Flexible Spending Accounts: How to Save Money with Your Pre-Tax Dollars

By Carrie Beth Brown, Health Guide Monday, November 12, 2012

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Living with chronic health issues like Rheumatoid Arthritis is expensive. My article last month focused on how to save money on your prescriptions. This month, with so many people getting ready to enroll in benefits for the next year, I wanted to talk about a great way to save money on EVERY aspect o...

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Lene Andersen, Health Guide

11/14/12 1:05pm

I had no idea bout FSAs. Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Carrie Beth and in a very user-friendly way (i.e., didn't make my brain melt ). I'm sure it will be very helpful for many in our community!

Carrie Beth Brown, Health Guide

11/15/12 10:00am

Thanks Lene. Flexible Spending Accounts really are a great way to save money on everything health care related, but HR departments rarely give anyone enough information to realize how useful they can be. I was handed a slip of paper that didn't make much sense to me many years ago, so I looked everything up and was amazed at how much info they weren't telling people! Now I try to share the info with everyone I can because it really can help save money. I used the full amount we were allowed at my company every year and it dropped me down into a lower tax bracket, so I saved even more money and got a nice big tax refund. I hope my post helps everyone realize its worth looking into. Even my Mom uses it, and she's very healthy. But it still saves her money on the few prescriptions she uses and the routine care visits. It's a free benefit, so why not take advantage of it! :)

Lene Andersen, Health Guide

11/15/12 10:30am

absolutely! And great tip on how it can change your tax bracket, too!

Leslie

11/17/12 8:15am

As an accountant I know the value of pre-tax dollars and you explained this very well in a friendly, easy to understand way. Good job! Since my RA diagnosis I have used ALL of my health care savings by June! And exceeded my out of pocket limit! My insurance company has got to be loving me! Anyway I guess I will increase my account amount for next year closer to the max trying to cover more of my expenses. I am hoping that since I am now on a biologic I won't have quite as many blood tests and xrays and mris. That's the only reason I'm not going to the max. It can be hard to choose because if don't use it, you lose it. Last year though, I didn't use it for doctor co-pays, just meds, tests and labs.

Carrie Beth Brown, Health Guide

11/17/12 9:33am

I hear you Leslie and thanks for the compliment too. I've been electing the max possible for my company for 5 years, which is $3000/year and it's all gone by June as well. Only good thing was when my company refused to let me work at home enough to keep my benefits, I had already used up the money and got 5 months where I didn't have to pay into the account. That helped soften the blow of losing the benefits a good bit. :) My biggest piece of advice is evaluate wisely how much you spend before you save it...even it's its just $100 you're still saving money!

Flexible Spending Accounts: How to Save Money with Your Pre-Tax Dollars

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