(MONEY Magazine) – Ready for Your (Benefits) Checkup?

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It's the season to re-up your health benefits. Expect some surprises this year, so be sure to pay attention. Next, please!

• TAKE ACTION More and more companies will automatically switch you to the cheapest option or drop you from coverage if you don't make a selection. Even if you're not making a change, confirm your choice.

• PAD PRETAX ACCOUNTS If your company lets you save pretax dollars for health care (or child care or transport) in a flexible spending account (FSA), do it and don't worry about matching your costs exactly. If you're in the 25% tax bracket and you put aside $1,000, you come out ahead as long as you spend more than $800.

• PASS ON THE HSA More employers are offering a high-deductible plan with a health savings account (HSA). But early adopters have not been big fans; stick with your PPO or HMO for now.

• GRAB INCENTIVES Take advantage of wellness incentive programs, now offered by most big companies. In exchange for undergoing a health risk assessment, for example, you might get lower insurance premiums or cash for health expenses.

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Dodge a tax trap

Is this fair? The day after Thanksgiving you put $10,000 in a mutual fund. Ten days later it hands you back $1,500 of your money--and you're on the hook for $225 in taxes. That can happen when you buy shares this late in the year in a fund poised to make capital-gains distributions. How to avoid it:

• RESEARCH Around now, fund websites start posting estimates of distributions to come, usually in December. Keep an eye on emerging market and small-cap stock funds. Many could have big payouts.

• WAIT If you'd face a big taxable distribution, don't invest until the fund's "ex-dividend" date, after the money has been deducted from its share price.

• SIDESTEP You're home free if you're buying for an IRA or a 401(k). All payouts are tax deferred.

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Beyond the Butterball

Buy your Thanksgiving bird at these sites and you won't save money, but you'll save yourself from an ordinary meal. Prices are for a 10-pound bird.

• BEST PRECOOKED TURKEY Order at Harryanddavid.com. The smoked Chardonnay gobbler makes other precooked birds taste like chicken ($113).

• MOST DOCUMENTED ORGANIC BIRD At Heritagefoodsusa.com, you can order dinner and check its age, diet and recent free-range life ($129).

• BEST LAST-MINUTE ORDERS Schauls.com. Order as late as 2 p.m. central time on the Monday before ($75 for a 12- to 14-pound bird and overnight shipping).

...Paranoid gadget of the month: RoboForm2Go, a fob that memorizes all your online passwords. Just plug it into your USB port ($40, roboform.com)...

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