Flexible Spending Accounts

Cool, I lost you already. 

These are called HSAs, MSAs, HRAs, FSAs, HDHPs.  My inspiration to write this comes from this link.

There, I truly lost you.  I rock.

The problem with Flexible Spending Accounts (beyond having another financial acronym) is that you’re giving stressed out tired employees one more thing to do, one more piece of paper to manage, and the perceived bother of managing that paper does not outweigh the perceived savings they can achieve.

If you’ve targeted CPAs you’re in luck, they will take probably take advantage.  If you’re targeting anyone else, consider it luck if they do take advantage.

Flexible Spending Accounts save people money.

If it’s your job to help people use their Flexible Spending Accounts, help them understand, and repeatedly reinforce, what’s in it for them (WIIFT?  WIIFU?).

An HR person telling me to use my Flexible Spending Account and providing me with endless handouts about it never worked.

Hearing directly from my manager how much he saved with 2 kids in daycare, and how easy it was to set up and use, DID WORK.

But it didn’t stick.    NOPE.  (And at base I’m a video editor who thrives on monotony…I should be taking moar paperwork to a lobster dinner.)

My manager’s Flexible Spending Account success was just one story.  It wasn’t repeated.  BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE USED IT!!!

Training programs for Flexible Spending Accounts have continuously been “Here’s the information.  Now do it.”  To be successful they need to have multiple success stories, and they need repetition!  And why not toss in a gaming element as well?  Show off how much employees are saving with their Flexible Spending Accounts.  Compete.  Celebrate.  Win stupid prizes.  Have something to show for it!

And make a big difference in employees lives because they WILL save money through their Flexible Spending Accounts….that you educated them all about through a personal, extended release strategy.

I’m Scott.  I help the people at corporations and organizations create web based training and eLearning tutorials.  Specifically, I help you write it, I create the video and graphics that go with it, and I help you put it all together.

 Scott Bell