Pimp Your Finances

I’ve been making better choices since I decided to turn my finances around, but I’m not perfect by any means.

Case and point? I recently chose not to participate in a medical flexible spending account, because I didn’t want to be hassled with a small amount of paperwork.

I call this falling for the laziness tax. It’s something that doesn’t affect the things I do or buy – just how much I pay for them.

How I threw away money

An FSA is an employer offered plan that lets you set aside money to pay for things like health or child care on a pre-tax basis. As a result, it’s cheaper for you, because it lowers your taxable income. If you set aside $1000, and your marginal tax rate is 25%, your tax obligation for the year would drop by $250.

A health FSA can use used to pay for a variety of medical and health expenses, including deductibles, doctor visits, prescriptions, and even some over the counter products.

There are two ways to access your money. Some products/services can be paid for directly with a special debit card. For everything else, you have to fill out a form and submit copies of the receipts you want to be reimbursed for.

How I was lazy

I participated in an FSA plan last year. While I was happy with the savings, I was irritated by the restrictions and the paperwork.

It was hard to use the card to pay for doctor’s visits, unless I waited until I was mailed the bill, then returned to the doctor’s office.

I had trouble using the card to pay for prescriptions and over the counter products, because none of the stores near me accepted it.

So when the time came to choose whether or not to sign up for the FSA again, I chose not to. Now I’m regret it, because I’m throwing away money by being lazy.

How much I wasted

The year I participated, I put $600 into my FSA (automatically deducted from my paychecks throughout the year). It was enough to cover my minimum deductibles, as well as other small expenses that might come up.

If I had set aside the same amount this year too, I would’ve saved $150 (according to a free calculator from United Health Care, one of the biggest FSA administrators)

It may not sound like much, but I basically turned down a 25% discount because I was too lazy to fill out paperwork for an hour every month or so.

Are you falling for the laziness tax?

There are all kinds of laziness taxes.

• Paying $5 in ATM fees instead of using an in-network ATM, or just getting cash back from a store
• Refusing to look into other cell phone, cable, internet, etc… companies just because you don’t want to change the status quo
• Getting hit with late fees on bills
• Not completing rebate forms
• Always buying the same brand of groceries at the same store, regardless of what is on sale
• Refusing to start a 401K /IRA because you feel overwhelmed by choices
• Choosing an inappropriate fund in your retirement plan because you don’t want to look into any options
• Always eating out, even when you could cook a better quality meal at home for much cheaper
• Buying albums / books in big chain stores instead of shopping around or buying them used
• Waiting until the last minute to book airfare

These are just a few examples out of an endless list.

What’s sad about the laziness tax is it does not improve our lifestyle or make us happier. We’re still making the same decisions, and still buying the same goods and services.

We’re just paying more than we have to, because we didn’t bother to plan first, or spend some time to save money later.

What laziness taxes are you falling for? What laziness taxes have you overcome?