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General Discussion => Welcome and General Discussion => Topic started by: bittheory on August 07, 2015, 01:45:04 PM

Title: Independent HSA/FSA accounts - do they exist?
Post by: bittheory on August 07, 2015, 01:45:04 PM
My employer does not offer an HSA or FSA account and I was curious about setting up one personally for my family. We are planning on having kid #2 next year, and would like to save for the birth, which I anticipate to be around $5K. I had an HSA from a previous job that paid for all the medical expenses from baby #1, and it felt great to take care of all that with that account.

So, my question is simple: Can I sign up for an independent HSA/FSA and start taking money directly from my pay into it? Has anyone tried this yet? Would you recommend it?
Title: Re: Independent HSA/FSA accounts - do they exist?
Post by: lackofstache on August 07, 2015, 02:11:10 PM
Yes. You can do one with a whole lotta banks. I have mine w/ State Farm Bank, not a lotta perks, but it works fine for me. I'd highly recommend it. If you have impending expenditures it's a way to pay w/ pre-tax dollars & if you have enough money, it's somewhere to put that pre-tax money & leave while still paying out of pocket...
Title: Re: Independent HSA/FSA accounts - do they exist?
Post by: BTDretire on August 07, 2015, 02:29:14 PM
My employer does not offer an HSA or FSA account and I was curious about setting up one personally for my family. We are planning on having kid #2 next year, and would like to save for the birth, which I anticipate to be around $5K. I had an HSA from a previous job that paid for all the medical expenses from baby #1, and it felt great to take care of all that with that account.

 I'm confused, did your employer set up that HSA? Who put the money in?

So, my question is simple: Can I sign up for an independent HSA/FSA and start taking money directly from my pay into it? Has anyone tried this yet? Would you recommend it?
[/quote]
 
  Yes, I have an HSA. You do need a high deductible insurance plan to be elegible for an HSA.
I opened  my HSA at a local bank, I generally put a lump sum into it once a year, but no reason,
you can do a weekly or monthly deposit. I don't know if your employer will do it for you.
 I fully fund my HSA but stopped using it for expenses and plan to use it for tax free income later.
I looked at this,   https://www.hsaresources.com/faq/#emp-02
 I didn't know about employer sponsored HSA's. I've always did my own.
Title: Re: Independent HSA/FSA accounts - do they exist?
Post by: MDM on August 07, 2015, 02:40:50 PM
So, my question is simple: Can I sign up for an independent HSA/FSA and start taking money directly from my pay into it?

Simple question on the surface, but let's check assumptions.

The simple answer is "probably yes" - e.g., if your employer allows direct deposit of your net pay to more than one account, which most do.  You can then deduct the amount on Form 1040.

If you are asking "can I avoid paying FICA tax on that HSA money?", then "probably not" - because that comes only with payroll processing for cafeteria plans and an employer-offered HSA account. 
Title: Re: Independent HSA/FSA accounts - do they exist?
Post by: Need2Save on August 07, 2015, 07:06:38 PM
You can open up a Health Savings Account (HSA) through many banks, even Fidelity offers them, but you absolutely have to have qualifying High-Deductible Health Plan to qualify for HSA contributions.  If your employer doesn't offer a health plan which has a high enough deductible, then you cannot open and contribute funds to one on your own.   If you already have an HSA from a prior employer, you still 'own' that account and can contribute further to it directly, however, you MUST have a high-deductible health plan which meets the limits. 

The previous poster is right in that you won't have the FICA savings if you go out on your own.

I am not aware of any way to open a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) on your own outside an employer's lineup.
Title: Re: Independent HSA/FSA accounts - do they exist?
Post by: bittheory on August 09, 2015, 09:04:04 PM
I have a new plan from Humana, that I'm not sure qualifies as high deductible. I'll look into it. Thanks for the clarification everyone.
Title: Re: Independent HSA/FSA accounts - do they exist?
Post by: N on August 09, 2015, 10:06:05 PM
if you have the high deductible insurance health plan, you can get an HSA

https://www.zanebenefits.com/blog/Health-Savings-Account-HSA-2015-Rules-Requirements

I got our HDHP from the ACA on our own, not thru our employer. So I set up an HSA on our own, to which I contribute money from our net pay. But we can deduct those contributions at tax time. So, we dont get the benefit of not having to pay FICA on that money, but we still get all the other benefits.