Comments on: Health Savings Account: How You Can Save Money with and Profit from It

By: Getting a HSA Account? | The Sun’s Financial Diary | A Personal Finance Blog on Saving and Investing

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:01:22 +0000

[...] pre-tax money to an HSA account to cover future medical expenses (check out my previous post on how to save money and profit from HSA). For my wife’s high deductible plan, the bi-weekly employee contribution is $33.85. [...]

By: » Weekly Roundup: I Want A Toyota Hybrid on Blueprint for Financial Prosperity

Sat, 08 Sep 2007 18:31:40 +0000

[...] Sun gives advice on how to save and make money with an HSA. [...]

By: MossySF

MossySF — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 17:50:17 +0000

HSA money can always be used for qualified medical. You just are limited from adding more money in if you are no longer covered by a high-deductible plan. After age 65.5, you can treat it like an IRA and use it for non-medical if you pay income tax on it. Non-medical before 65.5, you pay tax and penalty.

By: Luke

Luke — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 14:39:26 +0000

How is the HSA account handled after you leave your job? Can these funds be rolled over? Removed with a tax/penalty? Retained for other health insurance espenses?

By: Randall

Randall — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 12:17:49 +0000

I like HSA’s because the family right now is relatively healthy, and we can afford regular doctor visits w/o having to use the money in the account. That allows it to grow and grow tax-free. I’ve read a number of horror stories about retirees going back to work just to buy their medicine and I don’t want that to happen to me and the wife.

I figure if I can put into it now, and it grows for 25-30 years, that should cover anything other than catastrophic medical expenses by the time I’ll need it.

By: JB

JB — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 11:07:23 +0000

Just be sure not to confuse an HSA with a FSA (Flexible Spending Account). FSAs are subject to the “use it or lose it” rule!

By: MossySF

MossySF — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 08:50:42 +0000

My company just switched from a traditional healpth plan to a high deductible plan. Basically, the premium difference pays for fully funded HSA accounts for every employee with leftover savings. For a family, the funded amount is greater than the plan’s max out of pocket so there is a guaranteed surplus no matter how big the medical bills are. Single people have a max $650 liability but single people are usually young and will rarely have big medical bills.

By: Tight Fisted Miser

Tight Fisted Miser — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 03:55:16 +0000

I think by a HSA policy Foobarista is referring to a policy that is qualified to link to a HSA. When I purchased my individual health coverage a HSA qualified policy was $10 a month more than the same deductible plan that wasn’t HSA qualified. I passed on the HSA plan because my income is low enough that I won’t owe taxes anyway.

By: Posts I Enjoyed Last Week - The Sun’s Financial Diary - Accumulating wealth is like building The Great Wall, one brick at a time

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 19:30:37 +0000

[...] Flexo at Consumerism Commentary offers Another Form of Credit Card Arbitrage by taking advantage of Health Savings Account (HSA). And, you can indeed profit from HSA and here’s how. [...]

By: More on Health Savings Account from Kiplinger - The Sun’s Financial Diary - Accumulating wealth is like building The Great Wall, one brick at a time

Fri, 19 Jan 2007 16:20:50 +0000

[...] In late December I wrote a piece on how to use health savings account (HSA) to save money on health care in the future. Today, an article appeared on Kiplinger's Personal Finance website further illustrated the idea of using HSA as a financial planning tool rather than simply a health care account. According to the article, Now, people with family plans can contribute up to $5,650 for the year, regardless of their deductible (as long as they have a deductible of at least $2,200, which they need to qualify for an HSA). Individuals can contribute up to $2,850 but need only a deductible of $1,100 to qualify for an HSA. [...]

By: The Sun

The Sun — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 03:03:00 +0000

I am afraid I can’t answer your question. From the Treasury website, the only condition to have an HSA account is to have a high deductible health insurance policy and doesn’t say where that insurance policy comes from, either from employer or from a third party.

I think you may have a misunderstanding about HSA. I think HSA is not a POLICY. It’s just a savings account to help you pay the high deductible of your own health insurance policy (that’s why you can’t have more than the deductible in your HSA account) as high deductible can actually reduce the health care premium.

By: Foobarista

Foobarista — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 03:01:16 +0000

A question I’ve always wondered about HSAs is can one get “cheapo” high-deductible health insurance for the sole purpose of funding an HSA and taking advantage of its tax-deferring properties? That is, can you have traditional employer insurance _in addition to_ a high-deductible HSA policy that allows you to fund an HSA?

If you’re in a high income tax bracket, this could make sense, as I’ve seen supercheap HSA insurance that’s under $100/month.

By: Check Out The Carnival Of Personal Finance #81

Check Out The Carnival Of Personal Finance #81 — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 00:31:24 +0000

[...] Health Savings Account: How You Can Save Money with and Profit from It by The Sun’s Financial Diary. [...]

By: Mighty Bargain Hunter » Welcome to the Carnival of Personal Finance #81

Mighty Bargain Hunter » Welcome to the Carnival of Personal Finance #81 — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 05:16:26 +0000

[...] Sun’s Financial Diary bounces off some ideas for saving money and profiting by your Health Savings Account. Possibly the best of both worlds. [...]