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Health Savings Administrators - new custodian
07-02-2012, 02:29 PM
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#1
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Health Savings Administrators - new custodian
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
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"If only I had spent more time at work" ... from "Busy Man" sung by Billy Ray Cyrus
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07-02-2012, 02:41 PM
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#2
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Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,514
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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?
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07-02-2012, 02:46 PM
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#3
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 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?
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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.
__________________
Have you ever seen a headstone with these words
"If only I had spent more time at work" ... from "Busy Man" sung by Billy Ray Cyrus
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07-02-2012, 05:17 PM
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#4
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,934
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easysurfer, thanks for the heads up.
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07-03-2012, 05:35 PM
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#5
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Onward
easysurfer, thanks for the heads up.
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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.
__________________
Have you ever seen a headstone with these words
"If only I had spent more time at work" ... from "Busy Man" sung by Billy Ray Cyrus
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07-03-2012, 06:43 PM
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#6
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,934
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I notice their annual fee for an HSA acct has just gone up to $45.
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And if I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know.
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07-03-2012, 07:50 PM
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#7
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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thx. I didn't even notice that.
__________________
Have you ever seen a headstone with these words
"If only I had spent more time at work" ... from "Busy Man" sung by Billy Ray Cyrus
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07-03-2012, 09:39 PM
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#8
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: St. Louis
Posts: 2,179
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Quote:
Originally Posted by easysurfer
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.
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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!
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Dryer sheets Schmyer sheets
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07-03-2012, 10:56 PM
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#9
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MooreBonds
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!
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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.
__________________
Have you ever seen a headstone with these words
"If only I had spent more time at work" ... from "Busy Man" sung by Billy Ray Cyrus
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07-04-2012, 08:17 AM
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#10
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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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.
__________________
Have you ever seen a headstone with these words
"If only I had spent more time at work" ... from "Busy Man" sung by Billy Ray Cyrus
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11-26-2012, 11:20 AM
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#11
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Confused about dryer sheets
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 1
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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).
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11-26-2012, 02:40 PM
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#12
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Confused about dryer sheets
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 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).
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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.
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11-26-2012, 06:46 PM
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#13
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: St. Louis
Posts: 2,179
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 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).
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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.
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Dryer sheets Schmyer sheets
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