HSA Advice

[sengsational]

I use HSA Authority. Low fees (flat $39/year), good selection of Vanguard and non-Vanguard funds.

I use elfcu.org, formerly eli lily cu, which is free if you have a balance of $2,500 or more. But they charge you $25 to move money to TDAmeritrade in order to invest in something other than a bank account.

 

[Life2]

TD Ameritrade vias HSA fees

From a forum member here I signed up with HSA Bank and it links to TD Ameritrade for investing. Found some interesting stats on HSA use.... $37 billion is in HSA accounts mostly in cash. Only $5.5 billion invested in anyway. Another research report had only 3% of HSA money being invested. Most people simply use HSA's as churn accounts to pass through for tax break them use immediately for medical needs. 30% stated they use it all each year.

Hello,
I'm new to the forum and do have the HSA via HSA Bank. I want to start investing, but unfamiliar with the fees. Can you share your experience and expertise on the fees schedule listed?
Thanks,
L.

 

[Mulligan]

Life, It is pretty easy. You will set up a linked account from HSA Bank to TD Ameritrade. Then you transfer funds from HSA to TD. Once funds settle you trade through the TD account. I never even open up my HSA acct except for yearly deposits. You will just go to TD and trade through it like a normal brokerage account. I only by and sell stocks so I do not know mutual fund fees (if they are different). It is $6.95 a trade.

 

[2017ish]

Hello,
I'm new to the forum and do have the HSA via HSA Bank. I want to start investing, but unfamiliar with the fees. Can you share your experience and expertise on the fees schedule listed?
Thanks,
L.

following up on Mulligan's post....

Vanguard ETFs are no-fee trades. (I think that is true of all vanguard etfs?)

You pay $5.50 a month in fees unless you maintain a CASH balance of $5000 a month. http://www.hsabank.com/~/media/files/fees_s1 If you are just starting out, this can be steep; DW and I figure that we will likely make more in the $5000 extra in investments than we pay in fees. Others would be more cautious and keep the deadweight cash in the account.

 

[Mulligan]

2017, I wonder if I am on a different fee schedule as mine is (or was through last year anyways when I last checked) $3 a month. I just keep bare minimum of $1100 in. My 6% dividends provide more income than leaving 5k in to avoid fees.

 

[Fedup]

You need to keep the ETF for 30 days for it to be free. Something I learned painfully. But they gave me free trades to make up for it. I did make some money on non free ETF and now I'm back to the free ETFs. I hope that's clear.

 

[2017ish]

2017, I wonder if I am on a different fee schedule as mine is (or was through last year anyways when I last checked) $3 a month. I just keep bare minimum of $1100 in. My 6% dividends provide more income than leaving 5k in to avoid fees.

Just pulled DW's account up--she has the $3 and $2.50 monthly charges that were on that fee schedule. FWIW, I've seen others report getting different charges too.

 

[dsp0725]

According to Humana, my health insurance plan isn't a high deductible health plan.

However, when looking at the IRS website and compare their numbers to my plan, I do qualify. What should I default to

 

[zinger1457]

According to Humana, my health insurance plan isn't a high deductible health plan.

However, when looking at the IRS website and compare their numbers to my plan, I do qualify. What should I default to

If your health plan is not a HDHP then you definitely don't qualify for an HSA. You should also be aware that not all HDHP's qualify for a HSA. Besides needing to meet the deductible and out of pocket limits an HSA plan cannot have any co-pays that start before the deductible is paid off.

 

[dsp0725]

Hi everyone!

Thanks for all the replies. Turns out we do not have a HDHP so I can't do an HSA this year. Is there anything else we should considering doing?

I max out my 401k and Roth IRA everyear. I'm 32 and my wife is 29. She doesn't have a Roth or TIRA setup.

[FONT=&quot]If we set her up with a TIRA this year & contribute the maximum amount, the amount owed with our tax return this year would be $452 (down from $1,312).[/FONT]

 

[RunningBum]

Hi everyone!

Thanks for all the replies. Turns out we do not have a HDHP so I can't do an HSA this year. Is there anything else we should considering doing?

I max out my 401k and Roth IRA everyear. I'm 32 and my wife is 29. She doesn't have a Roth or TIRA setup.

[FONT=&quot]If we set her up with a TIRA this year & contribute the maximum amount, the amount owed with our tax return this year would be $452 (down from $1,312).[/FONT]

Don't make such decisions based solely on tax impact for this/last year. If you think you're going to be in a lower bracket in retirement, do it. Otherwise it probably doesn't make sense as you're just deferring taxes, and as the account grows with the market your tax burden grows, and it can also make more SS taxable when you have to start taking distributions. A Roth usually makes a lot more sense in that case. But we don't know your situation and there are very few things that are always a good idea no matter what. An HSA, if eligible, happens to be one of those few things, IMO. The tIRA/Roth decision isn't, as that depends on your situation.