Pre-Tax Benefits Don’t Have to be Scary

It’s that time of year again! The leaves are changing color, the air is getting cooler, and ghosts, goblins, and witches are getting ready to come out and play. But, there’s one thing that doesn’t have to be scary this Halloween —your pre-tax benefits!

Commuter benefits, flexible spending accounts, dependent care, and health savings accounts are just a few of the great employee benefits available to help you save money and reduce stress. Before you go out trick-or-treating, let’s take a closer look at some spooktacular employee benefits!

Commuter Benefits are Sweet

Commuting by public transportation can save you money on gas as well as wear and tear on your car. And with commuter benefits, you can set aside up to $270 per month pretax ($280 per month in 2023) to pay for your commute. You carry over unused funds from month-to-month. If your needs change or you have built up a balance, you can adjust or stop elections while continuing to use your existing balance. You can select from a mass transit account and a parking account. If you choose to have have both expenses, you must make separate elections for each.

So whether you take the bus, the train, or even ride a broom to work, commuter benefits can help you save money and reduce stress.

FSAs are Frightfully Easy

A Flexible Spending Account (FSA) account allows you to have pre-tax deductions for certain medical and dependent care expenses. For a medical FSA, these funds can be used to pay for copays, deductibles, prescriptions, and other out-of-pocket medical expenses. And because the funds are set aside pre-tax, you can save up to 30% on your eligible medical expenses. An FSA is an easy way to use your pre-tax funds, but don’t forget to spend them or you risk losing the funds at the end of the year.

Don’t be Scared of Dependent Care

A Dependent Care FSA (DC FSA) is a great way to save money on eligible child care expenses. DC FSAs allow you to set aside up to $5,000 per year pre-tax to pay for child care expenses such as daycare, babysitters, and after-school programs. This benefit can help working parents save hundreds of dollars per year on child care costs. There are also programs, like Kinside, that make finding child care for your little ghouls and goblins a cinch. If you’re a working parent who is looking for a way to reduce your child care costs, a DC FSA is a fang-tastic option!

Howling Good HSAs

A Health Savings Account (HSA) is a tax-advantaged account that can be used to pay for eligible medical expenses. HSAs are available to people who are enrolled in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). With an HSA, you can contribute up to $3,650 per year (or $4,650 if you’re age 55 or older). And because the funds in an HSA are tax-free, they can help you save hundreds of dollars on your eligible medical expenses. The best part of an HSA is that the money is always yours! There is no use-it-or-lose-it like in an FSA; the HSA funds follow a stow-it and grow-it approach.

No Tricks Just Treats

Don’t let employee benefits scare you this Halloween! There are plenty of great pre-tax benefits that can help you save. Commuter benefits, flexible spending accounts, dependent care accounts, and health savings accounts are just a few of the benefits available to help you make the most out of this spooktacular season! So before you go out trick-or-treating, make sure you’re taking advantage of all the great employee benefits your company has to offer.

Happy Halloween!