http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexible_spending_account - short answer, no. It's an employee benefits program administered by the company. It's similar to how a 401K is an employee benefit program, where-as an IRA is a separate personal matter.
Retirees have it different: your tax rate on medical expenses is calculated as a percentage of your total income. If you actually have medical expenses that would warrant an FSA for anyone younger, it is highly that the expenses already are more than 7% of your income (retirement fund + social security, plus interest in the bank on cash that might have been from, say, sold property or other inheritances like spouse life insurance). That being the case, your medical expenses are already tax-deductible, so the FSA is pointless.
Of course, there's always that lower middle-class buffer range from hell, where your income doesn't qualify you for some benefits, while your expenses make it impossible to pay for some things - like parents paying for college: their income puts the student out of range for most gov benefits, but they have costs in the family that make it so they can't pay for the education either.
In those cases, talk to a financial planner, 'cause that's there job: to know how to get around these things so you don't starve.
no subject
Retirees have it different: your tax rate on medical expenses is calculated as a percentage of your total income. If you actually have medical expenses that would warrant an FSA for anyone younger, it is highly that the expenses already are more than 7% of your income (retirement fund + social security, plus interest in the bank on cash that might have been from, say, sold property or other inheritances like spouse life insurance). That being the case, your medical expenses are already tax-deductible, so the FSA is pointless.
Of course, there's always that lower middle-class buffer range from hell, where your income doesn't qualify you for some benefits, while your expenses make it impossible to pay for some things - like parents paying for college: their income puts the student out of range for most gov benefits, but they have costs in the family that make it so they can't pay for the education either.
In those cases, talk to a financial planner, 'cause that's there job: to know how to get around these things so you don't starve.