EOY HSA contribution question

[Carpediem]

I initiated a HSA contribution at the end of Dec but Optum Bank didn't deposit the contribution until Jan 4. Does it still count as a 2020 HSA contribution?

I think the answer is 'yes - you can contribute to 2020 until Apr 2021' but I thought I should confirm with people smarter than me.

Thank you.

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, as long as you identified it as a 2020 contribution. Although initiating the contribution in 2020 should have made that clear as 2021 contributions would not have been allowed then. Surely the HSA account online status shows which year it was applied to.

Yes, you have until April 15 to make a 2020 HSA contribution.

 

[Carpediem]

Looks like I'm okay, audreyh1. Do you agree? The following is a screenshot from the Optum Bank transaction register.

 

[zinger1457]

I also use Optum for my HSA, another way to confirm is to look at the Dashboard page when you login. It will show the current contributions and contribution limits for 2021. If that contribution was applied to 2021 it would show there, it looks to me like you'll be OK.

 

[LOL!]

One has until tax deadline to make HSA contributions, so please do not worry about this.
From the 2019 Publication 969:

Form 8889. Report all contributions to your HSA on
Form 8889 and file it with your Form 1040, 1040-SR, or
1040-NR. You should include all contributions made for
2019, including those made from January 1, 2019,
through April 15, 2020, that are designated for 2019.

 

[Carpediem]

Thank you, everyone, for the replies. It does appear that I am good for 2020. Appreciate the help!

 

[audreyh1]

Looks like I'm okay, audreyh1. Do you agree? The following is a screenshot from the Optum Bank transaction register.

Yeah - looks like it’s assigned to 2020 to me. Do they have a total for your 2020 contributions somewhere?

 

[Carpediem]

I thought I had all my HSA questions answered, however, I came across another one that seems a bit weird to me.

My 2020 HSA account is with Optum, which was associated with my ex-employer's health plan so I didn't have any fees. Now that I'm off COBRA and on ACA, I opened a new HSA account with Fidelity. My plan was to roll the Optum HSA to Fidelity HSA after all transactions had been processed at the end of 2020.

Looking at the Optum HSA rollover form it mentions: "HSA rollovers or transfers will be applied to the calendar year in which the funds are received". Is that the standard? Is this true?

My plan was to max out the Optum HSA at the end of 2020, roll it over to Fidelity at the start of 2021, and max out 2021 later in the year. It appears that may not be possible.

 

[cathy63]

I thought I had all my HSA questions answered, however, I came across another one that seems a bit weird to me.

My 2020 HSA account is with Optum, which was associated with my ex-employer's health plan so I didn't have any fees. Now that I'm off COBRA and on ACA, I opened a new HSA account with Fidelity. My plan was to roll the Optum HSA to Fidelity HSA after all transactions had been processed at the end of 2020.

Looking at the Optum HSA rollover form it mentions: "HSA rollovers or transfers will be applied to the calendar year in which the funds are received". Is that the standard? Is this true?

My plan was to max out the Optum HSA at the end of 2020, roll it over to Fidelity at the start of 2021, and max out 2021 later in the year. It appears that may not be possible.

That statement on the Optum rollover form doesn't make any sense to me, but I think it's irrelevant because they're talking about rolling money into an Optum account and you want to roll it out. It will probably be easier to start this process from the Fidelity side.

We had a pretty long thread on rolling funds into a Fidelity HSA and a few people talked about Optum there: https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f38/fidelity-offers-individual-hsa-accounts-94781.html

 

[Carpediem]

Thank you for the link to the previous discussion, cathy63. It was very interesting and helpful. As a result of some of the points made within it, I have decided to keep my Optum account since it allows me to invest in VG funds with no/low fees. I will use my new Fidelity HSA for 2021 contributions.

 

[audreyh1]

I thought I had all my HSA questions answered, however, I came across another one that seems a bit weird to me.

My 2020 HSA account is with Optum, which was associated with my ex-employer's health plan so I didn't have any fees. Now that I'm off COBRA and on ACA, I opened a new HSA account with Fidelity. My plan was to roll the Optum HSA to Fidelity HSA after all transactions had been processed at the end of 2020.

Looking at the Optum HSA rollover form it mentions: "HSA rollovers or transfers will be applied to the calendar year in which the funds are received". Is that the standard? Is this true?

My plan was to max out the Optum HSA at the end of 2020, roll it over to Fidelity at the start of 2021, and max out 2021 later in the year. It appears that may not be possible.

Initiate the transfer at Fidelity. Don’t worry - they will be treated as prior contributions. I had no problem with Fidelity. Only contributions that I made through Fidelity appeared on my tax forms from Fidelity. Contributions made to other accounts appeared on tax forms from those accounts. They aren’t combined.

Fidelity has very low cost index funds FWIW.

 

[SecondCor521]

Thank you for the link to the previous discussion, cathy63. It was very interesting and helpful. As a result of some of the points made within it, I have decided to keep my Optum account since it allows me to invest in VG funds with no/low fees. I will use my new Fidelity HSA for 2021 contributions.

I like Vanguard investments and Fidelity HSAs and zero fees.

So I have a Fidelity HSA with VTI and BND. So far no fees at all. None.

 

[audreyh1]

We have an annoying issue. We transferred all funds from HSA Administrators a couple of years ago. I thought we'd zeroed out and closed the accounts.

Well, last Jan we both got statements which showed $0.21 in each account. I forgot about it. Just got the statement again.

What a pain. I guess we'll just have to reimburse ourselves for something simple.

But we are both locked out of our accounts.

Ugh - I guess I have to call!!!!

 

[RunningBum]

We have an annoying issue. We transferred all funds from HSA Administrators a couple of years ago. I thought we'd zeroed out and closed the accounts.

Well, last Jan we both got statements which showed $0.21 in each account. I forgot about it. Just got the statement again.

What a pain. I guess we'll just have to reimburse ourselves for something simple.

But we are both locked out of our accounts.

Ugh - I guess I have to call!!!!

For 42 cents I'd just ignore them. Or would that cause headaches at estate settling time?

 

[RunningBum]

I initiated a HSA contribution at the end of Dec but Optum Bank didn't deposit the contribution until Jan 4. Does it still count as a 2020 HSA contribution?

I'm assuming the answer is yes as others have said. But can I suggest you make your contribution early in the year rather than at the end? Unless you have cash flow issues, I like getting the contribution from my taxable accounts to the HSA to grow tax free as soon as possible. I'd hate to forget this nice benefit of having an HSA eligible medical plan, plus it would avoid any end of year confusion like you had here.

Whenever I first have a chance to look at finances in the new year, the HSA contribution is one of the things I do. I've always done it in the first week.

 

[audreyh1]

For 42 cents I'd just ignore them. Or would that cause headaches at estate settling time?

Well, I'm going to get tired of receiving two statements every Jan.