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When I retired the city I worked for was in the process of downsizing the fire department. They offered an incentive to help get rid of older guys like me who had put on rank and were receiving longevity pay and other benefits and were eligible for retirement. We cost the city more than more recent hires and by going I helped avoid the need to lay others off.

They offered to put $500 a month into an IRS approved health savings account until we reach medicare age. We have a number of mutual funds to chose to put the money in. I still have a few more years of this left. It is not taxed when they put it in and it is not taxed when you use it for a legitimate expense.

I also had been paying approximately $150 a month into a union fund for over ten years that was suppose to help pay for our health insurance after I retired. This fund now provides approximately $180 a month that I can use for health-care related expenses. However if we do not use the funds every month... they just go away. We have been using this money to pay for a dental and a vision plan both which have little value to us.

In the future we will use the union plan to pay for our “catastrophic” health insurance plan and use the health savings plan money for routine medical expenses.

https://www.medmutual.com/For-Individuals-and-Families/Health-Insurance-Education/Health-Insurance-Basics/Understanding-an-HSA.aspx