4 Ways to Get Free Money From Your Employer

Participate in the Retirement Plan

Most employers have instituted either a type of 401(K), 403(B), or IRA. The idea behind getting more “free” money out of this system is by allotting at least as much money as your employer would match; especially a great plan for those whose employers offer attractive percentages. For example, if you make $50K a year and put $1,500 in your 401(k) annually while your company matches you up to 6% of the annual salary, your employer will only give you $1,500. But, if you were to give $3,000 (or more), your employer will give you a total of $3000.
In fact, it is generally considered a good idea to put as much as possible into your retirement plan because you get to defer taxes on your immediate salary and because the salary you will get as a retiree will be much lower, the taxes taken out at the time will be lesser since your income will be in a lower tax bracket. Plus, there is always the chance that the taxes will be at much lower rates in the future.

Go for the High Deductible Insurance Plan + Health Savings Account

Going for a high deductible plan means that you will be saving a lot of money on paying the premiums; a great option granted you are healthy and do not have major chronic illness(es) as these plans require you to pay huge amounts for your medical bills before insurance coverage kicks in. For the most part, you want to get a plan that comes with a Health Savings Account (HSA); especially a great idea if your employer will match on contributions towards this account – however, they are not obligated to do so. These accounts practically work the same as a savings account and are 100% tax deductible. You want to put in the maximum amount annually allowed in this account; “HSA holders can choose to save up to $3,350 for an individual and $6,650 for a family (HSA holders 55 and older get to save an extra $1,000 which means $4,350 for an individual and $7,650 for a family)” (hsacenter.com). It’s one of the best ways to save money from going towards taxes and securing your future from any drastic medical emergencies that may occur (especially during retirement). Just keep paying small medical bills out of your own pocket!

Look into a Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

FSA account is one of the easiest ways to capitulate on tax free income. They are placed for medical or childcare expenses and all money put into this account is 100% tax deductible. All you have to do is calculate the estimated amount of money you would need for out of pocket health expenses and/or for dependent care; the maximum contribution limit for health care is $2,550 and $5,000 for dependent care. With all this tax free money set aside, all you have to do is make sure you put it to use because any money unused is considered forfeited – unless your employer gives a grace period. The trick here is to get as close to the estimate as possible so you can use the untaxed money righteously.

Look into Company Stocks

If your company is offering you stocks, see if you will get a discount or if your employer will match your contribution; this is one of the biggest/best perks. This is especially a great strategy if your company performs well in the market; being you are the employee, you will have better knowledge of how well, or not well, your company performs. Of course like any investment in stocks, you want to take the most precautions and perhaps might even want to cash out on a high note if possible; investing in your own company doesn’t have to be emotional bond. Diversification is the key when playing in stock market so you may not want to rely solely on your company’s stock for your stock market endeavors. It is usually advised that individual investments be less than 10% of your overall portfolio.
It should be kept in mind that although these ways are a great way to either get more money or more out of your money, you can minimally impact your social security savings because the portion of the money that would go into such service will now not be in lesser amounts overall.