Lifestyle Spending Account (LSAs)
What is a lifestyle spending account?
Not every employee has the same lifestyle needs. The Acrisure Lifestyle Spending Account gives you the flexibility to allow employees to spend benefit dollars on the things that matter most to them. From physical and mental health needs, to professional and educational development, to travel and entertainment, you have complete freedom to determine how your employees are able to spend their lifestyle spending account dollars.
How does it work?
Determine your budget. Decide how much you would like to spend per employee as well as how you intend to fund the accounts – the full amount up front or smaller amounts spread throughout the plan year.
Identify spending categories. Create your own unique program parameters – restrict the use of funds to certain types of purchases or leave it wide open. The choice is yours!
Communicate the benefit. Make sure your employees understand how lifestyle spending accounts work and how to use their account funds.
Key benefits of lifestyle spending accounts
Funding Flexibility
You can fund participant accounts to predefined amounts per employees, and set limits for specific types of services. Should employees’ needs change, you can easily add more dollars to the accounts.
Easy to manage
Lifestyle spending accounts decrease the administrative burden placed on your HR team to manually administer perk programs and you can rest easy knowing your program will always be IRS compliant.
Preservation of unused funds
Unlike cash or gift cards, you only pay for what your employees use. Any account funds not spent will be returned to you at the end of the plan year.
How is a lifestyle spending account different from other health benefit accounts?
Similar to health savings accounts (HSAs) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs), lifestyle spending accounts often have funds that are meant to be used for specific types of purchases. However, there are differences.
No tax benefit.
Unlike HSAs and FSAs, lifestyle spending accounts do not offer any tax advantages. You fund the accounts, and the funds are considered taxable income for your employees.
You control how funds are spent.
With HSAs and FSAs, there are restrictions on the use of funds, but these are typically set by the IRS. With lifestyle spending accounts, you create the program parameters. You can restrict the use of funds to certain types of purchases or leave it wide open. The choice is yours!
LSAs can help employers emphasize the impact lifestyles can have on employee health and wellness, Though LSAs don’t have to be health-specific, they can be a part of an effective employee wellness program, which have shown high returns on investment. With 81% employee adoption and Cards can be customized to employer logo. Some Common Expenses:
Physical Wellness
Athletic equipment & accessories
Gym & Spa memberships
Healthy food delivery or groceries.
Health Risk Assessment
Financial Wellness
Student Loan reimbursement
Utilities (internet, cell phone, etc.)
Home purchase reimbursement
Financial adviser/planning services
Emotional Wellness
Meditation classes
Counseling services
Health Risk Assessment & Wellness
Yoga & Barre