Understanding Risk Tolerance: A Guide for Parsons Employees Navigating Retirement Changes

Healthcare Provider Update: For Parsons, the primary healthcare provider is the UnitedHealthcare plan, particularly significant as it is one of the largest insurers in the country, alongside others that may service Parsons employees depending on their locations. As we move into 2026, healthcare costs are expected to escalate dramatically due to a combination of factors affecting the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace. Reports anticipate substantial premium increases, with some states seeing hikes of over 60%. This surge is primarily driven by deteriorating medical cost trends and the looming expiration of enhanced federal premium subsidies, which could result in out-of-pocket premium payments rising by an average of over 75% for approximately 92% of marketplace enrollees - a situation that poses significant financial challenges for individuals relying on ACA coverage. Thus, Parsons employees are advised to consider these developments carefully as they plan their healthcare for the upcoming year. Click here to learn more

The world of investing is very subjective--the investment plan that’s right for you depends largely upon the level of comfort that you have when it comes to risk. We'd like our clients from Parsons to remember that you can’t completely avoid risk when it comes to investing, but it's possible for you to manage it.

There are two aspects of risk tolerance for Parsons employees to consider: (1) the capacity of your investment plan itself to absorb losses, and (2) how comfortable you are personally with risk. The first aspect can be quantified--the more flexibility your investment plan has when it comes to potential loss, the more risk your plan can tolerate. For example, as we’ve discussed, a long investment time horizon may allow you to take on more risk than a short time horizon.

'You can’t completely avoid risk when it comes to investing, but it is possible for you to manage it..'

The second aspect, how comfortable you are personally with risk, is more of an emotional measure, and depends on many factors, including your objectives, life stage, personality, and investment experience. Some investors are comfortable with a high degree of risk, while others can tolerate only minimal risk. Individual risk tolerance is an important factor for Parsons employees in deciding which individual investments are appropriate for them, as well as how their investment dollars should be allocated among different investment classes.

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Investors are typically grouped into three categories for purposes of discussing risk tolerance: aggressive (those who have a high degree of risk tolerance); moderate (those willing to accept some degree of risk), and conservative (those who are risk averse).