Do you work at Mass General Brigham?
Get expert insights from financial advisors who specialize in helping Mass General Brigham employees make the most of their compensation package and benefits.
Looking for a financial advisor who specializes in working with Mass General Brigham employees? You’re in the right place. Below, you’ll find advisors who understand Mass General Brigham benefits and compensation — along with their answers to common financial questions from Mass General Brigham employees.
Whether you recently joined Mass General Brigham or you’ve advanced into a leadership role over a multi-year career, making smart decisions about your income and Mass General Brigham benefits can have a lasting impact on your financial future. For example:
✅ Do you know the right moves to get the greatest value from the Mass General Brigham benefits available to you?
✅ If you’re thinking about leaving Mass General Brigham for another job or planning to retire in a few years, are you taking the right steps today to receive all the compensation and benefits you’ve earned?
Key Takeaways
The MGB Retirement Medical Savings Account Is Widely Misunderstood
Employees over 50 can save for retirement health expenses in addition to their other retirement plans, but many are confused about how it works.
Many MGB Employees Don’t Understand the Difference Between the Pension and the 403(b)
Having two retirement plans helps employees enter retirement well funded, but it also creates a tax challenge that calls for coordinated planning.
Large Pre-Tax Balances Call for a Plan to Minimize Lifetime Taxes
Many Mass General Brigham employees retire with substantial pre-tax savings. Easing out of them strategically, and planning for inflation, longevity, and long-term care, helps the money last.
Why Mass General Brigham Employees Work with a Specialist Financial Advisor
Throughout the year, Mass General Brigham provides its employees with updates about their benefits, ranging from health insurance and health savings accounts to retirement plans like a 403(b) and a pension plan — along with a Retirement Medical Savings Account for employees over 50. While the health system offers many useful resources and access to knowledgeable staff who can assist with questions, you’ll also find financial professionals not affiliated with Mass General Brigham who specialize in helping Mass General Brigham employees make the most of their income and benefits.
Mass General Brigham is based in Boston, with administrative offices at Assembly Row in Somerville, and includes Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and community hospitals across eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Whether you work at a hospital, a clinic, an administrative office, 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.
Sensitive topics — like the steps you should take before quitting your job at Mass General Brigham 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.
Should You Hire a Mass General Brigham Specialist or a Local Financial Advisor?
You’ll likely find dozens of nearby financial advisors well-suited to help you reach your money goals with a personalized plan. But it can be harder to find a financial advisor who specializes in serving Mass General Brigham employees. Fortunately, many financial advisors offer virtual services, so you can meet online no matter where you (or they) live — which means you can hire a specialist financial advisor who lives hundreds of miles away if their knowledge and experience working with Mass General Brigham employees is the better fit for your unique needs.
💡 In the Q&A below, you’ll gain insights from financial advisors who work with Mass General Brigham employees to help them make smart decisions, get the most value from their compensation and benefits, reduce their money stress, and prepare for a comfortable retirement.
🙋♀️ Have a question not yet answered? Use the form below to submit your question. You can also contact financial advisors directly to set up an introductory call or contact them with your questions.
Q&A: Financial Planning Tips for Mass General Brigham Employees
In this section, you’ll learn how you can make the most of your Mass General Brigham employee benefits and gain valuable tips from financial advisors who specialize in working with Mass General Brigham employees.
Financial Advisor Q&A · Mass General Brigham Employees
Chris Chen, CFP®, CDFA®
Insight Financial Strategists LLC · Newton, MA · Serves clients nationwide
Retirement Planning. Tax Efficient Investing. Post Divorce Financial Success.Chris Chen is a financial advisor based in Newton, Massachusetts, who specializes in offering financial planning services to Mass General Brigham employees. Chris helps his clients get the most value from their Mass General Brigham benefits and compensation package so they can enjoy life and feel confident about their financial future.
QAs a financial advisor with experience helping Mass General Brigham employees save for their retirement, how do you help them make the most of their employee benefits?
I help Mass General Brigham employees take stock of their benefits, including retirement plans, and show the impact on life in retirement.
QWhen you first speak with a Mass General Brigham 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?
What have you done to plan for your future? How can I best help you?
QIs there a particular benefit available to Mass General Brigham employees you feel isn’t as well utilized or understood by employees as it should be?
The Retirement Medical Savings Account allows employees over 50 to save for retirement expenses. This is in addition to other retirement plans. Many people are confused how that works.
QBeyond Mass General Brigham employee benefits for retirement savings, are there other types of benefits offered by the company that you find valuable to discuss with your clients (e.g., stock, education savings, health savings)?
The programs offered at the Benson Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine are fascinating and can be helpful.
QFor Mass General Brigham employees thinking about leaving the company to accept a job elsewhere, what actions do you recommend they take before resigning and shortly thereafter?
Taking stock of the retirement plans. Analyze them so you can estimate what you need from your next job to reach the retirement you want and deserve.
QFor Mass General Brigham 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?
Many MGB employees approaching retirement are well compensated. Transitioning from a high income to relying on assets is not an easy exercise. The best preparation is to do a financial plan to show the impact of the sudden income shortfall, how to fill it with income from assets while ensuring other goals are met, how to shelter from volatility, and minimize taxes. Most pre-retirees really appreciate the clarifying aspect of financial planning.
QFor Mass General Brigham employees who have managed their finances on their own to this point, what would you suggest they consider to help them decide if they should begin working with a financial advisor at this stage in their lives?
Managing your finances when you are in accumulation mode is well covered in the popular financial media, and large firms such as Vanguard and Fidelity provide a lot of information to help. Decumulation is different. It is not well covered in the popular financial media, and the conventional wisdom of accumulation is not necessarily applicable. There are many unknowns. Coming to mind is the impact of inflation and longevity, the potential cost of long-term care, how to plan for legacy, and how to minimize taxes in retirement. It is a lot of unfamiliar work to manage on your own. And there is no redo.
QWhat are some of the unique financial planning challenges you commonly see among your clients who are Mass General Brigham employees and how do you help them overcome these obstacles?
Many Mass General Brigham employees retire with substantial assets in pre-tax savings plans. We help them ease out of them to minimize lifetime income taxes.
QWhat questions do you recommend Mass General Brigham employees ask financial advisors they’re considering hiring to help them decide if they’re a good fit?
One of the key goals of retirees is to not run out of money in your lifetime. If that is your goal also, you can ask how the financial planner does that. If you have a different concern, that’s what you should ask. You want your financial planner to work just for your best interests. Ask if they are fiduciaries, if they are independent, and if they are fee-only. These are the basics to get a financial planner who has minimal conflict of interest.
QIs there anything that comes up frequently in your initial meeting with Mass General Brigham employees that surprises you?
Many Mass General Brigham employees don’t understand the difference between their pension and their 403(b)
QFor highly compensated Mass General Brigham employees and executives, are there any special benefits you believe it’s important to take into consideration when preparing their financial plan?
Incorporating tax planning into financial planning is essential to help reduce lifetime taxes.
QIs there a particularly memorable experience or a moment you recall with a client who worked at Mass General Brigham when you realized they have unique opportunities and circumstances when it comes to their financial planning needs?
Having two separate retirement plans is nice. It allows employees to maximize their retirement savings and enter retirement well-funded. At the same time, it provides a tax challenge to maximize assets and income and minimize lifetime taxes. But it is a good challenge to have!
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About the Author
Brian Thorp
Founder & CEO, Wealthtender · Editor-in-Chief
Brian Thorp is the founder and CEO of Wealthtender and serves as Editor-in-Chief. With over 25 years in the financial services industry — including nearly 22 years at Invesco, where he led strategic partnerships with wealth management firms representing more than $100 billion in assets — Brian founded Wealthtender to help people find financial advisors they can trust and make more informed money decisions.
A member of the National Society of Compliance Professionals and its SEC Marketing Rule Working Group, Brian was recognized by WealthManagement.com as one of its “Ten to Watch in 2024” for his work reshaping how financial advisors market their services. He holds a B.B.A. in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin.
Brian and his wife live in Austin, Texas.