Health Savings Administrators - new custodian

[easysurfer]

Just got a postal letter today that Health Savings Administrators (I know many here use them) is gonna use HSA Bank as their custodian starting in August. I think this is good news and I felt a weak area with them was their statements. Plus, looks like come tax (or is it a penalty? ) time, we probably won't have to wait so long for the 1099-SA form to arrive.


Health Savings Account - HSA Administrators

 

[MichaelB]

This is news. I use HSA Bank now. What would be the advantage of using HSA Administrators instead of opening an account with HSA bank?

 

[easysurfer]

This is news. I use HSA Bank now. What would be the advantage of using HSA Administrators instead of opening an account with HSA bank?

Does HSA bank allow for 1st dollar investing in Vanguard funds? That's the main attraction to many of HSA Administrators. Rather than having to have, say $2000 in checking before investing in funds, the 1st dollar gets invested.

 

[Onward]

easysurfer, thanks for the heads up.

 

[easysurfer]

easysurfer, thanks for the heads up.

You're welcome. I went ahead and registered my new checking account with HSA Bank.

I probably won't use the checking account (it's okay there to have a zero balance), but the online access should allow me to look at statements and tax info with their online banking.

 

[Onward]

I notice their annual fee for an HSA acct has just gone up to $45.

 

[easysurfer]

I notice their annual fee for an HSA acct has just gone up to $45.

thx. I didn't even notice that.

 

[MooreBonds]

You're welcome. I went ahead and registered my new checking account with HSA Bank.

I probably won't use the checking account (it's okay there to have a zero balance), but the online access should allow me to look at statements and tax info with their online banking.

Unless you have some special deal with HSA Bank, their standard is to charge something like $2.25/month if you have a savings account with a balance below $3k or $5k cash.

I have an HSA account with them, but had been maxing out every year since HSAs came out, and transfer all cash into a TD Ameritrade investment account (but keep about $40 in cash to slowly deplete as I pay the $2.25/month PLUS an extra $3/month for the luxury of having an investment account...but it's probably the only company I know of that lets you maintain a true brokerage account to buy anything you want).

The sad(funny?) thing is, my returns over the past 5 years have been phenomenal with my HSA investment account, and just average with all of my other accounts. If only that had happened with my ROTH instead of my HSA!

 

[easysurfer]

Unless you have some special deal with HSA Bank, their standard is to charge something like $2.25/month if you have a savings account with a balance below $3k or $5k cash.

I have an HSA account with them, but had been maxing out every year since HSAs came out, and transfer all cash into a TD Ameritrade investment account (but keep about $40 in cash to slowly deplete as I pay the $2.25/month PLUS an extra $3/month for the luxury of having an investment account...but it's probably the only company I know of that lets you maintain a true brokerage account to buy anything you want).

The sad(funny?) thing is, my returns over the past 5 years have been phenomenal with my HSA investment account, and just average with all of my other accounts. If only that had happened with my ROTH instead of my HSA!

I don't have the letter from HSA Administrators in front of me (and too tired/lazy to go to my filing cabinet and get it), but if my memory hasn't failed me, I think the minimum balance is waved for HSA Administrators customers that get transfered from the current custodian.

I beleive regular HSA Bank customers invest via TD Ameritrade. But HSA Administrators customers that get transfered can invest directly into Vanguard similar to how they do presently.

 

[easysurfer]

Okay... I went ahead and re-read the letter I got from HSA Administrators. Yes, it directly says there is no charge to have a zero balance for those switching over from their old custodian to HSA Bank.

The change is mainly for those who use the checking/debit card feature of their HSA (from old custodian Fulton Bank to HSA Bank). For me, except for making check contributions presently made out to Fulton Bank, I assume beginning Aug 1, they'll be made out to HSA Bank. I really don't use the checking/debit card feature.

I suppose one now can carry a partial HSA balance on HSA Bank checking and a partial HSA balance on Vanguard funds. Then move dollars back and forth and use the debit/checking account to pay qualified medical expenses. But that seems like too much work to me -- one extra account to deal with.

 

[kbuelter]

The main difference between HSA Administrators and HSA Bank is that with HSA Bank you must maintain a minimum balance in the checking account (I think it's $2,000) and not with HSA Administrators, and HSA Bank does not have Vanguard Mutual Funds and HSA Administrators has 22 Vanguard funds to choose from (10 Admiral class).

 

[NYCO]

The main difference between HSA Administrators and HSA Bank is that with HSA Bank you must maintain a minimum balance in the checking account (I think it's $2,000) and not with HSA Administrators, and HSA Bank does not have Vanguard Mutual Funds and HSA Administrators has 22 Vanguard funds to choose from (10 Admiral class).

That's not true if you have HSA Administrators with HSA Bank as the custodian. Any money I put into HSA Bank gets swept over to my vanguard funds at HSA Administrators the next day which is the way I want it. HSA Bank is a little easier to adjust automatic and one-time deposits into the HSA. I always show a $.01 account balance at HSA Bank.

 

[MooreBonds]

The main difference between HSA Administrators and HSA Bank is that with HSA Bank you must maintain a minimum balance in the checking account (I think it's $2,000) and not with HSA Administrators, and HSA Bank does not have Vanguard Mutual Funds and HSA Administrators has 22 Vanguard funds to choose from (10 Admiral class).

Not true! With HSA Bank, for an additional fee (I think $3/month), you get an investment account at TDAmeritrade, in which you can buy virtually any stock/bond/mutual fund...which might also offer commission-free Vanguard (and other) ETFs (not sure on that, but verify).

Sure, the $3/month additional fee sucks, but after several years of maxing out my HSA, my investment account dividend income far more than offsets the $3/month fee.