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(BPT) – You’ve probably heard the popular adage that “there’s no such thing as a free lunch,” underscoring the idea that it is impossible to get something for nothing. Yet most Americans wouldn’t want a free lunch anyway, recent research shows.

Only one in five (18 percent) American workers prefer free lunches as one of their top three employee benefits of choice, according to the 2015 MassMutual Generations@Work Study. Instead, 47 percent of workers age 18 and older prefer more vacation time, 44 percent opt for better 401(k) matches, and 40 percent like free health care coverage, according to the study.

What benefits workers prefer largely depends upon their gender and generation, the study finds, complicating benefit decisions for employers.

“Given the varied preferences for employee benefits, the takeaway for employers is to offer as broad a menu of benefits as possible. They should also consider offering new or expanded benefits on a voluntary or employee-paid basis,” says Elaine Sarsynski, executive vice president of MassMutual Retirement Services and Worksite Insurance.

Half of all baby boomers surveyed and 48 percent of millennials say their benefit of choice is more vacation days, according to the study. Nearly half of Gen Xers (47 percent) prefer better 401(k) matches, the survey found, with more vacation days coming in a close second (44 percent).

After more time off, boomers express preferences for financial benefits. Forty-three percent of boomers want better 401(k) matches, 38 percent appreciate free health care coverage, and 24 percent want more investment choices for their retirement savings, according to the study. Four in 10 (43 percent) prefer expanded health care benefits.

Breaking with boomers, millennials like flexible work schedules (43 percent) and reimbursements for education and tuition (30 percent). But many Xers join their boomer colleagues in wanting better 401(k) matches, most likely a reflection that few Xers have access to pensions and that many boomers have not saved enough for retirement, according to Sarsynski.

Men’s benefits of choice are more vacation time (50 percent), better 401(k) matches (43 percent) and flexible work schedules (39 percent), MassMutual’s study finds. Women’s preferences are spread between more vacation (44 percent), better 401(k) matches and flexible work schedules (40 percent), expanded health care choices (37 percent) and free gym memberships (31 percent).

Workers should make the most of the benefits their employer currently provides and suggest other benefits that companies might make available on a voluntary basis, Sarsynski said. She recommends workers take inventory of their benefits and prioritize their importance based on personal financial needs:

* Make sure you have health care coverage unless you are already protected by a spouse’s medical plan.

* Protection benefits such as life insurance and disability insurance rank next in importance, especially if you are married, have children or other people depend upon your ability to earn a living.

* Defer as much of your income as you can afford for retirement as early as possible. The sooner you start saving, the longer the power of compound earnings will have to work and boost your savings power. Make sure you contribute enough to your employer’s 401(k) or other retirement plan to qualify for any matching contributions.

* Use your vacation time as it’s important to get a meaningful break from your job.

The research was conducted on MassMutual’s behalf by KRC Research as part of an employee benefits education initiative. The study focused on 1,517 working Americans who were at least age 18 in a wide variety of jobs and industries.

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(BPT) – It’s that time of year again – the madness is setting in. College basketball’s 64-team extravaganza dominates the month of March and is one of the most-watched sports events of the year. Whether you’re a die-hard hoops fan or a casual sports enthusiast, it’s always fun to follow the tournament with your friends and loved ones. Here are five fun suggestions to help you make this year’s event a slam dunk.

* Fill out those bracket(s). The bracket is an essential component of the season and makes following the tournament much more fun. To maximize your enjoyment, fill out a couple of brackets, one with your family and another with your friends at work. Fill one out with teams you think will win and the next with those you want to win. The more brackets you fill out, the more protection you have from those eventual bracket busters.

* Stay in the loop. Don’t let the limits of your current phone provider keep you from talking about the tournament with friends and family. Total Wireless offers dependable, affordable cell phone service that will help you stay on top of the latest college basketball news. For just $35 a month, Total Wireless gives you unlimited talk and text plus 2.5 gigabytes of data on America’s largest and most dependable network, all with no contract required. And families following this year’s tournament will love their prepaid, no contract shared family data plans. It’s the perfect way to keep up with your teams and chat about the games with your loved ones near and far. Learn more at TotalWireless.com.

* Pick a random buster. At the start of the tournament, get together with your friends and have everyone choose one team seeded 12or lower that they feel will advance the furthest in this year’s tournament. You may also draw these teams randomly. Then cheer on your bracket buster and reward the person who chose the last-standing, low seed with a prize.

* Switch it up. As the tournament progresses, teams will play in different stadiums across the country. Follow suit by watching the games in different places throughout the month. Gather with your friends and designate one person to host an event each weekend during the tournament, then gather at that location for the best game of the day. It’s a great way to make the tournament inclusive for everyone.

* Food to fit the fun. Want to capture the unique flavor of this year’s tournament? Pass aside the traditional game-day food and plan a menu based on the regional tastes of the team’s competing in the game. Whether it’s the Tex-mex of the southwest or the seafood of the Atlantic coast, adjusting your menu is a fun way to keep it fresh and exciting week after week.

The annual men’s basketball tournament is the sporting event you don’t want to miss, and by applying the tips above, you’ll make this year’s edition the best yet. So get off the bench, lace up your shoes and start drawing up a game plan – because no one wants to be left behind when the final buzzer sounds.

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(BPT) – America’s unemployment rate recently hit its lowest level in seven years. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, that’s just in time for 2.8 million graduates with bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees to enter the workforce.

However, a college degree does not always lead to gainful employment. Millennials make up 40 percent of the unemployed in the United States, according to Anthony Carnavale, a director and research professor at Georgetown University’s Center on Education and Workforce.

Now, more than ever, it is imperative that students select a college or university with the resources to land them a job. While it is important to consider proximity, cost, accreditation and atmosphere, you also want to keep the end goal in mind – a career.

So what else should you look at when researching a school?

1. Make meaningful industry connections.

It’s all about connections in today’s job hunts, and it’s likely the same will be true for the class of 2020 and beyond. In fact, 80 percent of jobs aren’t advertised according to Steven Rothberg, founder of CollegeRecruiter.com.

A search on a university’s LinkedIn page will reveal the cities, companies and industries in which alumni work. Access to a strong alumni network will help prepare students for a career by opening doors to internships and jobs.

A network of trusted and connected professors is equally as important as a network of successful alumni. During the campus visit, students should ask about the faculty’s experience and reputation and make introductions early.

2. Gain real world experience.

Today’s employers are on the lookout for students who have found their niche and demonstrated leadership skills in real-world scenarios.

For example, students thinking about a career in engineering should look for schools with programs like EcoCAR 3, a premier collegiate competition grooming the next generation of advanced engineers trained across disciplines — from engineering to marketing. Public relations majors can participate in the Bateman Case Study Competition, where college teams create and implement a full public relations campaign to raise awareness on a selected topic. The National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition offers students interested in information assurance or computer security the opportunity to defend a commercial network against common outside threats.

“More and more we’re seeing today’s top companies request students from our program because they’ve gained the hands-on experience that the classroom doesn’t offer,” says Kristen De La Rosa, EcoCAR 3 program director at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory. “We give students the opportunity gain access to millions of dollars of cutting-edge technology and top industry experts to solve complex engineering and marketing challenges. For this reason, almost 100 percent of our participants land a job immediately after graduation.”

3. Position yourself close to the action.

While a beautiful campus is nice to look at, that alone isn’t enough to justify years of time and money. It helps to be close to an industry hot-spot where internship and volunteer opportunities are plentiful and easy to access.

Studying near industry hubs will help students gain access to mentors, networking events and international conferences, furthering their competitive advantage and adding value to their degree.

Tech-savvy students who dream of launching the next big start-up should position themselves near the action in Silicon Valley, Boston or Austin. For those looking to create the next head-turning design it is best to study fashion and design in New York City or Los Angeles.

Physical proximity to an industry, participation in extracurricular activities and third-party recommendations can help make a student’s dream career a reality. Parents and high schoolers should keep these tips in mind throughout the college application process to make the most of college and hopefully land that first job.

 

(BPT) – This tax season brings changes you should know about as you’re preparing your 2015 return and planning for 2016 and beyond. Here are five areas to keep in mind.

There’s a delayed filing date.

If you’re a procrastinator filing at the last minute, this year you have more time. Because Friday, April 15 is a federal holiday, your 2015 income tax return is due the following Monday, April 18. This is also the due date to file for an extension until Oct. 15 or to make an IRA contribution for 2015.

“The due date to file your return or for an extension may also be affected by state law,” says Robert Fishbein, a vice president and general counsel at Prudential Financial. For example, if you live in Maine or Massachusetts, Monday April 18 is a state holiday and you don’t have to file returns until the 19^th. But be careful, Fishbein warns, as the delayed filing date for the 2015 returns may not delay when you must make estimated tax payments.

There are new steps for fighting fraud and ID theft.

Tax return preparation software may now require you to provide your driver’s license number for the IRS and state tax agencies to combat tax return fraud. “The rules here are tricky,” says Fishbein. “You have no legal obligation to provide that information or to have a driver’s license to file a tax return. But depending on your software, you may need to provide information to file your return. It’s possible that withholding your driver’s license will slow the process.”

Another new anti-ID theft/fraud measure is a 16-digit verification code for online filers. If the code is on your Form W-2, you’ll need to enter it when prompted by your tax software program. If you fail to provide the code, you won’t be able to e-file your return. “Not all Form W-2s will have the code,” Fishbein notes.

Note health care reporting changes.

Again this year you must report “minimum essential coverage,” or MEC. If you indicate so on line 61 of your Form 1040, you won’t be subject to a penalty tax. This is the first year employers are required to report if coverage qualifies as MEC, and they must send the applicable form to you by March 31, 2016. “Of course, for early filers this means you may not have evidence of your coverage qualifying as MEC,” Fishbein says. “But assuming you know that you have MEC, you can still complete line 61 and file your return.”

If you do not have MEC, you must pay the penalty tax — currently $325 per adult and $162.50 per child, up to a maximum of $975 — for each month you weren’t covered, unless you can demonstrate you’re eligible for an exemption. Examples include if coverage is considered unaffordable (more than 8 percent of household income per person), if you had a short coverage gap (fewer than three months), or if your income is below the tax return filing threshold.

Watch for retroactive reinstatements.

Until the end of 2014, taxpayers had been permitted for some time to deduct the greater of their state income tax or their state sales tax. This helped residents of states, such as Florida and Texas, that don’t have an income tax. The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 retroactively extended this provision for 2015. For those who have not tracked their state sales tax payments, there’s a table that provides a safe harbor deduction based on income. Also, the sales tax from the 2015 purchase of a new automobile can be added to the sales tax from the table.

Also reinstated retroactively to the beginning of 2015 is a provision allowing distributions from an IRA to be paid directly to a charity and excluded from income. “The amount donated to charity will avoid income tax,” Fishbein says. Without this provision, an individual would have to include the amount in income and take a charitable deduction that might not entirely offset the income amount. This provision is available up to $100,000 of charitable donations in a calendar year. You must be 70 ½ or older and required to take IRA distributions.

Roth recharacterizations may affect you.

If you converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 2015, and if the converted investment has declined in value, you can recharacterize that amount and not pay income tax on an amount greater than the current value. “The law allows this type of ‘do over’ option when you convert to a Roth IRA,” Fishbein explains. “For a 2015 conversion, you must recharacterize on or before Oct. 15, 2016 and not convert again to a Roth IRA until 2017.”

Prudential Financial, its affiliates, and their financial professionals do not render tax or legal advice. Please consult with your tax and legal advisors regarding your personal circumstances.

Prudential Financial Inc. Newark, NJ
0288797-00001-00