The Guided Ascent Journal · Retirement Planning
The Northern Arizona Healthcare benefits guide is thorough about what exists: a 401(k) that matches dollar for dollar up to 5% of pay, a 457(b) for eligible employees, a health savings account NAH helps fund. What it cannot do is tell you what to choose. How much to defer, and pre-tax or Roth? Is the 457(b) worth using if you are eligible? Spend the HSA on this year's bills, or let it build? The guide describes the accounts. The decisions are yours.
This article is written for the people making those decisions: employees at Flagstaff Medical Center, Verde Valley Medical Center, Sedona Medical Center, and the clinics across the region. What follows are the considerations we walk through with clients, one election at a time. And if questions remain at the end, helping people think through them is what we do.
First, the 2026 numbers in one place
| Account | 2026 Limit | Worth Knowing |
|---|---|---|
| NAH 401(k) deferral | $24,500 | NAH matches 100% of your first 5%, vested from day one |
| 401(k) catch-up, age 50 and older | +$8,000 | Must go in as Roth if your 2025 NAH wages were over $150,000 |
| 401(k) catch-up, ages 60 to 63 | +$11,250 | A larger catch-up replaces the standard one in these four years |
| NAH 457(b), eligible employees | $24,500 | A separate limit, stacked on top of your 401(k) |
| HSA, self-only / family | $4,400 / $8,750 | Includes NAH's roughly $1,000 contribution; add $1,000 at age 55 |
| SEP IRA on self-employment income | Up to $72,000 | Roughly 20% of net earnings from consulting or 1099 work |
Limits per IRS figures for 2026. Plan provisions per NAH's published benefits guides; the official plan documents govern.
Your 401(k) runs on autopilot. Autopilot is not a plan.
The NAH 401(k), administered by Transamerica, is open to every NAH employee from the date of hire. The match: dollar for dollar on your first 5% of pay, fully vested immediately. No waiting period, no vesting schedule. On a $90,000 salary that is $4,500 a year of employer contributions; on a $300,000 salary it is $15,000, as an illustration only. An employee deferring less than 5% is leaving a portion of those employer contributions uncollected.
If you never made an election, NAH enrolled you automatically at 5% pre-tax after 45 days. That default captures the full match, which is thoughtful plan design, but it quietly made two decisions for you: how much you save, and which tax bucket it lands in. The plan accepts both pre-tax and Roth contributions, and the right mix depends on your tax bracket today versus the bracket you expect in retirement. That is a planning question, not a payroll setting, and it is worth revisiting any year your income changes.
One change took effect this January that higher earners should not learn about from a pay stub. If your NAH wages last year were over $150,000, the IRS now requires your catch-up contributions to go in as Roth rather than pre-tax. For most physicians and many senior clinicians and administrators, this applies. Roth treatment is not bad news, since those dollars come out tax-free later, but it does raise your taxable income this year and belongs in your tax projection.
The brokerage window inside your 401(k)
Here is a feature the benefits guide does not cover. Beyond the core fund menu, the NAH plan includes a self-directed brokerage window through the Schwab Personal Choice Retirement Account, or PCRA. It opens a far wider investment universe, and the money never leaves your 401(k), so every tax advantage stays intact.
You also do not have to run it alone. The PCRA can be self-directed, or you can authorize an independent investment advisor to manage that portion of your account for you, inside the plan, while you are still working. For an employee whose 401(k) is their largest account, that distinction matters: professional management does not have to wait for a retirement date and a rollover. Mechanics, transfer limits, and fees are set by the plan, so confirm the details through the Transamerica participant portal before moving money.
Eligible for the 457(b)? You can defer twice.
For eligible employees, NAH offers a 457(b) deferred compensation plan with its own $24,500 limit, entirely separate from the 401(k). Max both and you have sheltered $49,000 of salary before any match or catch-up is counted. For a physician or executive in a high bracket, that second bucket meaningfully expands how much income can be deferred each year. Because NAH is a nonprofit, eligibility is generally limited to a select group, commonly physicians, executives, and other highly compensated employees, and NAH decides who qualifies.
The two accounts look alike on a statement and behave very differently under the surface. The differences matter most on the way out.
| NAH 401(k) | NAH 457(b) | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 deferral limit | $24,500 plus catch-ups | $24,500, separate from the 401(k) |
| Employer match | 100% of your first 5% | None |
| Whose money is it? | Held in trust for you | Remains an NAH asset until paid; subject to NAH's general creditors |
| Age 50 catch-up | Yes | No; a special catch-up may apply in the final three years before retirement |
| 10% early withdrawal penalty | Generally applies before 59½, with exceptions | Does not apply |
| Roll to an IRA later? | Yes | No; paid out under the plan's election rules and taxed as ordinary income |
457(b) asset treatment as described in NAH's published benefits guide and under IRS rules for nonqualified deferred compensation plans.
An election worth planning early: your 457(b) payout election. A nonqualified 457(b) cannot roll to an IRA, so the money comes out on the schedule you elect, taxed as ordinary income when paid. Elect poorly and years of careful deferrals can land in a short window of top-bracket income. This form deserves a plan behind it, well before a retirement date is on the calendar.
The HSA: spend it or invest it?
If you are on the HDHP medical plan, NAH puts money into your health savings account for you: $500 when you enroll, then $20 every pay period, roughly $1,000 a year. Part-time employees budgeted for 24 to 29 hours qualify as well.
The HSA is the only account in the tax code with three layers of advantage: contributions go in pre-tax, growth is untaxed, and withdrawals for qualified medical expenses come out tax-free. From there, two reasonable paths exist. Spending the account on current medical costs uses pre-tax dollars for bills you would pay anyway, and in a tight-budget year or a high-expense year, that is exactly what it is for. The alternative is to pay routine costs out of pocket and let the balance ride: it rolls over every year, it is yours if you ever leave NAH, and it can be invested, gradually building a dedicated tax-free fund for healthcare in retirement, often one of the larger expense categories retirees face. Which path fits comes down to cash flow, health costs, and time horizon. After 65, the funds can be used for any purpose without penalty, taxed as ordinary income.
One timing rule if retirement is near: HSA contributions must stop once Medicare begins, and NAH's own guide recommends stopping up to six months before you enroll in Medicare or file for Social Security to avoid tax complications.
Consulting on the side? Your ceiling just went up.
If your NAH paycheck is not your only income, keep reading. Locum or per diem shifts elsewhere, medical directorships, telehealth work, chart review, expert consulting, teaching, or a side business that has nothing to do with medicine: 1099 income of any kind changes your planning picture. Having a 401(k) at the hospital does not close the door on that income. It opens another one.
Even after maxing the NAH 401(k), you can open a SEP IRA funded from your self-employment earnings. The deferral limit you used at NAH applies to you personally, but SEP contributions are employer contributions from your own separate business, and that business gets its own cap. For 2026, roughly 20% of net self-employment earnings, up to $72,000. On $100,000 of net consulting income, that is in the neighborhood of $18,000 to $20,000 of additional tax-advantaged savings, as an illustration only. SEPs are also simple: no annual filing, inexpensive to open, and fundable as late as your tax filing deadline, including extensions, so even income already earned this year is still in play. Depending on the numbers, a solo 401(k) is sometimes worth comparing, since its employer contribution works similarly and Roth options exist.
Side income also raises the questions W-2 employees never had to answer: quarterly estimated taxes, which expenses are actually deductible, whether an entity structure makes sense, and how the qualified business income deduction applies. This is where coordinated tax planning earns its keep, because the consulting income, the SEP, the 457(b) deferrals, and your NAH withholding all land on the same return.
If retirement is close, sequence before you sign
For employees within a few years of leaving NAH, the accounts stop being savings questions and become sequencing questions. A short checklist we work through with clients:
- The 457(b) election. Decide the payout schedule with your full retirement income picture in front of you, not under deadline pressure in your final weeks.
- The ages 60 to 63 window. The enhanced catch-up allows up to $35,750 of 401(k) deferrals per year in exactly the years many people are at peak earnings. Four high-savings years, easy to miss.
- The HSA cutoff. Plan the stop date for contributions before Medicare or Social Security begins, and decide whether the balance gets spent or preserved as your retirement medical fund.
- The legacy pension. Hired before July 1, 2000? You also have a legacy NAH pension administered through Principal. Locate it and inventory it; the survivor election gets its own section below.
- Withdrawal order. How the 401(k), the 457(b) payout, and Social Security timing interact determines your tax brackets for a decade. The order is a decision, not an accident.
Hired before July 2000? The pension maximization question
If your NAH career started before July 1, 2000, you have a legacy NAH pension administered through Principal, a plan closed to anyone hired after that date and listed quietly in the back of the benefits guide's contact pages. At retirement it asks one deceptively simple question, single-life or joint-and-survivor, and the answer is permanent.
A joint-and-survivor option continues income to your spouse but permanently reduces the monthly benefit. An alternative some retirees evaluate, often called pension maximization, is electing the higher single-life payout and using part of the difference to purchase life insurance, with the death benefit intended to replace the survivor income. Whether that route comes out ahead depends on the plan's actual reduction factors, your age and health, what coverage genuinely costs, and how long it must stay in force.
Sometimes the insurance route wins the math; sometimes the plan's survivor option is the better deal. Because the election is irrevocable, it is worth running both sets of numbers, with real insurance quotes in hand, before signing anything.
We work with employees of northern Arizona's major employers on exactly these questions, the same way we have written about the decisions facing NAU employees and Gore associates. Our approach is a coordinated one, connecting the accounts, the tax return, and the retirement income plan through a single process rather than handling each piece in isolation.
Talk Through Your NAH Benefits
Bring your questions about the 401(k), the brokerage window, the 457(b), or your consulting income. We are independent of Northern Arizona Healthcare, and the conversation carries no obligation.
Start a ConversationFrequently Asked Questions
Does Northern Arizona Healthcare match 401(k) contributions?
Yes. NAH matches 100% of the first 5% of pay you contribute, and the match is 100% vested immediately. The plan is administered by Transamerica, and all NAH employees are eligible from their date of hire.
Can NAH employees choose their own 401(k) investments?
Yes, two ways. You can build from the plan's core fund menu, and the plan also includes a self-directed brokerage window through the Schwab Personal Choice Retirement Account (PCRA). The PCRA can be managed by you directly or by an independent advisor you authorize, with the money staying inside the 401(k). Confirm availability, transfer limits, and fees through the Transamerica participant portal.
Who is eligible for the NAH 457(b) plan?
NAH determines eligibility. Because NAH is a nonprofit, its 457(b) is a nonqualified plan generally limited to a select group, commonly physicians, executives, and other highly compensated employees. Eligible employees can defer up to $24,500 for 2026 in addition to their full 401(k) contribution.
Can I contribute to a SEP IRA if I already max out my NAH 401(k)?
Yes, if you have self-employment income such as consulting, locum or per diem shifts, medical directorships, or an outside business. SEP contributions come from your own business and are separate from the 401(k) limit. For 2026, they can reach roughly 20% of net self-employment earnings, up to $72,000.
How much does NAH contribute to the health savings account?
For employees enrolled in the HDHP medical plan, NAH contributes $500 when you enroll in the HSA plus $20 per pay period, roughly $1,000 per year. Temporary full-time employees and ACA full-time-equivalent enrollees are not eligible for the NAH contribution.
What is pension maximization?
Pension maximization is a strategy some retirees evaluate when electing a pension payout: choosing the higher single-life benefit instead of a reduced joint-and-survivor option, and using part of the difference to purchase life insurance intended to replace the survivor income. Whether it comes out ahead depends on the plan's reduction factors, the retiree's age and health, and the actual cost of coverage, and pension elections are irrevocable, so both options should be compared with real quotes before electing. For NAH, this applies to the legacy pension through Principal for employees hired before July 1, 2000.
Is the NAH benefits guide different for physicians?
NAH publishes a physician version and an all-employee version. The 401(k), 457(b), and HSA provisions are substantially the same in both. The physician guide adds items specific to that group, such as All Purpose Leave and individual disability insurance through Unum.
Sources
Northern Arizona Healthcare, 2025 Benefits Guide: nahealth.com
Northern Arizona Healthcare, 2025 Physician Benefits Guide: nahealth.com
IRS, 401(k) Contribution Limits: irs.gov
IRS, IRC 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plans: irs.gov
IRS, SEP Plan FAQs: irs.gov
IRS, Publication 969, Health Savings Accounts: irs.gov
Charles Schwab, Personal Choice Retirement Account: schwab.com
This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Plan provisions are drawn from Northern Arizona Healthcare's published 2025 benefits guides and other publicly available information as of the date of publication, with contribution limits updated to reflect IRS figures for 2026. Individual plan terms may differ and are subject to change; the official plan documents govern. Employees should review their current plan documents and Summary Plan Descriptions and confirm eligibility, brokerage window availability, and distribution provisions with the NAH Benefits Team or plan administrator before making elections. Babb Financial Group has no affiliation, endorsement, or referral relationship with Northern Arizona Healthcare or Transamerica and has written this article for educational purposes only. The opinions contained herein are subject to change without notice as well as the facts surrounding any of the material mentioned.
The Guided Ascent Journal · Retirement Planning
The Northern Arizona Healthcare benefits guide is thorough about what exists: a 401(k) that matches dollar for dollar up to 5% of pay, a 457(b) for eligible employees, a health savings account NAH helps fund. What it cannot do is tell you what to choose. How much to defer, and pre-tax or Roth? Is the 457(b) worth using if you are eligible? Spend the HSA on this year's bills, or let it build? The guide describes the accounts. The decisions are yours.
This article is written for the people making those decisions: employees at Flagstaff Medical Center, Verde Valley Medical Center, Sedona Medical Center, and the clinics across the region. What follows are the considerations we walk through with clients, one election at a time. And if questions remain at the end, helping people think through them is what we do.
First, the 2026 numbers in one place
| Account | 2026 Limit | Worth Knowing |
|---|---|---|
| NAH 401(k) deferral | $24,500 | NAH matches 100% of your first 5%, vested from day one |
| 401(k) catch-up, age 50 and older | +$8,000 | Must go in as Roth if your 2025 NAH wages were over $150,000 |
| 401(k) catch-up, ages 60 to 63 | +$11,250 | A larger catch-up replaces the standard one in these four years |
| NAH 457(b), eligible employees | $24,500 | A separate limit, stacked on top of your 401(k) |
| HSA, self-only / family | $4,400 / $8,750 | Includes NAH's roughly $1,000 contribution; add $1,000 at age 55 |
| SEP IRA on self-employment income | Up to $72,000 | Roughly 20% of net earnings from consulting or 1099 work |
Limits per IRS figures for 2026. Plan provisions per NAH's published benefits guides; the official plan documents govern.
Your 401(k) runs on autopilot. Autopilot is not a plan.
The NAH 401(k), administered by Transamerica, is open to every NAH employee from the date of hire. The match: dollar for dollar on your first 5% of pay, fully vested immediately. No waiting period, no vesting schedule. On a $90,000 salary that is $4,500 a year of employer contributions; on a $300,000 salary it is $15,000, as an illustration only. An employee deferring less than 5% is leaving a portion of those employer contributions uncollected.
If you never made an election, NAH enrolled you automatically at 5% pre-tax after 45 days. That default captures the full match, which is thoughtful plan design, but it quietly made two decisions for you: how much you save, and which tax bucket it lands in. The plan accepts both pre-tax and Roth contributions, and the right mix depends on your tax bracket today versus the bracket you expect in retirement. That is a planning question, not a payroll setting, and it is worth revisiting any year your income changes.
One change took effect this January that higher earners should not learn about from a pay stub. If your NAH wages last year were over $150,000, the IRS now requires your catch-up contributions to go in as Roth rather than pre-tax. For most physicians and many senior clinicians and administrators, this applies. Roth treatment is not bad news, since those dollars come out tax-free later, but it does raise your taxable income this year and belongs in your tax projection.
The brokerage window inside your 401(k)
Here is a feature the benefits guide does not cover. Beyond the core fund menu, the NAH plan includes a self-directed brokerage window through the Schwab Personal Choice Retirement Account, or PCRA. It opens a far wider investment universe, and the money never leaves your 401(k), so every tax advantage stays intact.
You also do not have to run it alone. The PCRA can be self-directed, or you can authorize an independent investment advisor to manage that portion of your account for you, inside the plan, while you are still working. For an employee whose 401(k) is their largest account, that distinction matters: professional management does not have to wait for a retirement date and a rollover. Mechanics, transfer limits, and fees are set by the plan, so confirm the details through the Transamerica participant portal before moving money.
Eligible for the 457(b)? You can defer twice.
For eligible employees, NAH offers a 457(b) deferred compensation plan with its own $24,500 limit, entirely separate from the 401(k). Max both and you have sheltered $49,000 of salary before any match or catch-up is counted. For a physician or executive in a high bracket, that second bucket meaningfully expands how much income can be deferred each year. Because NAH is a nonprofit, eligibility is generally limited to a select group, commonly physicians, executives, and other highly compensated employees, and NAH decides who qualifies.
The two accounts look alike on a statement and behave very differently under the surface. The differences matter most on the way out.
| NAH 401(k) | NAH 457(b) | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 deferral limit | $24,500 plus catch-ups | $24,500, separate from the 401(k) |
| Employer match | 100% of your first 5% | None |
| Whose money is it? | Held in trust for you | Remains an NAH asset until paid; subject to NAH's general creditors |
| Age 50 catch-up | Yes | No; a special catch-up may apply in the final three years before retirement |
| 10% early withdrawal penalty | Generally applies before 59½, with exceptions | Does not apply |
| Roll to an IRA later? | Yes | No; paid out under the plan's election rules and taxed as ordinary income |
457(b) asset treatment as described in NAH's published benefits guide and under IRS rules for nonqualified deferred compensation plans.
An election worth planning early: your 457(b) payout election. A nonqualified 457(b) cannot roll to an IRA, so the money comes out on the schedule you elect, taxed as ordinary income when paid. Elect poorly and years of careful deferrals can land in a short window of top-bracket income. This form deserves a plan behind it, well before a retirement date is on the calendar.
The HSA: spend it or invest it?
If you are on the HDHP medical plan, NAH puts money into your health savings account for you: $500 when you enroll, then $20 every pay period, roughly $1,000 a year. Part-time employees budgeted for 24 to 29 hours qualify as well.
The HSA is the only account in the tax code with three layers of advantage: contributions go in pre-tax, growth is untaxed, and withdrawals for qualified medical expenses come out tax-free. From there, two reasonable paths exist. Spending the account on current medical costs uses pre-tax dollars for bills you would pay anyway, and in a tight-budget year or a high-expense year, that is exactly what it is for. The alternative is to pay routine costs out of pocket and let the balance ride: it rolls over every year, it is yours if you ever leave NAH, and it can be invested, gradually building a dedicated tax-free fund for healthcare in retirement, often one of the larger expense categories retirees face. Which path fits comes down to cash flow, health costs, and time horizon. After 65, the funds can be used for any purpose without penalty, taxed as ordinary income.
One timing rule if retirement is near: HSA contributions must stop once Medicare begins, and NAH's own guide recommends stopping up to six months before you enroll in Medicare or file for Social Security to avoid tax complications.
Consulting on the side? Your ceiling just went up.
If your NAH paycheck is not your only income, keep reading. Locum or per diem shifts elsewhere, medical directorships, telehealth work, chart review, expert consulting, teaching, or a side business that has nothing to do with medicine: 1099 income of any kind changes your planning picture. Having a 401(k) at the hospital does not close the door on that income. It opens another one.
Even after maxing the NAH 401(k), you can open a SEP IRA funded from your self-employment earnings. The deferral limit you used at NAH applies to you personally, but SEP contributions are employer contributions from your own separate business, and that business gets its own cap. For 2026, roughly 20% of net self-employment earnings, up to $72,000. On $100,000 of net consulting income, that is in the neighborhood of $18,000 to $20,000 of additional tax-advantaged savings, as an illustration only. SEPs are also simple: no annual filing, inexpensive to open, and fundable as late as your tax filing deadline, including extensions, so even income already earned this year is still in play. Depending on the numbers, a solo 401(k) is sometimes worth comparing, since its employer contribution works similarly and Roth options exist.
Side income also raises the questions W-2 employees never had to answer: quarterly estimated taxes, which expenses are actually deductible, whether an entity structure makes sense, and how the qualified business income deduction applies. This is where coordinated tax planning earns its keep, because the consulting income, the SEP, the 457(b) deferrals, and your NAH withholding all land on the same return.
If retirement is close, sequence before you sign
For employees within a few years of leaving NAH, the accounts stop being savings questions and become sequencing questions. A short checklist we work through with clients:
- The 457(b) election. Decide the payout schedule with your full retirement income picture in front of you, not under deadline pressure in your final weeks.
- The ages 60 to 63 window. The enhanced catch-up allows up to $35,750 of 401(k) deferrals per year in exactly the years many people are at peak earnings. Four high-savings years, easy to miss.
- The HSA cutoff. Plan the stop date for contributions before Medicare or Social Security begins, and decide whether the balance gets spent or preserved as your retirement medical fund.
- The legacy pension. Hired before July 1, 2000? You also have a legacy NAH pension administered through Principal. Locate it and inventory it; the survivor election gets its own section below.
- Withdrawal order. How the 401(k), the 457(b) payout, and Social Security timing interact determines your tax brackets for a decade. The order is a decision, not an accident.
Hired before July 2000? The pension maximization question
If your NAH career started before July 1, 2000, you have a legacy NAH pension administered through Principal, a plan closed to anyone hired after that date and listed quietly in the back of the benefits guide's contact pages. At retirement it asks one deceptively simple question, single-life or joint-and-survivor, and the answer is permanent.
A joint-and-survivor option continues income to your spouse but permanently reduces the monthly benefit. An alternative some retirees evaluate, often called pension maximization, is electing the higher single-life payout and using part of the difference to purchase life insurance, with the death benefit intended to replace the survivor income. Whether that route comes out ahead depends on the plan's actual reduction factors, your age and health, what coverage genuinely costs, and how long it must stay in force.
Sometimes the insurance route wins the math; sometimes the plan's survivor option is the better deal. Because the election is irrevocable, it is worth running both sets of numbers, with real insurance quotes in hand, before signing anything.
We work with employees of northern Arizona's major employers on exactly these questions, the same way we have written about the decisions facing NAU employees and Gore associates. Our approach is a coordinated one, connecting the accounts, the tax return, and the retirement income plan through a single process rather than handling each piece in isolation.
Talk Through Your NAH Benefits
Bring your questions about the 401(k), the brokerage window, the 457(b), or your consulting income. We are independent of Northern Arizona Healthcare, and the conversation carries no obligation.
Start a ConversationFrequently Asked Questions
Does Northern Arizona Healthcare match 401(k) contributions?
Yes. NAH matches 100% of the first 5% of pay you contribute, and the match is 100% vested immediately. The plan is administered by Transamerica, and all NAH employees are eligible from their date of hire.
Can NAH employees choose their own 401(k) investments?
Yes, two ways. You can build from the plan's core fund menu, and the plan also includes a self-directed brokerage window through the Schwab Personal Choice Retirement Account (PCRA). The PCRA can be managed by you directly or by an independent advisor you authorize, with the money staying inside the 401(k). Confirm availability, transfer limits, and fees through the Transamerica participant portal.
Who is eligible for the NAH 457(b) plan?
NAH determines eligibility. Because NAH is a nonprofit, its 457(b) is a nonqualified plan generally limited to a select group, commonly physicians, executives, and other highly compensated employees. Eligible employees can defer up to $24,500 for 2026 in addition to their full 401(k) contribution.
Can I contribute to a SEP IRA if I already max out my NAH 401(k)?
Yes, if you have self-employment income such as consulting, locum or per diem shifts, medical directorships, or an outside business. SEP contributions come from your own business and are separate from the 401(k) limit. For 2026, they can reach roughly 20% of net self-employment earnings, up to $72,000.
How much does NAH contribute to the health savings account?
For employees enrolled in the HDHP medical plan, NAH contributes $500 when you enroll in the HSA plus $20 per pay period, roughly $1,000 per year. Temporary full-time employees and ACA full-time-equivalent enrollees are not eligible for the NAH contribution.
What is pension maximization?
Pension maximization is a strategy some retirees evaluate when electing a pension payout: choosing the higher single-life benefit instead of a reduced joint-and-survivor option, and using part of the difference to purchase life insurance intended to replace the survivor income. Whether it comes out ahead depends on the plan's reduction factors, the retiree's age and health, and the actual cost of coverage, and pension elections are irrevocable, so both options should be compared with real quotes before electing. For NAH, this applies to the legacy pension through Principal for employees hired before July 1, 2000.
Is the NAH benefits guide different for physicians?
NAH publishes a physician version and an all-employee version. The 401(k), 457(b), and HSA provisions are substantially the same in both. The physician guide adds items specific to that group, such as All Purpose Leave and individual disability insurance through Unum.
Sources
Northern Arizona Healthcare, 2025 Benefits Guide: nahealth.com
Northern Arizona Healthcare, 2025 Physician Benefits Guide: nahealth.com
IRS, 401(k) Contribution Limits: irs.gov
IRS, IRC 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plans: irs.gov
IRS, SEP Plan FAQs: irs.gov
IRS, Publication 969, Health Savings Accounts: irs.gov
Charles Schwab, Personal Choice Retirement Account: schwab.com
This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Plan provisions are drawn from Northern Arizona Healthcare's published 2025 benefits guides and other publicly available information as of the date of publication, with contribution limits updated to reflect IRS figures for 2026. Individual plan terms may differ and are subject to change; the official plan documents govern. Employees should review their current plan documents and Summary Plan Descriptions and confirm eligibility, brokerage window availability, and distribution provisions with the NAH Benefits Team or plan administrator before making elections. Babb Financial Group has no affiliation, endorsement, or referral relationship with Northern Arizona Healthcare or Transamerica and has written this article for educational purposes only. The opinions contained herein are subject to change without notice as well as the facts surrounding any of the material mentioned.
