Author Topic: Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?  (Read 4371 times)

MissNancyPryor

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Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?
« on: October 20, 2019, 12:31:14 PM »
I first developed an HSA at MegaCorpSucks, a large national company, which I left this spring.  I then spent 4 months at a local company this summer before finally leaving the workforce to RE completely last month.  When I moved from Mega to Local I also transferred my HSA account from a big name administrator to theirs to keep everything in one place.  My intent and practice to date has been to stuff that HSA to the rafters and invest that money Vanguard funds along the way, using this as a non-taxable retirement vehicle like a Roth (I have not been eligible to contribute new money to a Roth for years and now without W-2 income I will still be ineligible; this is the weaker substitute).

I am not happy with the new local administrator.  They are very slow to respond to e-mails and insist on a ridiculous $2000 minimum in my cash account that can't be invested.  I also have this weird feeling that these jokers could simply fold their local tent one day and it would be an enormous hassle to get my money out of there. Their website feels cheesy, their monthly fee is a touch higher than other sites, and dammit, I am still waiting for a response to an e-mail I sent them 5 days ago.  Zip.  That alone makes me want to give them the heave-ho.  So I am looking at options and did review what Vanguard notes on their site for providers that offer their funds.       

Looking around I see that I can choose Bank of America as an HSA admin ($1000 min uninvested and a slightly lower monthly fee) and I also have an inquiry in at my local credit union to see if they have someone I can use.  There was another name on the VG site but their fees seem like a complete joke with monthly fees plus a quarterly gotcha cost.  Fuck that noise.  I am at the point that I would definitely consider making a change even if it means I don't have access to Vanguard funds.       

Now that you FIRE folks are untethered to a J.O.B., who do you use for HSA?  Did you roll it out of your provider for another option? 

Please include the min cash account and monthly fee if you can.  Thanks! 

MissNancyPryor

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Re: Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?
« Reply #1 on: October 20, 2019, 12:55:41 PM »
I went out to the wilderness and found that Fidelity offers an individual HSA.  No fees!  I don't see they have a minimum cash account-  that makes sense because they are not sweeping funds out to a brokerage; they ARE the brokerage.  Looks like I could easily transfer my existing local HSA from HokeyCo to Fidelity.  I wish Vanguard offered something like this but until they do it might be the best option. 

I may have found my answer.  Any experience with this?  Apparently it was a new service for Fidelity in 2019. 

Maybe this topic should be deleted, or maybe my fumbling around helped someone. 

It can soak out here to see if anything comes up or if anyone chimes in that it is good to keep up for information. 

Paul der Krake

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Re: Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?
« Reply #2 on: October 20, 2019, 01:03:37 PM »
I've had a Fidelity HSA since the first week they offered it, at some point in 2018.

It works as advertised. I have no complaints. I plan to make this one account my "forever HSA", periodically rolling over my balances from other HSAs of whatever employer I happen to be tied to at the moment.

Systems101

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Re: Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?
« Reply #3 on: October 20, 2019, 01:51:25 PM »
I've had a Fidelity HSA for some time now - my previous employer used them, so it's been years.  I was about to switch the funds to Lively (free individual accounts forever) when Fidelity dropped the fees.  So it hasn't moved out of Fidelity due to inertia.

I've never had problems, but then again, I've never done much other than dump money in.  I've had various other interactions with Fidelity not related to the HSA, and always have had a good experience.

terran

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Re: Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?
« Reply #4 on: October 20, 2019, 08:27:05 PM »
Another happy Fidelity HSA customer here.

Will

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Re: Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2019, 08:59:14 PM »
I'm with Lively and am 100% satisfied.  No fees and no minimums that I am aware of (I know mine is all invested).  And if you fund it with $1000 and this referral, we each get $10.   https://secure.livelyme.com/referral/invite/?referrersOwnerId=6b81c4a1-3be9-42f4-a5e3-d921af0a7354
« Last Edit: October 20, 2019, 09:03:05 PM by Will »

bacchi

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Re: Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?
« Reply #6 on: October 21, 2019, 08:26:38 AM »
I have Fidelity and SO has Lively. Both work great.

MissNancyPryor

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Re: Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?
« Reply #7 on: October 21, 2019, 08:36:44 AM »
Thanks for the feedback everyone.  I am making the change. 

It is great to once again have a financially like-minded group of people to ask about these things! 

Enigma

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Re: Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?
« Reply #8 on: October 21, 2019, 09:31:12 AM »
I had HealthEquity with one company and when I moved to another company transferred that to Fidelity.  No regrets.  As I see myself FIRE tomorrow I plan to keep it with Fidelity.

SachaFiscal

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Re: Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?
« Reply #9 on: October 27, 2019, 11:44:27 AM »
Thanks for posting about this. I hadn't even thought there was an option like this. I've been paying fees on my HSA account for a while now.  I will look into transferring it. Hopefully it is pretty easy to transfer?

Evgenia

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Re: Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?
« Reply #10 on: October 27, 2019, 02:41:02 PM »
Ours is with our credit union.

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?
« Reply #11 on: October 27, 2019, 03:28:54 PM »
Fidelity since they offered it.

EscapedApe

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Re: Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?
« Reply #12 on: November 05, 2019, 02:41:19 PM »
Has anyone had any experience with HSA Bank?

I'm about to switch to a HDHP, and HSA Bank is the bank that the new provider uses.

MissNancyPryor

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Re: Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?
« Reply #13 on: November 05, 2019, 05:09:55 PM »
That was the first place I had an account as dictated by the large company I worked for at the time.  They use TD Ameritrade for investments and the amount required to hold in the HSA Bank cash account was small; only like $100 if I recall right. 

Since it was linked to my employer they paid the monthly fee but on my own I would have had a small recurring charge.  I never used any of the funds for medical purposes so I can't comment on how easy it was to access. 

My impression of their main website is that it is kind of clunky but they send you over to TDA for investments so it is just an awkward speed bump rather than a major problem.  TDA is a mess on its own. 

Overall they were better than the second HSA firm I was with that I am moving away from now.         

Cali4en

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Re: Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?
« Reply #14 on: November 05, 2019, 05:14:18 PM »
We've always had ours with Saturna.  No fees if you park the funds in one of their associated mutual funds, which we've always done, but they have a cheap self-directed brokerage option too.

I like that a human actually answers the phone whenever I need to call.

Will

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Re: Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?
« Reply #15 on: November 05, 2019, 05:16:18 PM »
Has anyone had any experience with HSA Bank?

I'm about to switch to a HDHP, and HSA Bank is the bank that the new provider uses.

New provider of what?  The HDHP?  I was under the impression you could open up your HSA with whomever you want.  I know my insurance provider didn't have any input on where I put my HSA.

EscapedApe

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Re: Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?
« Reply #16 on: November 06, 2019, 08:55:52 AM »
That was the first place I had an account as dictated by the large company I worked for at the time.  They use TD Ameritrade for investments and the amount required to hold in the HSA Bank cash account was small; only like $100 if I recall right. 

Since it was linked to my employer they paid the monthly fee but on my own I would have had a small recurring charge.  I never used any of the funds for medical purposes so I can't comment on how easy it was to access. 

My impression of their main website is that it is kind of clunky but they send you over to TDA for investments so it is just an awkward speed bump rather than a major problem.  TDA is a mess on its own. 

Overall they were better than the second HSA firm I was with that I am moving away from now.         

Thanks for this feedback, @MissNancyPryor. With this info I'll do some more reading into the details of the HSA account.

tawyer

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Re: Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?
« Reply #17 on: November 06, 2019, 09:04:25 AM »
Has anyone had any experience with HSA Bank?
Yes, albeit minor. They were fine for my purposes: the contributions from me went straight through them to Health Savings Administrators, which offered Vanguard funds. I never tried to reimburse medical expenses: I'm saving the receipts for later.

I've now done HSA transfers from two different HSA custodians into my Fidelity HSA to buy Fidelity's zero expense ratio VTSAX equivalent. The paperwork (it was physical paper that had to be mailed) was ultimately straightforward and after a couple of weeks the funds appeared on the Fidelity side.

EscapedApe

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Re: Post-FIRE, where do you keep your HSA?
« Reply #18 on: November 06, 2019, 12:04:52 PM »
Has anyone had any experience with HSA Bank?
Yes, albeit minor. They were fine for my purposes: the contributions from me went straight through them to Health Savings Administrators, which offered Vanguard funds. I never tried to reimburse medical expenses: I'm saving the receipts for later.

I've now done HSA transfers from two different HSA custodians into my Fidelity HSA to buy Fidelity's zero expense ratio VTSAX equivalent. The paperwork (it was physical paper that had to be mailed) was ultimately straightforward and after a couple of weeks the funds appeared on the Fidelity side.

WOW, zero expense ratio? That sounds awesome.

I'll see if I can fund my HSA with Fidelity then. That sounds like a fantastic arrangement.