Nice Surprise!

[Walt34]

I have a HSA from my last job (it wasn't voluntary) and they issued a Visa debit card to the account. I left this job over two years ago and I'd had no idea of how much was in the account (I know, my bad) but figured it was in the "few hundred $" range since the amounts withheld at the time were small and the last time I looked at in on the company's web site it was ~$350. I guess they didn't update it after I left the company's employ. We have pretty good health insurance so prescription and Dr. copays are usually in the $5-$10 range, if any, and I've been using the HSA debit card for those.

Out of curiosity I called the 800# on the card and asked what the balance was so imagine my surprise when the nice lady told me it was a bit over $2,600! At the rate I'm going through it this HSA is going to last a long time.

A late Christmas present.

 

[LOL!]

They are probably charging you $5 a month in fees and you don't even know it. Surprise!

 

[Senator]

Out of curiosity I called the 800# on the card and asked what the balance was so imagine my surprise when the nice lady told me it was a bit over $2,600! At the rate I'm going through it this HSA is going to last a long time.

Or one ER visit...

 

[W2R]

Walt, what a nice surprise! Anytime when unexpected money falls into someone's lap like that, I think it is simply great.

 

[Walt34]

Or one ER visit...

Actually, no. Our HI is pretty good and Medicare is primary for me. Before Medicare started an ER visit was fully covered if admitted and if not then it used to be $50 copay. I think Medicare covers it fully now though.

But the premiums for 2016 will be a tad over $700/month. That covers me and DW.

 

[MichaelB]

Walt, what a nice surprise! Anytime when unexpected money falls into someone's lap like that, I think it is simply great.

Ditto

 

[Walt34]

I was doing some reading on exactly what HSA funds can be used for. Apparently now that I'm 65 I can use the funds for anything I want to, although I'd have to pay income tax on anything not a qualified medical expense, but not the 20% penalty. I'm going to call the administrator tomorrow and find out more about this. And I can use it to pay Medicare premiums - I didn't know about that and have been paying OOP. Dang!

And I was told at the time that it could only be used for my medical expenses, not DW's. But according to what I'm reading and the IRS pub. 502, I can, so that's another question.

Further, I want to know about rolling it over to a local bank so I'll have better control over it. They don't send monthly or even quarterly statements so I would have no way of knowing if the card number had been stolen until the verification form showed up in the mail.

 

[gerntz]

I had $6-7K in mine when I retired 4 years back, but paying our Medicare premiums with it before going on SS used it up pretty quick & it ran out this year. Glasses & contacts took good chunks too.

 

[Fermion]

I have around $35k in ours but we don't use it. I think of it like a Roth, figuring that it will be tax free if used for medical expenses. My understanding is you can take out previous payments you made with other money at any time, so it is also somewhat like an emergency fund.

 

[jabbahop]

I have around $35k in ours but we don't use it. I think of it like a Roth, figuring that it will be tax free if used for medical expenses. My understanding is you can take out previous payments you made with other money at any time, so it is also somewhat like an emergency fund.

I have started thinking that we might use our HSA as a self funded long term care solution. We can contribute the max until Medicare and not touch it. It could be a substantial sum at age 80+. It won't help much if we have an early LTC need but pretty good for longer term cases. Are others considering that option?


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