Current Events > I'm not signed up for any preventable care or flex account at work

(+) Yeah! (+)

Is anyone here signed up for these kind of benefits?

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I would be if i worked

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Like, no insurance plan at all? Or just no HSA/FSA?

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I'm on the healthcare plans but not on those flex plans where they take some of your money every pay check so you can use it as extra funds for medical issues.

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I did it because I knew I would be using it

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if you know you're going to have a set amount of medical expenses per year, the HSA is nice because you don't pay taxes on that money. however, you need to be careful about not putting "too much" into it.

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Veggeta_MAX posted...

I'm on the healthcare plans but not on those flex plans where they take some of your money every pay check so you can use it as extra funds for medical issues.

For sure. I'd recommend it, especially if your employer matches, most usually do.

HSA - This is basically a tax shelter. You can put a set amount per paycheck and it will just gradually build. However, you can only spend it on a medical/dental/health related expenses.

FSA - Similar tax effects I believe. The difference with this one is, the money you put in will expire at the end of a given year. However, you have a much larger variety of things you can spend this money on, whereas the HSA is very limited. https://fsastore.com/ has a ton of things you can spend the money on that you wouldn't be able to use your HSA for.

I personally go with HSA to avoid the risk of forgetting to spend the money (or being "forced" to spend it all by the end of the year since it doesn't roll over). I put $20 per paycheck in there and employer will match up to $420/yr. Currently got around 2.5k in there. It's just a safety blanket more or less. Like a small rainy day fund on which you don't have to pay taxes in the event of some minor health incident.

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I've had a FSA account for the last few years but I'm going to drop it next year. I don't have any chronic conditions and don't take any meds so most years it's a struggle to use the funds before they expire.

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Fishstick posted...

I only use the health insurance through work.
The other things don't make a difference to me. I make enough money that I can save on my own for medical issues.

I get this, but for this year in particular I had thousands in orthodontic work that I knew I'd be paying for. I was careful to understand it and it's probably saving me a few hundred dollars in taxes.

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Fishstick posted...

I only use the health insurance through work.
The other things don't make a difference to me. I make enough money that I can save on my own for medical issues.

You outta look into an HSA though. You can continue saving exactly as much as you want for health stuff, but it goes directly into a tax shelter AND most reputable companies will offer a match up to a point.

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