I received a newsletter, one of many that I get in my email inbox about the top inventions of the decade. The top invention profiled was the Ipod from 2001.

It is amazing how far we have come in just the past 10 years. At Christmas time when the Wii craze was still going on, several of us talked about how exciting it was for us to receive the Atari game system and the whole two games that you could originally play on it. Now you can download games to the Wii system that I played in my early teens.

The world is moving ahead and one can only wonder what the next 10 to 20 years will bring in the form of technology. Although I am a huge fan of change, because I believe it is what makes us stronger, I know that some things will stay the same. I digress to employee benefits.

Recently we rang in a new year, which meant in December human resource personnel and small businesses may have been scrambling to get their benefits in order for 2010. The company I work for, BASE, offers a great benefit program to it’s employees, such as group health care, a cafeteria plan and an HRA. It doesn’t get any better than that for an employee.

As I made my election for my flexible spending account, I had to determine what medical expenses I may have for 2010. Heck if I know??? But if you participate, you do have to pre-determine your amount for the year. What does this mean? It means that I have to guess what I am going to spend, it is taken out of my paycheck pre-tax and if I encounter a medical expense, I pay the expense, submit a claim to our administrator and then the funds are returned to me. Sounds so simple doesn’t it? IT IS! Even for me being a single individual it provides me tax savings that I would not otherwise get if I did not participate. Even on $500, I will likely save at least a third of that in taxes. What better way to save on medical, dental and vision expenses than to have Uncle Sam help pay for the expense.

Obviously I understand the concept of tax advantaged employee benefits because I work for a company who also administers these types of plans and has for over 10 years. BASE offers a BASE HRA, BASE 125 Cafeteria plan and BASE HRA+. We have a plan that can fit any employer and/or employees need to help with the cost of medical. You say you don’t have any medical expenses? Of course you do, you just don’t think about it on a daily basis.

I just went to the dentist in December and received my bill for $110. I went to the eye doctor a couple of days ago and had to pay a $25 co-payment. So, I know that if I have these expenses, so may you!

Whether you are a business owner or an employee, check out what BASE has to offer at http://www.baseonline.com. Change the way you think about your medical expenses and let Uncle Same help you pay for them. Take advantage of what has stayed the same for many years, the tax savings you are eligible for.

Shawndi Filby                                                                                         BASE - VP Business Development and Training