6 work benefits you're overlooking that could save you thousands

Employee benefits can be confusing, complex, and not fun to talk about.

As a result, they're often overlooked or ignored — but if you're not taking full advantage of your benefits, you're leaving money on the table.

Many employers have a three-week long open enrollment period — generally in the fall — in which many of these benefits are available to select, so it's important to be aware of your company's enrollment window.

(This is different from the open enrollment period offered by HealthCare.gov).

"These three weeks are when employees make some of the biggest purchasing decisions of the year," says Britta Meyer, CMO at consumer-directed benefits administrator WageWorks. "But what we're finding is that people are not paying attention. People are spending more time planning vacations or holiday shopping than they are selecting benefits that are affecting themselves and their families for the entire next year."

It's worth it to put in research and talk to your human resources department to understand the scope of what's available to you.

Start by taking the time to look into these six underutilized, yet incredibly valuable, benefits that could save you thousands of dollars each year:

SEE ALSO: Americans are zeroing in on a loophole that can be used to save more for retirement

1. 401(k) match

In many cases, employers offer a 401(k) match program, in which your company will match whatever contribution you put towards your 401(k) up to a certain amount.

It's essentially free money, yet US workers are failing to take advantage of at least $24 billion in employer retirement matches each year, Reuters reports.

If you have an employer match, calculate how much you need to contribute to get the full match. If you can afford to have that amount taken out of your paycheck and still meet your financial obligations, do it.

You can set up your account so that the contributing money is sent directly to your 401(k) account, meaning you'll never even see it in your paycheck — if you don't see the money, you'll learn to live without it. (Same goes if you're contributing to your 401(k) without a match.)

2. Healthcare flexible spending account (FSA)

A healthcare flexible spending account is a pre-tax benefit account you can use to cover a variety of healthcare products and services, from acupuncture and physical therapy to vaccines and over-the-counter medicine (see the full list of eligible expenses).

You can put up to $2,550 of tax-free money into this account in 2015, and save about 30% on healthcare expenses with the tax break, WageWorks reports.

Note that if you leave your job, any money leftover in your FSA stays with your employer. Also, if you don't spend all of the money you contributed at the beginning of the year, you can only carry over up to $500 at the end of the year, so it's important to choose your annual contribution carefully.

3. Dependent care flexible spending account

If you have younger children, dependent care FSA's are worth considering. This account works very similarly to the healthcare FSA, in that you can contribute pre-tax money, but is specific for dependent care services, such as preschool, summer camp, daycare, or before and after school programs.

In some cases, you'll receive a debit card from your company to use towards services such as daycare and summer camp. If you're paying a nanny or babysitter, you can pay them with cash and then apply for reimbursement.

"It is probably the single most underutilized benefit," says Meyer. "Employers offer it quite frequently, but people are not taking advantage of it."

Similarly to healthcare FSAs, a dependent care FSA is an annual account, and the money you contribute must be used within the plan year. Some companies will offer a grace period of up to two and a half months at the end of your plan year to spend the remaining money.

 

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