It's all in the timing!

While we know that at All About Braces we offer an exceptional value to our patients (thus our tagline "Affordable Fees, Priceless Smiles), and are often one of the lowest cost providers in the marketplace, there is no alluding the fact that even with really low fees, for many families the cost of braces can be expensive.  We try everything we can to make it as easy to budget and afford as we can by offering things like zero percent financing and flexible payment options.  There is, however, another way that you can save yourselves a bundle on your braces.  That is by using a Health Savings Account (HSA-- or sometime called an FSA depending on the plan).  A health savings account is the perfect tool to help budget for orthodontia. With an HSA (which is usually offered by your employer) contributions can be withheld directly from a paycheck, and all contributions are removed PRE-TAX.  What that means to you is that you do not have to pay income tax on any of the money you spend from the HSA.  So, for example, if you pay $1,500 next year to your orthodontist (which we hope, of course, is us 8-)) out of your HSA and you normally pay 33% in income taxes, you would SAVE $500 in taxes by using the HSA.  I mention this in my post now because typically you CAN NOT sign up for an HSA anytime you wish, but rather, in most cases, once a year when your company has you choose your benefit plans for the upcomming year.  For most companies, that happens in the Fall of every year, so the time to think about this and start planning for it IS NOW.  The even better news is that if you are just planning on starting braces now, you likely can use the tax advantages from an HSA to help you save in BOTH 2014 AND 2015.  We can make payment arrangements that will allow you to maximize this benefit.  Hoping this little bit of advice will help many of you save a bunch of money!