Investment Management Services
Southcoast Health Employees
Your benefits should do more than sit in separate accounts and enrollment forms. We help you understand what applies to you, make informed decisions, and connect those choices with the life you want to live now and the retirement you want to build.
understand what applies to you
Southcoast Health System is the nonprofit parent of several affiliated organizations. The three acute-care hospitals operate through Southcoast Hospitals Group, while the physicians group and Southcoast Health at Home are separate corporations. Southcoast Behavioral Health in Dartmouth is a joint venture with a different employment and benefit structure. Confirming the employer shown on your W-2 is the first step toward identifying the retirement plan, benefit rules, and any collective-bargaining provisions that apply to you.
| EMPLOYING ENTITY | WHO IT COVERS | WHY IT MATTERS |
|---|---|---|
| Southcoast Hospitals Group | Charlton Memorial, St. Luke’s, and Tobey operate as sites of Southcoast Hospitals Group under one hospital license | The Hospitals Group sponsors the Southcoast Health System Partnership Plan; St. Luke’s and Tobey nurses also have MNA agreements that may set group-specific terms |
| Southcoast Physicians Group | The employed physician and advanced practice group within Southcoast Health System | Participation in the Hospitals Group-sponsored plan is not established by public filings alone; confirm the plan shown in your enrollment materials |
| Southcoast Health at Home | Southcoast’s home health and hospice services, including its visiting nurse organization | Home health roles have not always been on the same contribution terms as the hospitals. Confirm which formula applies to you, and whether you hold anything from an earlier arrangement |
| Southcoast Behavioral Health, Dartmouth | An inpatient behavioral health hospital operated as a joint venture between Southcoast Health and Acadia Healthcare, a publicly traded company | A joint venture can have its own employer of record and its own benefit plans. Confirm the employer named on your W-2, and your own enrollment materials, before assuming the Southcoast plan applies to you |
This overview is not a plan document. Southcoast states that benefits may vary by position, scheduled hours, company, employment type, and collective bargaining agreement. Confirm the current rules in your summary plan description, enrollment materials, HR records, and any agreement that applies to your employee group.
1
The employer listed on your W-2, along with your employee group, determines which plan and eligibility provisions to review. This is especially important for anyone working at the Dartmouth behavioral health joint venture, where the name on the building does not establish participation in a Southcoast plan.
2
Southcoast states that the benefits it offers vary by position, company, employment type, scheduled hours, and collective bargaining agreement. Each benefit sets its own threshold, and the retirement contribution generally uses a different test from the insurance benefits. Verify the threshold attached to each benefit you care about before changing your schedule or estimating the value of a new role.
3
MNA represents nurses at St. Luke’s and Tobey, and the difference is not theoretical. The Southcoast Health Plan member site lists a separate St. Luke’s MNA medical plan alongside the systemwide options for 2026. Public summaries do not contain every retirement and benefit provision, so represented employees should read the current agreement alongside the plan documents rather than assume the systemwide summary applies to them.
what you have
Contribution rates, investment choices, insurance elections, paid-time balances, and older retirement accounts should be considered alongside your cash flow, taxes, family responsibilities, other assets, and expected retirement date. Reviewing them together makes it easier to understand the tradeoffs and choose a course that supports the life and retirement you are working toward.
This is the account you fund and control. The provisions that drive planning decisions are the ones that determine when you become eligible for the employer contribution, what you must contribute to receive all of it, and whether contributions are made before or after tax. Those provisions are set by the plan document that governs your employment, not by a general summary, and they have changed at many employers over the past several years. We read the current documents with you, confirm that your election captures everything available to you, and then decide how much, beyond that, belongs in the plan rather than somewhere else.
Southcoast states that the benefits it offers vary by position, company, employment type, scheduled hours, and collective bargaining agreement. In practice, that means a single change in schedule can move you across several thresholds at once, and the retirement contribution rarely uses the same test as the insurance benefits. Before you accept a change in hours or status, we help you put a dollar figure on what moves with it.
This is the part of your benefits where our work sits. If you never made an election, your contributions went to the plan’s default investment, which is selected by formula from an assumed retirement age rather than from anything about your household. Workplace menus also frequently include options that carry transfer restrictions or withdrawal charges, and some offer a brokerage window with its own costs. We review the options your plan makes available, what each one costs, and how the balance should be positioned alongside everything else you own.
Southcoast’s current careers site lists paid time off as Earned Time Off, personal, vacation, and sick time, and the public materials reviewed do not state what portion of any of it is paid at separation. Massachusetts treats earned, unused vacation as wages; when several forms of leave are combined into a single bank, the employer’s designation and policy matter. Confirm your balance and payout rules before choosing a departure date. If a taxable payout is expected near retirement, its timing may also affect Medicare income-related premiums two years later.
Southcoast currently lists medical, prescription, dental, vision, flexible spending accounts, life and accidental death coverage, and short- and long-term disability among its benefits, including what its careers site describes as an option for a zero-net-premium medical plan. Eligibility and cost-sharing can vary by company, employee type, scheduled hours, and collective bargaining agreement. Review whether the employer coverage would replace enough income, protect the people who rely on you, and remain appropriate as compensation and family responsibilities change.
A former VNA account, an older plan from a Southcoast affiliate, or a balance from an employer before Southcoast may still need attention. Locate the account, identify the legal sponsor and recordkeeper, and compare leaving it in place, moving it to a current employer plan if accepted, or rolling it over to an IRA. Fees, investments, services, withdrawal rights, creditor protections, and tax consequences can differ, so consolidation should never be automatic.
where the details differ
A represented nurse, a part-time clinician, and a long-tenured employee may be covered by different provisions. The right analysis begins with the current documents for your position and then accounts for anything earned under an earlier plan.
Your retirement and benefit terms come from the agreement that covers your unit, and those terms can differ from the general benefits summary. We take no position on any labor matter. We read the agreement that currently applies to you alongside the plan documents so you know your contribution rate, your credited service, and what you have accumulated. When terms are revised, you can then compare the change against something concrete rather than an estimate.
Part-time, per diem, and reduced schedules can affect insurance, paid time, tuition assistance, and employer retirement contributions in different ways, because each benefit applies its own hours and service test. Represented employees may have additional terms again. Confirm each benefit separately, and in dollars, before deciding what a change in schedule is worth.
Careers in this region frequently span more than one employer, and a balance left behind is easy to lose after a move, an acquisition, or a change of recordkeeper. The current plan itself includes a separate VNA contribution formula, a reminder that terms have not always been identical across the system. We help you locate what you hold, read the document that governs each piece, and compare the options of leaving it, moving it, or consolidating it.
what people ask us
These questions connect the provisions of your plan with the decisions your household needs to make.
First, confirm when you become eligible for an employer contribution and what contribution rate is required to receive the full amount available to you, because that is the one part of the decision with a defined answer. Then weigh additional saving against cash flow, emergency reserves, high-cost debt, and other priorities. The 2026 elective deferral limit for 403(b) plans is $24,500, but the right amount for you may be well below it.
Eligibility can depend on completed service, hours worked, employment status, employing entity, job classification, and collective-bargaining provisions, and plans commonly exclude certain classifications from employer contributions entirely. A rule that applies to a colleague at another site or in another role may not apply to you. Compare the governing documents against your payroll and account records, then ask HR to resolve any discrepancy.
Confirm first whether a Roth option is available to you, since not every plan offers one. If both are available, the comparison should account for current and expected tax rates, cash flow, Social Security, required withdrawals, other retirement income, and the value of having both taxable and tax-free money to draw from later.
Compare the available funds by objective, risk, expenses, and role within the household portfolio. If you were enrolled automatically and did not make an election, contributions may have been directed to the plan’s default investment. An appropriate allocation should account for when withdrawals may begin, how much market loss you can tolerate, and what you hold outside the plan.
A move to part-time, per diem, or another status can affect medical coverage, disability insurance, paid time, tuition assistance, and retirement contributions on different schedules. List each benefit, confirm the threshold and effective date, and compare the dollar value of what changes before accepting the new arrangement.
Do not assume an older benefit disappeared when an entity, plan name, or recordkeeper changed. Southcoast has acquired practices and reorganized affiliates over the years, and the current plan includes a separate VNA contribution formula, a reminder that not every part of the system has always been on identical terms. Review prior statements and plan notices, search the current recordkeeper’s records, and ask the plan administrator to confirm whether a balance remains or has been transferred to a successor arrangement.
IRAs, taxable investments, former-employer plans, flexible spending accounts, and a spouse’s retirement plan should be evaluated alongside your Southcoast benefits. Coordinating them does not require combining every account. Ownership, plan rules, fees, tax treatment, investments, services, and legal protections should be considered before any transfer or rollover.
A retirement analysis can combine savings, Social Security, expected spending, taxes, healthcare costs, and other assets. Modeling a range of retirement dates with different assumptions for investment returns, inflation, and longevity can show where the plan is resilient and where changes may help. The results are estimates, not guarantees.
how we work
The process begins with the questions you need answered, then moves from the governing documents to specific recommendations and implementation.
Identify the decisions on your mind, the financial priorities competing for attention, and what your benefits and savings need to accomplish.
Review the legal employer, employee group, status, scheduled hours, and current plan documents, then identify any retirement accounts associated with earlier roles or entities.
Evaluate each available option in the context of your household finances, explain the tradeoffs, and organize the decisions by timing and importance.
Put the recommendations into practice, coordinate investments across accounts, and revisit the strategy as your work, family, and financial needs change.
Retirement benefits affect investment, tax, insurance, and estate-planning decisions. Reviewing those relationships together can reveal gaps, conflicts, and opportunities that account-by-account decisions miss.
Your contribution strategy, the employer contribution available under your plan, Social Security, and the income your savings will need to provide throughout retirement.
Workplace accounts and outside investments are evaluated as one household portfolio, with attention to objectives, time horizon, risk tolerance, expenses, and tax treatment.
We model how contributions, investments, withdrawals, and other income sources may affect taxes and coordinate implementation with your tax professional. Finivi does not prepare tax returns or provide tax advice.
Life and disability coverage can be assessed against income needs, family obligations, and the broader financial plan. Finivi is also a licensed insurance brokerage and may receive compensation if an insurance or annuity product is purchased through the firm, creating a conflict of interest. Clients may use any provider.
We review beneficiary designations and the financial implications of an estate plan, identify coordination issues, and work with the client’s estate-planning attorney. Finivi does not draft legal documents or provide legal advice.
Financial guidance through a change in role or employer, a move to part-time or per diem hours, retirement, divorce, an inheritance, caregiving responsibilities, and other major life events.
FAQ
Planning may be useful when you begin a role, change employers, become eligible for an employer contribution, reduce your hours, receive a meaningful pay increase, or consider retirement. Starting before a deadline leaves more time to confirm the rules, compare the choices, and coordinate the decisions that affect one another.
Choose a video meeting from wherever you are, or an in-person meeting at our Westborough office.
Finivi Inc. is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Southcoast Health System, Inc.; Southcoast Hospitals Group; Charlton Memorial Hospital; St. Luke’s Hospital; Tobey Hospital; Southcoast Physicians Group; Southcoast Health at Home; Southcoast Behavioral Health; Acadia Healthcare; any benefit-plan vendor; or any labor organization. These names are used only to identify the employee groups discussed on this page.
This material is educational and is not a plan document or personalized investment, tax, accounting, or legal advice. Benefits can vary by employing entity, hire date, job classification, scheduled hours, employment status, and bargaining unit, and they can change. Your current plan documents, summary plan descriptions, employment policies, and collective bargaining agreement, when applicable, govern.
Finivi is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply a particular level of skill or training. If Finivi recommends that you roll assets from an employer plan into an IRA that it manages, Finivi generally receives an advisory fee that it would not receive if the assets remained in the plan. You should compare services, investments, fees, withdrawal options, and creditor protections before making a rollover decision.
Finivi representatives may also act as insurance agents and may receive commissions for insurance or annuity sales, creating an incentive to recommend those products. You are not required to buy an insurance product through Finivi or any related person. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Consult qualified tax and legal professionals about your circumstances. See Finivi’s Form ADV Part 2A for information about services, fees, conflicts, and disciplinary history.