Who is the best HSA custodian?

[tricky88]

A question for all of you savvy HSA holders out there: Who do you use/recommend as a custodian? For the past 5 years or so, I've used Bank of America, b/c 1) they charge no fees, 2) their HSA debit card works fine, 3) we use them for our regular checking account 4) they paid significantly above market interest rates.

However, two things are making us want to change. 1) Their interest rate has fallen to almost nothing. 2) The investment choices they offer are all high fee and terrible. Now that the market has fallen significantly, and our HSA balance has gone up through contributions and good health, I wouldn't mind investing a percentage of our HSA in equities or bonds.

Most of what I've found about HSAs seems to date back 5 or 6 years ago when they were in vogue. Most of the threads seem to be dead and outdated now, but I am sure things have changed since I set up our account with BAC.

Does anyone here have an HSA custodian they love? A company called "selectAccount" offers a "self-directed" account if your balance is over $10,000. They say it can be based at Charles Schwab (which would be great - they have most of our stock and retirement accounts). But Schwab's website makes no mention of being an HSA custodian. Info from 06 or so says specifically they do not do that.

Any ideas or advice? I've searched through old RE threads, but not found this question raised specifically/recently.

Thanks as always, -Tricky88

[easysurfer]

My HSA account is with HSA Administrators.

I like them because there because I can put all my money in Vanguard Funds as opposed to other places that equire some amount in a bank account before in funds.

On the negative, I think their website showing account information isn't that robust. It feels a bit cumbesome to use sometimes, plus when tax time comes (I reimburse myself each year, so need the 1099 form from them for filing), I can't download the statement from their site but have to wait by paper mail.

My entire HSA money is invested 100% in the Vanguard Wellington Admiral Fund.

Overall, I'm satisfied with them.

[DblDoc]

+1 for HSA Administrators. They, like most HSA custodians, keep sneaking the fees higher and higher but there are caps and once you have a substantial balance the total ER is tolerable. I invest 100% in the Vanguard TBM institutional fund as I use it as part of my retirement portfolio.

DD

[easysurfer]

If you wish to do the nitty gritty of searching and comparing online, here are a couple of sites:

Search for Health Savings Accounts (HSA) | Comparison Shopping for Health Insurance - Vimo

- HSA SEARCH

[Mulligan]

Not saying it's best, but I am very satisfied with Bancorp. If you have a 3k minimum or put x (don't remember number) in monthly you do not get charged any pesky fees. Have mutual fund options also. Free checks and debit card. Was very easy to set up probably because every time I called they answered immediately with a person who spoke american english that I easily understood. Interest rate won't get you rich at .8%, but I'm about to take the excess into mutual funds.

[travelover]

I don't keep much money in my HSA - I just run money through it when I have out of pocket expenses so that I can take the tax credit. I use Patelco CU and have been happy with them. Originally their fee was $1 a month, now it is up to $2 a month. I do all my own record keeping as far as receipts and they don't give me any grief like my previous HSA provider did. They provide all the necessary forms at tax time.

[zinger1457]

I started out with Chase HSA, it was the default for my employee HSA plan. The monthly fees were high so I switched to Wells Fargo, they drop the monthly fees as long as your balance is over $5K. They have a decent selection of funds to chose from but I really haven't taken the time to compare with other HSA plans.

[thooda]

Search for "fatwallet HSA" in google. There is a thread dedicated for HSA and HSA custodian options. I monitor that fatwallet thread every week for updated from members and latests news and rates.

I've had HSA since 2007. I have a HSA account with alliant credit union and HSA Adminstrators. As of right now 99% of my HSA contributions are investing in 2 Vanguard funds with HSA administrators. And, I use alliant credit union for Payroll deduction contribution and once maxed out for the year, I transfer from alliant to HSA administrator for investing. I believe alliant is offering 2%. If u live in Chicago u may be eligible to join alliant credit union. There are other ways(donating a small $ amount to local PTA). they have great checking, saving and loan rates too. I live in Kansas city and I've made alliant my primary financial institution even though I don't have physical branch in KC area.

[thooda]

Oh...also, I'm waiting for Fidelity to open their HSA custodian services to general public. As of now they offer HSA custodian services to employer HSAs only. my wife and i have our 401k, Roth Ira, 529 college savings with fidelity. For the last 2 years I've been bugging fidelity every 6 months to see when they'll open HSA custodian services to individual HSA account holders. I just get their cookie cutter reply that they are still evaluating and added my name to list of people interested in HSA services. I hope fidelity can realize soon and offer no fee hsa investing options like their IRAs.

[PaddyMac]

Our HSA is also at Wells Fargo. I think they insist on keeping some money in cash. We are trying not to spend it now so that we can build up a few years cushion.

[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thooda Search for "fatwallet HSA" in google. There is a thread dedicated for HSA and HSA custodian options. I monitor that fatwallet thread every week for updated from members and latests news and rates. I've had HSA since 2007. I have a HSA account with alliant credit union and HSA Adminstrators. As of right now 99% of my HSA contributions are investing in 2 Vanguard funds with HSA administrators. And, I use alliant credit union for Payroll deduction contribution and once maxed out for the year, I transfer from alliant to HSA administrator for investing. I believe alliant is offering 2%. If u live in Chicago u may be eligible to join alliant credit union. There are other ways(donating a small $ amount to local PTA). they have great checking, saving and loan rates too. I live in Kansas city and I've made alliant my primary financial institution even though I don't have physical branch in KC area.

Fat wallet is an interesting site. On the HSA info make sure you are looking at the date of the post, because some of those threads last for years! Some of those guys can squeeze a nickel out of a penny and are vigilant about it. I was reading one thread where they figured out a few years back they could buy I Bonds with their credit cards to get cash back to juice up their returns. They also were big on buying government dollar coins with credit card and then dumping them back in the bank pocketing the cash back. Government closed the credit card loophole down, though.

[tricky88]

Thanks to everyone for the replies, the tips, and the different admin. for me to check out. I appreciate the help.