My husband and I have decided to take advantage of the Flexible Spending Account next year in hopes of saving some money.
As more people use Health Savings Accounts and as the year draws to a close, chances are they're looking to spend all of the money they’ve set aside.
The IRS lists all of the procedures and medicines you can use your money on.
You can pay for everything from eye glasses to chiropractic services. A couple of things that people often think are covered are not according to the IRS, like teeth whitening, massage therapy and vitamins (unless they are recommended by your doctor).
The Wall Street Journal put together some nice suggestions, as did the New York Times.
One thing to keep in mind--many of these plans give you until March 15 to use up all the money you’ve set aside. So check with your individual plan.
alexisd said on November 17, 2009 at 3:54 AM
Given the recent volatility of the stock market, it comes to question whether maintaining a stock investment is a good idea at all. Well it can be – it just depends on how well you manage your investment portfolio. If you buy low, and then sell high, like it's best to – you can see some handsome dividends. First, you want to invest in a proven performer, or a company whose products/services are in high demand, or will be. Obviously, heavily investing on a company specializing in underwater basket weaving isn't the best idea, is it? You can make money in the , but it has to be done carefully and prudently for it to pay off.
ziggy29 said on November 19, 2009 at 2:46 PM
Just a clarification here, if I may -- a true "Health Savings Account" (HSA) is not a "use it or lose it" thing -- it rolls over year to year, and is specifically tied to a qualifying high-deductible health insurance plan. The "flexible spending account" (FSA), also sometimes called the "medical savings account" (MSA), is the "use it or lose it" variety and those are the accounts for which enrollees want to start thinking about how to spend the balance of this year's contributions before losing it. Anyone who isn't sure which they have should probably check with their HR department. If it is the true HSA which doesn't forfeit the balance at the end of the year, they don't need to be in a rush to use up the account balance. It's pretty unfortunate that Congress saw fit to use such similar terminology because it causes so much confusion.