Immense Dependent care savings plan failure, lost $5k

[Anonymous]

OP you are a dumbass. Plain and simple.

[Anonymous]

No one to blame but yourself...what does your spouse have to say? I would be pretty f'in livid if my spouse lost $5k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP you are a dumbass. Plain and simple.

And she wants to make sure everybody at her company knows it!

[Anonymous]

sorry, this sucks
the 'good' news is that it 'cost' you less that $5k because the funds were put in tax free.
not much you can do about it, unf--

[Anonymous]

My husband did the same, if it makes you feel better. He also forgot to fund his 401k. At all. Rough year for us tax-wise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP you are a dumbass. Plain and simple.

And you're a lovely person.

[Anonymous]

Why not just create an outlook calendar item to remind yourself?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one to blame but yourself...what does your spouse have to say? I would be pretty f'in livid if my spouse lost $5k.

If your spouse said she made a huge mistake and was super angry with herself you would ... be livid and emphasize that it was her fault? Sounds like an unpleasant marriage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not just create an outlook calendar item to remind yourself?

Yes I have done this going forward.

[Anonymous]

Ugh.

Another thing to be aware of...we lost money this year in our dependent care because I stupidly didn't notice that the benefits are only usable for kids up to age 12. For years it's always been put in the max without thinking about it. But, in 2016 DS turned 13 right before the summer and so his camp expenses couldn't be covered and with part of DD's camps being sleepaway we ended up losing about $1k.

[Anonymous]

The deadlines are set by the IRS, so there is no wiggle room. You could ask for reminder emails or online access to accounts,though.

[Anonymous]

If you completely forgot to file for this reimbursement, there's absolutely no way that $5,000 is THAT important to you.

[Anonymous]

OP, there should be a plan document that outlines the appeal process. But the appeals are for claims that are denied, not for forgetting to submit claims at all.

It does seem odd that your company doesn't offer an online account. I would follow up on that. The rules for running these programs are pretty specific so it would be highly unusual for the company to run the program in-house.

There are also no laws governing reminders to use your funds. I do agree that it is the employee-friendly thing to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one to blame but yourself...what does your spouse have to say? I would be pretty f'in livid if my spouse lost $5k.

If your spouse said she made a huge mistake and was super angry with herself you would ... be livid and emphasize that it was her fault? Sounds like an unpleasant marriage.

PP...i am a female actuallt, and if my husband made a mistake that cost me $5k, yes I would be livid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh.

Another thing to be aware of...we lost money this year in our dependent care because I stupidly didn't notice that the benefits are only usable for kids up to age 12. For years it's always been put in the max without thinking about it. But, in 2016 DS turned 13 right before the summer and so his camp expenses couldn't be covered and with part of DD's camps being sleepaway we ended up losing about $1k.

We were in the same situation but we submitted anyways and got reimbursed. I don't think they check that thoroughly.