Choosing the right phone plan

The best phone plan for you can depend on your age, how you use your device and the number of lines. Here are solid, competitively priced plans for four profiles. (If you are not inclined to shop around, call your carrier and ask if there’s anything it can do for you. For example, the plan you originally signed up for may not be offered to new customers anymore, so you could be upgraded to a newer plan at your current price.)

Families: For a family of four looking for a combination of phone and plan deals, T-Mobile’s Magenta plan is a solid choice. It costs $35 per month per line, and it comes with 100GB of premium data and 5GB of high-speed hot spot data (after which the data slows to 3G speeds, but data use is unlimited). The plan also comes with a basic Netflix account.

T-Mobile currently has a promotion that offers to pay off eligible phones up to $1,000 if you switch to T-Mobile from another cellphone carrier by bringing your number over. Eligible subscribers include Verizon, AT&T, Spectrum, U.S. Cellular and more. The promotion is limited to five lines per subscriber, meaning your whole family could be reimbursed for each phone and number that is ported. Reimbursement is via prepaid Mastercards.

Bargain hunters: If getting the lowest price possible is your top goal, and you have a compatible phone you want to hang on to, take a look at Visible’s Party Pay.

Here’s how it works: Each family member signs up for their own service at $25 for the first month, with one family member creating the “party” and asking the rest to join. Once everyone is activated and has joined, the cost stays at $25 per line a month, and everyone is billed separately. Each person gets unlimited talk, text and data and 5GB of mobile hot spot data. Visible is powered by Verizon’s network. For more information, go to www.visible.com/ plan/party-pay.

55-plus: You have a couple of attractive options if you’re 55 or older. T-Mobile’s Unlimited 55+ Magenta plan includes a basic subscription to Netflix and is a bargain at $70 a month for two lines. The plan is similar to T-Mobile’s regular Magenta plan but shaves off $50 a month for two lines. And if you need a phone upgrade, you may qualify for a free Android

5G compatible phone if you sign up for financing.

Light users: Just need something to ring friends and the kids? Ting’s Flex account is

$10 a month, or $20 a month for two lines. Data is extra (and shared with other lines on your account); you pay $5 per gigabyte of data used. Ting uses the T-Mobile and Verizon networks.

Or consider Mint Mobile’s 4GB data

3-month plan. The cost is $15 a month per line, or a total of $90 for the first three months if you sign up for two lines. To keep the price at $15 a month per line, you have to choose a 12-month plan at the time of renewal for both plans.