helping employees make the most of their income and benefits.

Whether you work in the Advocate Aurora Health System headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Downers Grove, Illinois, another office facility around the country, or remotely from home, you may have questions about your compensation package and benefits better suited for a financial professional who can offer unbiased advice and guidance.

For example, sensitive topics like discussing the steps you should take before quitting your job at Advocate Aurora Health System to work elsewhere, protecting yourself in advance of a corporate layoff, or deciding when you should plan to retire are all conversations that may be more comfortable with a trusted financial advisor.

💡 In the Q&A below, you’ll gain insights from financial advisors who work with Advocate Aurora Health System employees to help them make smart decisions to get the most value from their compensation and benefits, reduce their money stress, and prepare for a comfortable retirement.

🙋‍♀️ Do you have questions not yet answered? Use the form below to submit questions anonymously and watch this article for updates with answers to your questions. You can also reach out to the financial advisors below to set up an introductory call or contact them with your questions by email.

💸 Smart Money Insights for Advocate Aurora Health System Employees & Executives

This page is organized into sections to help you quickly find the information you need and get answers to your questions:

1. Q&A: Financial Planning Tips for Advocate Aurora Health System Employees & Executives
2. Get Answers to Your Questions About Your Advocate Aurora Health System Benefits and Career
3. Browse Related Articles

Q&A: Financial Planning Tips for Advocate Aurora Health System Employees & Executives

Answers to Employee Questions with Robert Dignan, CFP®, AIF®

Robert Dignan is a financial advisor based in Brookfield, Wisconsin who specializes in offering financial planning services to Advocate Aurora Health System employees. Robert helps his clients get the most value from their Advocate Aurora Health System benefits and compensation package so they can enjoy life and feel confident about their financial future.

Q: As a financial advisor with experience helping Advocate Aurora Health System employees save for their retirement, how do you help them make the most of their employee benefits?

Robert: As the spouse of a 30 year Advocate Aurora physician, I’ve had the opportunity to watch the company (Aurora) grow from a leading regional healthcare system into a national healthcare powerhouse. In that growth process, the benefits have evolved as well, resulting in major financial planning opportunities for employees at every level of compensation, whether they be part- or full-time. By integrating company-offered retirement benefits with our clients outside portfolios, we find ways to maximize the opportunities that are provided by the AAH 401(k) and/or Deferred Compensation Plans, without the need to pay for additional “in plan management fees.”

Q: When you first speak with an Advocate Aurora Health System employee, what questions do you like to ask to better understand their unique circumstances and determine how you can best help them achieve their goals?

Robert: The most important question for anyone in healthcare today is “How are you doing, and do you still love what you do?” Healthcare today has become a never ending battle to maintain your sanity and life balance, especially for the Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Med Techs, and Physicians on the front lines. First and foremost, we always need to find out how our clients are doing mentally, because the “when and how” of retirement is hugely dependent on “are you doing okay?” We expect these people to give us great care, and they should expect that to be our first concern too.

Q: Is there a particular benefit available to Advocate Aurora Health System employees you feel isn’t as well utilized or understood by employees as it should be?

Robert: For those who qualify, the AAH Deferred Compensation Program is absolutely a “must consider”. Not everyone qualifies, and not everyone should fund it, but it must be discussed, especially for anyone in a more highly compensated role.

Q: For Advocate Aurora Health System employees thinking about leaving the company to accept a job elsewhere, what actions do you recommend they take before resigning and shortly thereafter?

Robert: While no company is perfect, it’s important to understand what you are giving up before you leave. So many advisors first want to talk about what to do with your retirement plan assets, but that’s incredibly short-sighted. The first questions need to be around the topic of the heath insurance that you’re leaving (and examining where you are in your “paid deductibles” for the year) and what your new situation will be going forward. In a few cases we have recommended waiting for just a month or two to more completely capitalize on making the most efficient use of Flex Spending dollars, health insurance deductibles that were already fully met, and even sneaking in a pair of spare eyeglasses (under the vision plan) before an employee departs.

Q: For Advocate Aurora Health System employees approaching retirement age, how do you recommend they prepare to make the transition from living off their salary to relying upon other sources of income?

Robert: This isn’t a straightforward transition that applies equally to all employees. If an employee has had the benefit of funding a Deferred Compensation account, in addition to their AAH 401(k), those assets can be triggered to create income in a manner that should compliment their Social Security income, or that may even allow them to defer their Social Security to a later age to maximize their lifetime Social Security payouts. Once an Advocate employee is within three years of retirement (or believes that they are) we begin a transition process that involves a very specific examination of their current expenses, their projected expenses in retirement, the anticipated changes in their personal income tax situation, and the manner in which we will utilize their assets to replicate the equivalent of a monthly paycheck.

Additionally, if that retiring employee is under the age of 65, we will also work with them to ensure that they are positioned to have great health insurance until age 65, when Medicare begins. This can include the use of their AAH COBRA benefits, a referral to a trusted independent health insurance agent, or collaborative assistance with an ACA health plan. And as the client draws closer to age 65, whether retiring or not, we work to connect them with an independent advisor who specialized in Medicare Supplement or Medicare Advantage policies to assist them in filling in the gaps in their Medicare coverage.

Get to Know Robert Dignan, Financial Advisor for Advocate Aurora Health System Employees:

View Robert’s profile page on Wealthtender or visit his website to learn more.

🙋‍♀️ Have Questions About Your Advocate Aurora Health System Benefits or Career?

📰 Browse Related Articles

Are you ready to enjoy life more with less money stress?

Sign up to receive weekly insights from Wealthtender with useful money tips and fresh ideas to help you achieve your financial goals.