In 1987, when I started my first full-timejob as a derivatives trader on the floor ofthe Commodities Exchange in New York,there was no mention of workplace sexualharassment.

I was told explicitly that the environ-ment on the trading floor was “rough andtumble,” and that if I wanted to be takenseriously I needed to accept the fraternityparty shenanigans and figure out how tomake money for the company that wasemploying me.

I was one of eight women traders amid800 men, and while we often commiser-ated with one another, we mostly rolledour eyes at the benign name calling andshrugged off the more intrusive bra snap-ping and physical jostling for position inthe trading ring. There is not one of us whowould have said a word to a boss about ourexperiences because we knew that nothingwould have been done.

I was thinking about those early years ofmy career as I watched the new movie“Equity,” a Wall Street thriller starringwomen. The film, which takes place in thepost-financial crisis era, explores genderand generational roles in the finance indus-try in an entertaining and provocative way.

As the film unfolds, we see ambitiouswomen walking the tightrope betweenbeing too nice and being accused of “hav-ing sharp elbows” or “rubbing people thewrong way.” Naomi, the main character,played by Anna Gunn of “Breaking Bad”fame, is a star investment banker whoneeds a big win on a tech initial publicoffering after a previous deal went south.Her associate Erin (Sarah Megan Thomas)is trying to climb the corporate ladderwhile juggling her personal life.

The women in “Equity” sometimesadapt to their male-dominated field byholding their noses and resorting to ques-tionable methods. Sam (Alysia Reiner of“Orange is the New Black”), the assistantU.S. attorney who is a college acquaintanceof Naomi, uses her sexuality to her ad-vantage as she investigates Naomi’s firm forinsider trading.

Besides being immensely entertaining,“Equity” is the first movie that I have seenwhere Wall Street women are portrayed asfully formed characters, not sidekicks orgirlfriends. Naomi, Erin and Sam resemblereal women that I know who work in all ofthese jobs.

I’m guessing the reason for the accurateportrayals is that women also populatedthe big roles behind the camera. In addi-tion to co-starring in the film, both Reinerand Thomas were co-producers. I spoke toReiner recently, and she told me that they,along with writer Amy Fox and directorMeera Menon, spoke to current and formerwomen who worked on Wall Street, someof whom became investors in the film.

I asked Reiner what she found mostsurprising about the industry among theinterviews that they conducted. She saidthat it was stunning that women on WallStreet still confront such overt sexismwhen they show up to work every day.

While there has been progress from thebad old days of my youth, clearly thereneeds to be more. According to Catalyst,the 2015 U.S. gender pay gap is significant:Women earned 81.1 percent of men’s sala-ries based on median weekly earnings forfull-time workers. But the biggest gap is inthe finance industry. Women account formore than half of all employees, yet earnnearly 69 cents for every $1 men make.

We’ve got a long way to go to achieveequity.

Contact Jill Schlesinger,senior business analyst for CBS News,at askjill@JillonMoney.com.

Jill SchlesingerJill on Money

Gender equityon Wall Street

still lagging

his summer, there was much talk about a section of a labor billpushed through in France that appeared to ban emails on weekendsif a company has more than 50 employees.The law actually suggests that companies — following the lead of

Volkswagen, which cuts off its servers after hours, and Daimler, which allowsemployees to automatically delete emails they get on vacation — negotiate formalpolicies to limit the intrusion of work into people’s homes and private lives, TheNew Yorker reported.

The legally mandated aspect of the“right to disconnect” may have beenexaggerated by some in the Americanmedia, but the benefits of shutting offand relaxing after hours are very real.

There are even ways for U.S. workersto avoid being forever plugged in —without having to resort to legislation.Dr. Gabriela Burlacu, a human capitalmanagement researcher at SAP Suc-cessFactors, offers some tips to helpworkers truly shut down. Here’s whatshe said:

1. Lead by example“While U.S. workers do not want to

be told when they can and cannotwork, we need a change in the cultureof after-hours correspondence. Toinstill a balanced culture around com-munication that will last, managersneed to lead by example. As the pace ofchange accelerates and an always-onmentality continues to permeate theworkplace, managers need to find waysto help people manage stress or theywill end up with overworked, unpro-ductive employees. To make a ... changeto email culture, leaders must lead byexample rather than putting rules orbans on when workers can or cannotemail. When managers send emailsbefore or after work hours, it sends thewrong message: that their employeesshould be checking emails at all wakinghours, too.”

2. Cut down on the noise“The danger is with email noise, or

messages that don’t necessarily deserveattention but still serve as distractions.The question may not be ‘How do welimit emails?’ but ‘How do we limit thenoise?’ We have a tendency to focusheavily on our own work but when itcomes to sending emails, the work ofothers also needs to enter our thoughtprocess. Employees need to learn howto recognize what’s truly importantfrom the perspective of the people theyare interrupting, not just their own.Some companies sidestep this with‘email quiet hours,’ but these don’taddress the email noise that happensthroughout the rest of the day.”

3. Emails are the symptom,not the problem

“Checking one’s phone and Facebookaccount can be just as time-consumingand stressful as emails. The problem isnot being able to focus and constantlyallowing ourselves to be distracted.Emails are not the problem themselves— they are a characteristic of the ‘alwayson’ culture that is continually devel-oping. There are significant negativeimpacts on productivity and individualwell-being when employees are notable to fully recover from work in apsychological sense. Creating a culturethat encourages employees to fullyunplug in every sense of the word when

they are not in the office is paramountto getting the most long-term produc-tivity from them.”

4. The phone is not the answer“Write more efficient emails. A

phone call still serves as an interruptionand carries the added memory chal-lenge of not having the conversation inwriting. Instead, better-worded emailswill allow the receiver to immediatelyjudge whether they should interrupttheir work for the request. Part of whywe are over-using email is that a lot ofpeople don’t know how to write effec-tive emails — consequently, we spend alot of time sifting through poorlyworded or irrelevant emails. Employeesneed practice writing concise emails,with clear instructions that get to thepoint or the ‘call to action’ quickly.There is an art and skill to writingemails efficiently, and businesses needto train their employees on it.”

5. Communicate aboutcommunicating

“Companies need to communicatethat it is OK to take work off your mindwhen you’re not at work. To success-fully help employees unplug, the work-place must have a culture that clearlycommunicates that employees aresupposed to be fully offline when not inthe office. If the company culture is onethat values employees taking time forthemselves, those who lead need to dothis as well. Managers should not emailwhen they are on vacation, for instance.In this increasingly fast-paced world ofwork, sometimes projects demandoff-work engagement from an employ-ee. When this is the case, managersshould clearly communicate that thiswill not be the norm. It’s about settingexpectations that unless somethingmajor is happening (and ‘major’ shouldbe clearly defined), employees shouldfully unplug.”

Can wedisconnect?

Management shouldtake lead on when it’sOK to ignore emails

TBy John Brandon |

ARTFAMILY/FOTOLIA

SUCCESS

SOURCE: Inc. and TCA

There may be a reason that no one is calling you. Your resume needs help. Here are five things to avoid:Resume redo

GeneralizationsWriting generic tasks ratherthan specific experiences leavespotential employers guessing.Spell out your experience in aconcise way. Did your effortshelp attract a million clicks for aclient? Put that down.

Overused adjectivesUsing fluffy words doesn’tget anyone anywhere.Overused adjectives suchas “compelling,” “disruptive”and “vibrant” are unoriginaland mean nothing to apotential employer.

Downplaying your strengthsIt’s important to emphasize that you contrib-

uted to the company. Perhaps you skillfullymade all the travel arrangements for your

managers and saved the company thousandsof dollars, or you found a more efficient way

to handle the mail. Let people know.

Sending out the sameresume to everyoneCustomizing resumes forcertain jobs shows that youhave the correct skill set forthose duties —and that’ssomething you definitelywant to portray in your resume.

TyposThis should go without

saying. Double-checkyour grammar andspelling, and havesomeone else take

a look, too.

Thesaurus

There’s a big change coming in theFree Application for Federal StudentAid, and those changes start Oct. 1.

Under rules enacted in 2015, the datefor submission this year is earlier — andif you delay you might miss out on a lotof money.

If you’re the parent of a high schoolsenior (or a student already in collegeseeking aid for next year), here are theFAFSA changes to be aware of, alongwith some tips for getting the mostfinancial aid for college.

FAFSA forms for the 2017-18 academ-ic year can be filed starting Oct. 1. In pastyears, the application start date was Jan.1. The online application is available forfree at www.FAFSA.gov.

Families that file online will receivetheir Student Aid Report and ExpectedFamily Contribution within a week ofcompleted filing (as opposed to two tofour weeks for those filing by mail).Having that information early, in themidst of the application period, will helpstudents and families make smarterchoices about college affordability.

You must use your 2015 tax return forthe application. In the past, when filingwas earlier in the year, families wererequired to estimate their income for theyear that had just ended. The new proc-ess uses income figures from the par-ents’ tax return filed the previous April,and that information will be automati-cally imported into the FAFSA using aspecial IRS data retrieval tool.

Most financial aid, including federal,state and private scholarships, is metedout in order of application. Some stateand other aid programs have moved uptheir application timelines in light of theearlier FAFSA filing date. So if you waituntil January to think about FAFSA, youmight miss out on available money.Procrastination will cost you.

Get a FAFSA ID number now. Eventhough you can’t start filling out theapplication until October, you can goonline to www.FAFSA.gov and get youruser-created ID and password for acces-sing the form securely. That will make iteasier to get going.

List desired schools on FAFSA. Eventhough you haven’t decided on all theschools to which you will apply, it paysto list your top choices. Many statesaward financial aid based on your in-state school preferences. Note: Otherschools won’t see your list, but stateaid-granting agencies will.

The new, earlier filing date is boundto bring some confusion. Your familysituation and income may have changeddrastically since your tax return for 2015was filed last April. If so, you shouldcontact the schools to which you areapplying and inform them that the EFCmay no longer be accurate and that youmay need a larger aid package.

And if you’re “adjusting” income toqualify for more financial aid, you’ll haveto start planning earlier because of thenew filing date.

File FAFSA even if you don’t thinkyou’ll qualify for federal aid. It’s used insome scholarship programs. Rick Cas-tellano of Sallie Mae (the largest origina-tor of private student loans, at more than$4 billion a year) notes that about 2million students who would have quali-fied for Federal Pell Grants — free mon-ey that doesn’t have to be repaid —didn’t get the grants because they didn’tfile FAFSA.

You can access Sallie Mae’s Begin-ner’s Guide to FAFSA at https://www.salliemae.com/plan-for-college/financial-aid/fafsa/. And if you don’t getenough federal aid, Sallie Mae’s privateSmart Option loans have variable ratesthat start as low as 2.5 percent and aretypically priced on the credit status of aco-signer.

Start now to make the most of the aidthat is available. And that’s the SavageTruth.

Terry Savage is a registered investmentadviser and best-selling author. Sheresponds to questions on her blog atTerrySavage.com.

Terry SavageThe Savage Truth

Pay attentionto changes in

student aid filingYoung people seem to be swearing off

the plastic.A recent analysis of Federal Reserve

data by The New York Times finds thatAmerica’s youngest consumers are notcarrying as much credit card debt as thosein the recent past. Data from the FederalReserve indicates that the percentage ofAmericans under 35 who hold credit carddebt has fallen to its lowest level since1989, when the Fed began collecting datain a standardized way, according to theTimes.

There are many reasons for this shift.Thanks to regulatory crackdowns, cardsare no longer being marketed aggressivelyto college students. Many millennials arealready burdened by student loan debt,much more so than in previous genera-tions. They may be leery of carrying debtafter having witnessed the financial crisis.And young people like to use new conven-ient ways to pay for everyday things, likeonline and mobile services such as Paypaland Venmo.

Carrying little, or no, credit card debthas definite advantages, of course. It’s thedefinition of living within your means. Itimposes financial discipline, forcing youto save up for big purchases. Credit cardinterest rates are high, and that’s essen-tially throwing money away when youcarry a balance month to month.

But there is a downside. Without creditcards, it can be harder and take muchlonger to build a good credit history. His-torically, at least for the past few decades,middle-class households have builtwealth and increased their productivity bypurchasing big-ticket items such as carsand appliances on credit. And a sparsecredit history affects your eligibility andthe rates you’ll be offered for the biggestticket item of all, a home mortgage.

To a surprising extent, millennials maybe passing on this whole financial game.For the first time in history, Pew reportedthis year, more people ages 18 to 34 areliving with their parents than on theirown with spouses or significant others.

While most members of this generationsay in surveys they would like to buy ahome of their own, they are putting it off.And “insufficient credit” was the mostcommonly cited reason in a recent FannieMae survey.

In fact, according to financial websiteNerdWallet, a third of millennials havecredit scores too low to qualify for mostmortgages. Young people seem to be wait-ing to buy cars as well, although the dataare not definitive.

There are two very different schools ofthought about these emerging trends. One

is that young people will remain at a fi-nancial disadvantage unless and until theyfollow the midcentury American playbookof accumulating major assets on credit.

The other is that this generation mayrepresent a throwback to the days of theirgrandparents, who saved money, madepurchases in cash and lived well withintheir means.

There may be a bit of truth to bothviews. There is no law that says economicsecurity comes only with homeownership,and you don’t have to own a car either toprove that you have “made it.” Living inmultigenerational households, with mort-gages that may have been paid off yearsago, can make a lot of financial sense bothfor parents and adult offspring, especiallyif the two generations help each other outwith child care and/or elder care as well.

But if you aspire to homeownership, asmost millennials say they do, it is possibleto build up a better credit history withoutgoing recklessly into debt. Open a credit

card account; if you can’t get one based onyour own income history, try a securedcard or getting added as an “authorizeduser” to the card of a spouse or relativewith good credit. Then use it to pay asingle recurring charge that is far belowthe allowable limit, such as your smart-phone bill.

Pay it off on time with a recurring auto-mated transfer from your checking ac-coun,t and you’ll be building good creditwithout even thinking about it eachmonth. You can also build credit throughinstallment payments, such as at a furni-ture store, or by getting a personal loanthrough a credit union.

It goes without saying that all thesepayments should be prompt and in full.

Anya Kamenetz’ most recent book is“The Test: Why Our Schools Are Obsessedwith Standardized Testing, but You Don’tHave to Be.” She welcomes your questionsat diyubook@gmail.com.

PETAR NEYCHEV/FOTOLIA

Plasticplan

Shift seen in waymillennials use credit

Anya KamenetzThe Savings Game

I get a lot of questions from people overage 701⁄2about giving their required mini-mum distribution to charity. The follow-ing answers can help you make plans todonate your RMD before the year-enddeadline:

Q: Can I give my RMD to charitynow, or do I have to wait until Decem-ber?

A: You can give your RMD to charityany time during the year. In the past,Congress often waited until December toapprove charitable transfers, leaving IRAholders scrambling to give the money tocharity before the Dec. 31 RMD deadline.But last December, Congress passed a lawthat permanently extends the QualifiedCharitable Distribution provision.

Q: How much can I transfer from myIRA to charity? Can I transfer morethan my RMD?

A: Yes, if you are 701⁄2or older, you cantransfer up to $100,000 to charity tax-freeeach year — even if that’s more than yourRMD. The money counts as your requiredminimum distribution but isn’t includedin your adjusted gross income.

Q: I’ll be 701⁄2 in a few months. Can Igive my RMD to charity now?

A: Even though you can take your RMDany time during the year you turn age701⁄2 (or until April 1 of the year after youturn 701⁄2), you have to wait until youactually turn age 701⁄2 to make the tax-free transfer to charity.

Q: Can I give my 401(k) RMD tocharity?

A: No. You can only make the tax-freetransfer from an IRA.

Q: Can I withdraw the money frommy IRA and then write a check to char-ity, or do I need to transfer the money

directly?A: You need to transfer the money

directly from the IRA to the charity for itto count as a tax-free transfer. Ask yourIRA administrator and the charity aboutmaking a direct transfer, or you can havethe IRA administrator send a check fromyour account to the charity. If you havecheck-writing privileges for your IRA, youcan write a check to the charity. Give thecharity a heads-up, so it knows the contri-bution came from you and can send youan acknowledgment.

Q: Which is better: the tax-freetransfer or a charitable deduction?

A: The tax-free transfer could give youextra benefits. You don’t need to itemizeyour deductions to get a tax benefit fromthe gift (and many people who no longerhave a mortgage don’t itemize their de-ductions). Making the tax-free transferalso keeps the money out of your adjustedgross income. That could help you avoidthe Medicare high-income surcharge.Keeping the money out of your AGI couldalso make less of your Social Securitybenefits taxable.

Kimberly Lankford is a contributing editorto Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.Send your questions and comments tomoneypower@kiplinger.com. And for moreon this and similar money topics, visitKiplinger.com.

Tips on donating RMDs to charityBy Kimberly Lankford

MAX SATTANA/FOTOLIA

SUCCESS

The latest scammer tool to prymoney from unsuspecting collegestudents? Amazingly, iTunes giftcards.

That’s the strange warning fromthe Internal Revenue Service about atactic cropping up across the coun-try now that college classes havebegun.

The IRS issued a warning on Aug.18 that tax agency impersonators arecontacting college students anddemanding to be paid immediatelyto cover a bogus “federal studenttax.”

The crooks, according to the IRS,are telling students or their parentsthat they could either wire the taxmoney owed through WesternUnion, MoneyGram or other serv-ices, or place funds on iTunes giftcards to pay off the tax and fees. Thecallers reportedly said students alsocould pay up using Green Dot, Mon-eyPak and Reloadit prepaid debitcards.

If the student or parent balks, theIRS said, scammers turn aggressiveand threaten to contact the police.

Although it sounds outlandishthat anyone would fall for this scam,there must be victims. The IRS saidit doesn’t have any data yet.

The IRS initially alerted taxpayersin the spring to be aware of thisscam, but the agency felt con artistswould be turning up the heat nowthat students are back on campus.

“Although variations of the IRSimpersonation scam continue year-round, they tend to peak whenscammers find prime opportunitiesto strike,” IRS Commissioner JohnKoskinen said in a statement. “Asstudents and parents enter the newschool year, they should remain alertto bogus calls.”

To be perfectly clear, the IRS said,there is no such thing as a federalstudent tax.

For all their tech savvy, collegestudents are inviting targets becausemost have little or no familiaritywith filing tax returns.

And the start of the school year isa perfect time for crooks to strikebecause students are on classworkand social overload and have theirguard down.

This latest tax scam is differentfrom the one I wrote about early thisyear that promised college studentsfatter refunds and faster tax returns.That one left students exposed tofinancial and personal identificationlosses.

Michael Devine, an IRS spokes-man in St. Louis, said the agency hasgotten reports of scam calls fromacross the country. He said scam-mers often alter the caller ID num-ber to hide where they are and makeit seem as though the IRS or anothergovernment agency is calling.

“The criminals ... can be any-where,” Devine said.

To avoid being victimized, nevergive out credit card or debit cardnumbers over the phone, the IRSsaid.

In addition, the IRS said it willnever demand that you pay taxeswithout giving you the opportunityto question or appeal the amount.The agency also will never threatento bring in law enforcement or haveyou arrested for not paying.

The IRS also will never demandimmediate payment using a prepaiddebit card, an iTunes gift card or awire transfer. Rather, the IRS willmail you a bill if you owe taxes.

To report tax-related scam, usethe IRS impersonation scam re-porting site at treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report_scam.shtml or call1-800-366-4484.

Questions, comments, column ideas?Send an e-mail to srosen@kcstar.com.

Steve RosenKids & Money

Latest IRSscam involves

‘federalstudent tax’

Q: We’re in tourism/hospitality andgearing up for our busy season. Beforewe get there, I’d like to have a meetingwith all the direct reports to go overpolicy issues, answer questions andblow off a little steam.

We have three people who were allhired at the same time and trained to-gether but have shown remarkablydifferent ability levels and talents. Thishas resulted in one member of thisgroup receiving advanced responsibil-ities early on, as she is more than capa-ble of handling them. I have heardthrough the grapevine that other staffmembers are feeling a little put out byher newfound authority (although, fromwhat I hear, everyone really enjoysworking with her). I don’t know howmuch of this is related to her age (she issignificantly younger than the rest ofthe staff) and how much of it has to dowith the fact that she simply caught onfaster than the rest of the staff.

Would it be advisable to discuss witheveryone at the meeting that they’ve allprogressed differently and so receiveddifferent responsibilities, but stress thatwe are all a team working toward thesame goals? I’m tempted to leave wellenough alone, but am preparing to go onmaternity leave and don’t want to leavea great big mess that may explode onceI’m gone.

A: I wouldn’t do it at a group meetingbecause it risks coming across as conde-scending and making everyone feel awk-ward, including your staff member who’staking on the additional responsibility.You’d probably be better off simply takingon the grumblings directly with peopleone-on-one when you hear them. (Andkeep an eye on those people; those sorts ofgrumblings are rarely heard from highperformers.)

Going forward, though, you can some-

times ward this off before it starts by ex-plaining why you’re giving someone in-creased responsibilities at the time that youfirst announce it. For example, “BecauseJane has done a fantastic job at XYZ andlearned it faster than we’ve ever thoughtpossible, I’m asking her to manage all XYZtraining from now on.”

Q: I have a question about toleratingrudeness. I manage a team of about 14people, three of whom are assistants.My issue is that one of my assistants isbeing very mean to another (she is verynice to the third assistant, as well as toeveryone else), and I am not sure how,or if, I should handle it. The mean assist-ant will giggle and roll her eyes in ameeting after her counterpart sayssomething (sometimes silly questionsbut she is clearly junior and still learn-ing), will ask her personal questions in adisdainful tone and is just generally notinclusive or nice to her. The non-meanassistant is generally a good worker andgood at her job, very eager and well-liked by members of other teams. Shehas not said anything to me about hermean counterpart and it seems to kindof roll off her back. As supervisorthough, I hate to condone such outrightmeanness when it is done in front of me.

What are your thoughts? Should Imake sure it’s mentioned in her review?I feel like it shouldn’t be tolerated butam conflicted because it is affecting noone’s work.

A: Yes, you should absolutely say some-thing to her and don’t wait for her review.You should be giving her feedback all along,and this is absolutely an appropriate topicfor you to talk to her about. Tell her that sheneeds to be pleasant and professional toeveryone she works with, that it’s not ac-ceptable to roll her eyes at co-workers orotherwise be rude to them, and that youexpect her to immediately begin treatingthe other assistant pleasantly. If you noticeany more of it continuing after that, have a

more serious conversation with her, as youwould for any performance issue that isn’tgetting resolved.

It’s not just about whether something isaffecting the work; it’s that she needs to actin accordance with the culture and valuesthat you want reflected on your team, andthat includes not making it an unpleasantenvironment for someone else.

Q: I work for a very small office, butrecently our workload has increasedenough to warrant an additional hire.This person is supposed to spend halfthe time helping another departmentand half the time helping my depart-ment. This person has never receivedany training for our department, andI’m noticing daily mistakes. I spoke tomy boss about his errors and explainedthat I thought our department couldbenefit from some additional rules andoversight so as not to single him out, butrather get all of us on the same page. Sheagreed but nothing has changed. She hasyet to have a sit-down conversation withhim and explain our processes and rules.

I fully believe this situation could becorrected with proper training andoversight from our boss, but I’m hesitat-ing because it may cause issues. I’m justnot sure what the right plan of action isto stop this from getting worse.

A: It sounds as though the issue is thatyou weren’t direct enough with your boss.Go back to her and be very clear this time.Tell her that you’re noticing daily errorsfrom your new co-worker and give someexamples. Say that you wanted to alert herso that she knows what’s going on and candecide whether he needs more training,more oversight or something else.

This isn’t accusing your boss of not doingher job. It’s simply giving her relevant in-formation that affects your team.

Want to submit a question about an issue inyour office? Send it to alison@askamanag-er.org.

SAIFULVR46/FOTOLIA

Office attitudeadjustments

How to handle employeeresentment, rude co-worker

By Alison Green

Your chances of a secure retirement willimprove if you start checking items off yourto-do list at least a year out. Among theissues you’ll face is Medicare.

You’re eligible for Medicare at age 65,and you can sign up without penalty anytime from three months before until threemonths after the month of your 65th birth-day. (If you claimed Social Security benefitsearly, you’ll be automatically enrolled at age65.) Medicare Part A covers hospitalizationand is premium-free, so there’s generally noreason not to sign up as soon as you’reeligible. (To enroll, go to www.ssa.gov.)

Part B covers outpatient care, includingdoctors’ visits. It costs $121.80 a month forsingles with an adjusted gross income (plustax-exempt interest) of $85,000 or less($170,000 for couples) who sign up in 2016.Above those income levels, you’ll have topay $170.50 to $389.80 per month. You’llalso have to pay a surcharge of $12.70 to

$72.90 a month on top of the premium forPart D prescription drug coverage.

If you don’t sign up for Part B during theseven-month window, and you do not havecoverage through your current employer,you may have to pay at least a 10-percentpenalty on premiums permanently whenyou do sign up. If you work for a companywith fewer than 20 employees, your groupcoverage generally becomes secondary toMedicare at age 65, so you should sign upfor both Part A and Part B — otherwise, youmay not be covered at all.

Employees of larger companies canchoose to keep group coverage while stillworking and hold off on signing up for PartB. But you must sign up for this coveragewithin eight months of leaving your job oryou’ll pay a penalty.

Medicare doesn’t cover everything; youmay want to pick up a Medicare supple-mental policy (Medigap), as well as a Part Dpolicy, for prescription drugs. There are 10types of Medigap policies, each identifiedby letter; the average price for the most

popular, Plan F, is $172 a month, accordingto Weiss Ratings. For Part D, the averagemonthly premium is $34 in 2016.

Rather than combine three plans, youcould join Medicare Advantage, offered byprivate insurers. Advantage plans cover thesame services as Medicare and includeprescription drugs. They typically havelower premiums than a Part B/Part D/Medigap combination but higher co-pay-ments and more restrictions.

Jane Bennett Clark is a senior editor atKiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.Send your questions and comments tomoneypower@kiplinger.com..

Retirement check:Signing up for Medicare

By Jane Bennett Clark

/

SUCCESS

There’s a radical shift in howpeople work, and you can see it atalmost every coffee shop. Morepeople are working remotelythan ever before, and some of ushave figured out how to reallywork on a phone (usually with aBluetooth keyboard). Others arehard at work on their laptops intheir homes Monday throughFriday.

The sea change brought on bythe growing mobile workforcehas forced companies to rethinkhow to make the new realitywork for everyone. And the mass-es of remote workers are onlygoing to grow.

I asked Michael Park, the vicepresident and general manager ofmobility at HP, about the changeshe sees now and what he predictsfor the future. I was particularlyinterested in how the gadgets thatworkers use will change.

Q: We’ve heard of a shiftfrom desktop to mobile forsome time, but what are thelatest trends?

A: In the last decade, we’veseen a dramatic shift from work-ing at your desktop to working ona mobile device.

Work is no longer contained toa single, physical location; it’smore about what you can do, notwhere. This idea particularlyresonates among the growingmillennial workforce, who areexpected to make up 75 percentof the workforce by 2025.

As a result, we’re seeing morecompanies finding ways to em-brace mobile. For example, 7percent of companies have builtmobile apps to facilitate work-flow for their employees. And 75percent of business travelers takeat least three devices with them,with their smartphone as theprimary device.

Monitoring trends, like anevolving workforce and a shift tomobility, is paramount as wedesign and engineer new tech-nology for our customers. Thecurrent status quo for mobility islargely about Bring Your OwnDevice, but we think there is avoid that sits between BYOD andPC-based productivity that needsto address how we help highlymobile employees become PC-level productive in a mobile state.

Q: What percentage of timedo people work mobile thesedays, where was that five yearsago, and where is it headed?

A: While I can’t speak directlyto how many people were work-ing mobile five years ago, we’recertainly focused on current andfuture trends in terms of mobility.

According to our own (as yetunpublished) research, 62 per-cent of people work from homeor at off-site locations. With therise of the millennial workforce,who are actively looking for jobsthat offer the flexibility to workfrom multiple locations, we’regoing to see mobility becomemore and more commonplace.

As a direct result, with compa-nies competing over talent, we’relikely to see more accommoda-tions made for those who areinterested in working outside of atraditional office setting, as we’reseeing with 88 percent of HRmanagers who are reporting thatemployees have quit due to a lackof telework flexibility. If em-ployers want to entice top talent,offering mobile solutions thatenable the same workflow andtechnology experience at work,on the go or at home are a must.

But giving employees the abil-ity to work anywhere doesn’tbenefit only employees. In fact,studies have suggested that em-ployees who use mobile apps forwork are 34 percent more pro-ductive. In short, it’s a win, win.

Q: There’s still this sensethat, when you really need toget things done, you go to anoffice. What needs to changebefore we don’t think that wayanymore?

A: There are a couple of barri-ers many businesses still strugglewith when considering a move toa more mobile workforce: com-pany culture and access to theright technology.

Unfortunately, we can’t forcethe hand of a company to changetheir culture overnight. But as themillennial workforce increases,companies will need to factor inmobility as a consideration for

the reasons I shared above. Whena company is ready to embracemobility, it takes time and plan-ning. Which means getting theright technology in place so em-ployees have access to the tools,applications, data and even peo-ple to be just as — if not more —productive than they would be ina traditional office setting. At HP,our job has been focused on find-ing mobile solutions that play to avariety of verticals, that will allowfor office-like productively whilemobile, eventually changingperception.

Q: What emerging tech will

help make mobile work moreviable every day of the week?

A: In the short term, we’ll seecellular network speeds continueto improve, along with battery lifeand expanded capabilities ofmobile devices. Increased CPUperformance as well as cloudsecurity all factor into makingmobility more viable option forbusinesses. And finding newways to virtualize previouslydesktop-only applications for useon mobile devices — like ourupcoming HP Workspace virtu-alization solution — will be im-perative to drive workforce mo-bility in the future.

Anywhereoffice Companies embrace

growing ranksof remote workers

By John Brandon

TOP VECTORS/FOTOLIA