Fidelity offers individual HSA accounts?

[JoeWras]

Thanks Audrey. I'm glad I didn't knee-jerk transfer to HSA Administrators after I retired. I considered it, got delayed, and the Fidelity option opened up.

Sounds like most transfers go pretty well, and HSA Administrators just takes a long, long time.

I think my current account agent will charge a termination fee too.

 

[Montecfo]

I'm not sure why anybody would care about an in-kind transfer for tax-free account. What am I missing?

Well, if you have to liquidate you are out of the market during the transfer, and in fact until you get the new positions established.

I personally would prefer not to do that.

I will stay where I am for now (HSA Bank and TDA) until that becomes possible. I would prefer to have it as a regular brokerage account as I am not really needing the "bank" part.

 

[audreyh1]

I'm not sure why anybody would care about an in-kind transfer for tax-free account. What am I missing?

In kind transfer was not an option. Had to liquidate.

 

[sengsational]

Off the precise topic, but on still on the Fidelity HSA, and something I experienced today...

DW created a Fidelity HSA within her Fidelity logon and transferred $4550 into it. All good.

For her brokerage, cash and IRAs, she had given me "Inquiry Access", so when I log on, I see these "authorized accounts" while logged in with my ID. This just saves a bit of effort to see everything in one place.

But the web site doesn't work when I tried it with the HSA (Account Features > Edit Authorized Access > Add Access > Inquiry Access > Fidelity Customer & SSN > Submit)

I just wondered if anyone else had any trouble with this. I tried it with Firefox and Chrome with the same result.


This failed on the day the HSA was created, and I reported it to Fidelity. They replied they couldn't reproduce it. Then I tried again today, and it still didn't work for me. I reported it again.

 

[EQMAN]

I can see my DW’s HSA I opened in December and she funded in January. You may need your DW go in and check her account and maybe grant you the access so you can see it.

 

[Masquernom]

I just started this process at Fidelity. I currently have an HSA with Health Equity. I already have a 401K at Fidelity.
I went online and opened the Fidelity HSA and requested a debit card. So far, so good. I next went to add a bank account so I could transfer in funds from my checking account.
Setting up the bank account connection online didn't work. Tried Sunday and Monday. Called Fidelity. The rep walked me through it again, of course it failed again. He said since I'm adding a credit union account, it probably wouldn't work online anyway. He said he'd notify their IT group about the problem. He said for small banks and credit unions you usually have to make the connection by mailing them a cancelled check.
I'll try again tomorrow online. If it doesn't work, I'll try the US mail.

 

[toddm]

I just started this process at Fidelity. I currently have an HSA with Health Equity. I already have a 401K at Fidelity.
I went online and opened the Fidelity HSA and requested a debit card. So far, so good. I next went to add a bank account so I could transfer in funds from my checking account.
Setting up the bank account connection online didn't work. Tried Sunday and Monday. Called Fidelity. The rep walked me through it again, of course it failed again. He said since I'm adding a credit union account, it probably wouldn't work online anyway. He said he'd notify their IT group about the problem. He said for small banks and credit unions you usually have to make the connection by mailing them a cancelled check.
I'll try again tomorrow online. If it doesn't work, I'll try the US mail.

Sounds familiar. I set up an HSA account for my wife and one for me. We have a joint checking account at a local credit union. I was able to link the checking account to my HSA, but not for hers. It was rejected because they use a service called EarlyWarning, which matches the name on the HSA account with the checking account holder's name. In this case, Early Warning only showed my name, not my wife's.

We called Fidelity and they referred it to IT. IT said that we would have to contact Early Warning. That was a complicated process, and even after that, Early Warning still doesn't show the account correctly. We contacted our credit union to see if they could fix the problem. They said they did, but it still doesn't work. Finally linked my wife's account with our joint Ally Bank savings account -- went through without a problem. It will be a little bit of a hassle to fund and get reimbursements, but I was tired of dealing with the issue.

 

[Masquernom]

Sounds familiar. I set up an HSA account for my wife and one for me. We have a joint checking account at a local credit union. I was able to link the checking account to my HSA, but not for hers. It was rejected because they use a service called EarlyWarning, which matches the name on the HSA account with the checking account holder's name. In this case, Early Warning only showed my name, not my wife's.

We called Fidelity and they referred it to IT. IT said that we would have to contact Early Warning. That was a complicated process, and even after that, Early Warning still doesn't show the account correctly. We contacted our credit union to see if they could fix the problem. They said they did, but it still doesn't work. Finally linked my wife's account with our joint Ally Bank savings account -- went through without a problem. It will be a little bit of a hassle to fund and get reimbursements, but I was tired of dealing with the issue.

I didn't get that far. It just bombed and gave me a screen that said, sorry this didn't work.

 

[Masquernom]

Had to mail in a cancelled check and printed form to link to credit union account for HSA. That surprised me a bit.

Next went to make the transfer of HSA from Health Equity to new Fidelity HSA using online form at Fidelity. Completed all of the online form questions. The last page said thanks for completing the form, now print the pre-filled out form and mail it in.

I'm just a little surprised that after opening the new Fidelity HSA online, everything has to be handled by US mail. Not really a problem, other than I guess it will take a lot longer, just surprised me.

 

[audreyh1]

Now Fidelity is showing year-to-date contributions against limits on the HSA account summary page which is very nice. It was sorely needed. It also shows prior year contributions letting you know you can still contribute.

I was actually griping about that here a couple of months ago. Were they reading this forum?

 

[fh2000]

I have total 3 accounts: one in Fidelity, and 2 outside of Fidelity. California taxes HSA account gains/interests like another after-tax brokerage accounts. In order to transfer those 2 accounts, I will have to liquidate both and pay CA tax, so I have been hesitating doing the transfer, while I am paying the monthly fees.

 

[Lawrencewendall]

We don't qualify as we have Tricare.

 

[Focus]

More than two years later, Vanguard has yet to follow suit by offering its own HSA product. The reasons for a shift to Fidelity are increasing.

 

[Maenad]

I thought Vanguard has one? https://personal.vanguard.com/us/whatweoffer/overview/healthsavings

 

[JoeWras]

I thought Vanguard has one? https://personal.vanguard.com/us/whatweoffer/overview/healthsavings

Read the second paragraph. Answer is NO.

Vanguard does not offer its own health savings account. However, there are a number of banks and other institutions that offer Vanguard funds for HSAs as part of their investment options. Banks, credit unions, insurance companies, and IRS-approved entities are generally the best places to look for an HSA custodian.

 

[JoeWras]

More than two years later, Vanguard has yet to follow suit by offering its own HSA product. The reasons for a shift to Fidelity are increasing.

Or at least to diversify to FIDO.

DW and I both have our 401ks in FIDO, which is darn near 1/2 our savings. So, we don't have all our eggs in one basket. And no need to do any moving to VG as VG has growing pains.

Nice thing is I can move my HSA (currently at some small firm) to FIDO since I have an account there. This is currently in process.

 

[fosterscik]

Or at least to diversify to FIDO.

DW and I both have our 401ks in FIDO, which is darn near 1/2 our savings. So, we don't have all our eggs in one basket. And no need to do any moving to VG as VG has growing pains.

Nice thing is I can move my HSA (currently at some small firm) to FIDO since I have an account there. This is currently in process.

Pretty much exactly what we do. At the moment all Roths and HSA at Fidelity (1/3), the rest at Vanguard. No plans to change. I like the idea of having distributed accounts to cover any black swan events at either of these two investment houses.

 

[audreyh1]

More than two years later, Vanguard has yet to follow suit by offering its own HSA product. The reasons for a shift to Fidelity are increasing.

Fidelity had already offered HSAs, just not to the individual investor directly- only through an employer.

 

[JoeWras]

So I started the process of opening up an HSA on FIDO and transferring from HealthEquity.

The process so far has been fairly easy. I was previously a 401k only member on FIDO from multiple Megacorps. I didn't find an easy way to open the HSA from netbenefits (their portal for Megacorp 401ks). However, I opened a tab in netbenefits. Then, I followed a link on this thread about opening an HSA and, bingo, I was logged in.

So I did the very easy process of opening an HSA. Unfortunately, my HSA transfer from HealthEquity requires sending in a paper form. I could not do it all electronically. However, as I wrote on a different thread about Vanguard, the actual process of opening the HSA at zero balance opened up the entire regular FIDO web site to me. Much nicer than Netbenefits. It took a few days for the full FIDO site to open up to me.

I'm awaiting the paper transfer progress and will update later.

 

[pb4uski]

More than two years later, Vanguard has yet to follow suit by offering its own HSA product. The reasons for a shift to Fidelity are increasing.

+1 We were true blue to Vanguard but have been drifting away as there are certain areas where they don't meet our needs. No HSA is one. Another is while they offer brokered CDs they are not competitive with CD credit union specials.

I saw in the news last week that they are planning on opening a private equity mutual fund... but at least initially it will only be offered to institutional and HNW clients.

I'm afraid that their focus on expanding advisory services and a private equity fund and not doing HSA is indicative of their drift away from retail investors and they they will eventually kill the golden goose.

If Fidelity can do a HSA then Vanguard should be able to.

 

[Focus]

+1 We were true blue to Vanguard but have been drifting away as there are certain areas where they don't meet our needs. No HSA is one. Another is while they offer brokered CDs they are not competitive with CD credit union specials.

I saw in the news last week that they are planning on opening a private equity mutual fund... but at least initially it will only be offered to institutional and HNW clients.

I'm afraid that their focus on expanding advisory services and a private equity fund and not doing HSA is indicative of their drift away from retail investors and they they will eventually kill the golden goose.

If Fidelity can do a HSA then Vanguard should be able to.

Absolutely. The HSA issue is only one of several that have popped up with Vanguard lately.

I'm starting to put my money where my mouth is. I've opened an HSA with Fidelity and am going through the process (involving printing a form and sending it via snail mail, unfortunately) of transferring my funds from UMB Bank, which has been less than stellar.

Next, I'll start looking at rolling over my Vanguard IRAs. I may have to stop there, since I don't want to convert my 401(k) into an IRA or trigger a taxable event with my taxable account funds.

 

[gwraigty]

Next, I'll start looking at rolling over my Vanguard IRAs. I may have to stop there, since I don't want to convert my 401(k) into an IRA or trigger a taxable event with my taxable account funds.

You won't trigger a taxable event if you can transfer the securities in kind.

 

[Focus]

You won't trigger a taxable event if you can transfer the securities in kind.

If, say, it remains in kind to transfer Vanguard Total Stock Market Index savings to Fidelity Total Market Index, then I'll definitely consider it. If on the other hand I'd have to hold my current Vanguard funds at Fidelity, then I'd rather not complicate things by doing that -- unless Fidelity is offering an incentive, which to my knowledge they aren't right now.

 

[audreyh1]

If, say, it remains in kind to transfer Vanguard Total Stock Market Index savings to Fidelity Total Market Index, then I'll definitely consider it. If on the other hand I'd have to hold my current Vanguard funds at Fidelity, then I'd rather not complicate things by doing that -- unless Fidelity is offering an incentive, which to my knowledge they aren't right now.

That’s not how transfer in kind works. You transfer the Vanguard shares to Fidelity, and it may be possible now that you can own Admiral shares outside Vanguard.

 

[gwraigty]

If, say, it remains in kind to transfer Vanguard Total Stock Market Index savings to Fidelity Total Market Index, then I'll definitely consider it. If on the other hand I'd have to hold my current Vanguard funds at Fidelity, then I'd rather not complicate things by doing that -- unless Fidelity is offering an incentive, which to my knowledge they aren't right now.

No, that's not an in kind transfer. See audreyh1's response below. I've also heard of Vanguard customers converting their mutual funds to ETFs before transferring the subsequent ETF shares to another broker.

That’s not how transfer in kind works. You transfer the Vanguard shares to Fidelity, and it may be possible now that you can own Admiral shares outside Vanguard.

+1