BASE® Lifestyle Spending Account
Overview
BASE® Lifestyle Spending Account allows employers to customize a post-tax spending account to pay for eligible expenses that promote physical, financial, and emotional well-being to their employees.
Benefit to Employer:
Retention & Recruitment.Allows them to offer an innovative benefit that helps more effectively atract and retain talent.
Incentive.
Encourage healthy behaviors that increase employee productivity and reduces insurance costs.
Benefit to Employee:
Flexibility.Gives them the freedom to choose and find expenses that meet their lifestyle and interests.
Well-Being.
Promotes a healthy lifestyle (emotionally, physically, and financially).
Lifestyle Spending Account Eligibility
The BASE® Lifestyle Spending Account is available to all businesses who want to help promote healthy habits and the overall well-being of their employees. It is a form of wellness benefit for the employer that wants to help their employees pay for the products and services to create a healthy lifestyle.
Lifestyle Spending Account Examples
- Athletic & exercise equipment
- Gym, health club, spa, & fitness studio memberships
- Ftiness classes
- Personal Trainers
- Fitness Trackers
- Entry fees, such as marathons
- Passes, such as ski & golf
- Nutritional Supplements
- Home purchase expense reimbursement
- Financial Advisor
- Financial Planning Services
- Financial Seminars & classes
- Indentity Theft Services
- Non-Medical Counseling Services
- Retreats, such as leadership or spiritual
- Camping Supplies
- Meditation
- Personal Development Classes
- Annual Park Pass
- Hunting & Fishing Licenses
Frequently Asked Questions
Any employee can use these accounts, regardless of their full- or part-time status. They do not have to be a part of their employer's group health plan. Employers can also offer these accounts in a tiered approach based on employee status.
LIfestyle Spending Accounts are a way for the employer to offer yearly, monthly, or payroll-funded post-tax dollars to employees. Employers simply elect to add the account to your benefit offering, designate the amount to contribute per employee, and determine limitations to set for specific service types. Employees can access the funds in the form of a debit card or get reimbursed through check, direct deposit, or payroll.
They do not currently have any tax advantages. They are funded by the employer, on a post-tax basis, and used funds are considered taxable income for employees.