Your use-it-or-lose-it dates, carryover cap, and the daily spend rate that zeroes the balance
Not sure which option you have? Check your plan's summary plan description or ask HR. Most plans offer either grace period or carryover; employers pick one, never both. Grace period means the classic calendar-year deadline of March 15.
| Milestone | Strict Plan | Grace Period Plan | Carryover Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last day to incur expenses | Dec 31, 2026 | Mar 15, 2027 | Dec 31, 2026 |
| Unused balance after deadline | Forfeited | Forfeited | Up to $680 rolls to 2027 |
| Typical run-out for old claims | ~Mar 31, 2027 | ~Jun 15, 2027 | ~Mar 31, 2027 |
| 2026 election limit | $3,400 (2027 carryover cap: $680 for 2026 plan years) | ||
Run-out dates vary by plan; 90 days after the deadline is the common default. Only expenses incurred before the incurring deadline qualify during run-out; it's for paperwork, not new spending.
| Category | Eligible Ideas | Typical Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Prescription glasses, sunglasses, contacts, exam | $100 – $600 |
| Dental | Cleaning, fillings, night guard, orthodontia down payment | $150 – $2,000 |
| OTC meds | Pain relievers, allergy meds, antacids (no prescription needed since 2020) | $10 – $50 each |
| Prevention | Blood pressure monitor, thermometer, first-aid kits, SPF 15+ sunscreen | $25 – $100 |
| Devices | Reading glasses, hearing aid batteries, compression socks | $20 – $150 |
Costs are commonly published price ranges, not quotes. Stock-up limits vary by merchant, and insurance-covered items need the plan to process them first.
A health flexible spending account is front-loaded: you elect an amount in open enrollment, get all of it on January 1, and pay it back through payroll over the year. The catch is the deadline. Whatever you don't spend by the cutoff goes back to your employer. This calculator turns your plan rules into concrete dates and a spending pace.
Days left = last day to incur expenses − today. Grace-period plans incur through March 15 of the following year (2.5 months past year-end); carryover plans stop at the plan year end but roll up to $680 (2026 cap) into next year; strict plans stop at year-end, full stop. Daily spend target = balance ÷ days left. Run-out, the window to file claims for expenses you already incurred, is commonly 90 days after the deadline.
Set your plan year end (most are December 31, but fiscal-year plans run on other dates), your remaining balance from your FSA portal, and your plan's option. The daily spend target is the number to beat: any day you spend more than it, you're eating into the balance faster than the calendar is.
September 15, 2026. Your FSA portal shows $712 left in a grace-period plan ending December 31. Days left to incur: 107. Daily target: 712 ÷ 107 = $6.65 a day, or $46.58 a week. A pair of prescription glasses ($180) plus two months of allergy refills clears about a third of it in one order.
If the plan had been carryover instead, the same $712 would leave $680 rolling into 2027 and only $32 forfeited, which changes the strategy completely: no December scramble, just a slightly smaller 2027 election. And on a strict plan, all $712 dies on December 31, making the daily target the whole game. Same balance, three plans, three very different Decembers, which is why the first question to ask HR is which option yours runs on.
Flexible spending dollars are use-it-or-lose-it at the end of the plan year, usually December 31. You typically must incur eligible expenses by the last day of the plan year. Depending on your employer's plan, you may instead get a grace period until March 15 of the following year, or a carryover of up to $680 (2026 plans) into the next year. Plans can offer one or the other, not both.
An optional 2.5-month window, ending March 15 of the year after the plan year, during which you can still incur new expenses against the old balance. For a plan year ending December 31, 2026, the grace period runs through March 15, 2027. After that, unspent money is forfeited. Grace period and carryover are mutually exclusive; check your summary plan description for which one yours uses.
For 2026 plans, up to $680 of unused health FSA money rolls into the next plan year. The cap is indexed at 20% of the annual election limit, which is $3,400 for 2026 (carryover was $660 in 2025). Anything above the cap is forfeited, and employers don't have to offer carryover at all.
They sound alike and do different jobs. The grace period extends when you can incur new expenses (until March 15). The run-out period only extends when you can submit claims for expenses you already had, typically 90 days after the plan year ends. A plan can have a run-out period alongside either a grace period or carryover.
Stock up on eligible items that don't expire: prescription glasses and contacts, sunscreens (SPF 15+ broad-spectrum), pain relievers, first-aid kits, blood pressure monitors, and dental work you've been postponing. Divide your balance by days remaining; $712 spread over the 107 days from mid-September to December 31 is about $6.65 a day. Schedule any dentist or eye-doctor appointments before slots fill in December.
Unless you elect COBRA continuation for the FSA (yes, FSAs have COBRA too), your balance generally vanishes at termination. You can't cash it out. One silver lining: expenses incurred before your last day are still reimbursable during the run-out period. Some employees schedule glasses or dental work in a final week of employment for exactly this reason.