Author Topic: Tell me about your HSA  (Read 4203 times)

Raenia

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Tell me about your HSA
« on: August 10, 2017, 07:23:19 AM »
I'm currently enrolled in a HDHP, but my company does not offer a corresponding HSA, so I'm looking to open an HSA account with another institution.  I've done a bit of research already, but I'd like to call on the collective experience here to have a look at my options.

The best I've found so far is offered by HealthEquity (http://healthequity.com/indexinvestor/):
 - Vanguard funds with low expense ratios, mostly institutional and admiral shares
 - $36/yr administrative fee (waived for first year if >$1000 deposited within 90 days of account opening)
 - 0.24%/yr investment fee
 - $50 investment threshold

Most of the other accounts I'm finding have higher admin fees, higher investment fees, or both.  Am I missing anything?  Are there other better options out there?

NeonPegasus

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Re: Tell me about your HSA
« Reply #1 on: August 10, 2017, 07:34:13 AM »
Looks pretty good. It's better than my HSA. :)

MDM

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Re: Tell me about your HSA
« Reply #2 on: August 10, 2017, 09:21:02 AM »

charis

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Re: Tell me about your HSA
« Reply #3 on: August 10, 2017, 09:27:22 AM »
I pay $24/year total for an Elements Financial HSA with TD Ameritrade brokerage account (free Vanguard ETFs).   The catch is the monthly account maintenance fee ($12 I think) unless you keep a balance of $2500, which I do.  The $24 is the wire charge for transferring money from the HSA to the brokerage account, which I do once a year.

skuzuker28

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Re: Tell me about your HSA
« Reply #4 on: August 10, 2017, 09:35:01 AM »
The two that are consistently considered the "best" are Health Equity (which you have) and HSA Bank.  The fee structures are quite different.  HSAB charges $2.50 a month if you maintain a balance of less than $5000 in the cash account.  They also charge a flat $3 a month to maintain a TDAmeritrade brokerage account (of any amount).  Through TD you have access to their commission-free ETFs, including many Vanguard ETFs.  No charges for transfers.

Health Equity is the better deal with small account balances.  HSA Bank is better at larger balances, starting around $15,000, due to the flat-fee for investing.  I currently have HSA Bank (through my employer) and have been pleased with their service.


extremedefense

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Re: Tell me about your HSA
« Reply #5 on: August 10, 2017, 09:39:58 AM »
I have a Health Equity HSA and with "self driven" investments, the fee is only 0.033%  above the fund expense ratio. And the vanguard funds are either admiral, or institutional!

The $3.95 monthly fee is permanently waived if your balance is > $2500 on the first of each month.

For advise driven investing, it's a 0.05% per $1000, and for auto pilot investing its 0.08% per $1k.

I'd go with Health Equity because of how low their fees are.

rtrnow

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Re: Tell me about your HSA
« Reply #6 on: August 10, 2017, 12:51:45 PM »
The two that are consistently considered the "best" are Health Equity (which you have) and HSA Bank.  The fee structures are quite different.  HSAB charges $2.50 a month if you maintain a balance of less than $5000 in the cash account.  They also charge a flat $3 a month to maintain a TDAmeritrade brokerage account (of any amount).  Through TD you have access to their commission-free ETFs, including many Vanguard ETFs.  No charges for transfers.


I've been really happy with HSA bank. I maintain the 5k and count that as an emergency fund of sorts. I've never seen the $3 fee you mentioned. I just double checked both my HSA account and TD account and I do not get charged any fees.

skuzuker28

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Re: Tell me about your HSA
« Reply #7 on: August 10, 2017, 12:58:22 PM »
The two that are consistently considered the "best" are Health Equity (which you have) and HSA Bank.  The fee structures are quite different.  HSAB charges $2.50 a month if you maintain a balance of less than $5000 in the cash account.  They also charge a flat $3 a month to maintain a TDAmeritrade brokerage account (of any amount).  Through TD you have access to their commission-free ETFs, including many Vanguard ETFs.  No charges for transfers.


I've been really happy with HSA bank. I maintain the 5k and count that as an emergency fund of sorts. I've never seen the $3 fee you mentioned. I just double checked both my HSA account and TD account and I do not get charged any fees.
I might have the fees mixed up.  I only keep about $1000 in cash, operating under the assumption that the dividends on the extra $4k will cover the additional maintenance fees.

EDIT: Both fees are waived if you maintain a $5k balance in cash.
« Last Edit: August 10, 2017, 01:00:03 PM by dleavitt »

patchyfacialhair

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Re: Tell me about your HSA
« Reply #8 on: August 10, 2017, 01:00:45 PM »
I'd have to check, but I thought my minimum with HSA Bank was only $500 in the cash account. Either way, the amount saved in taxes blows away the small fee regardless.

Case

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Re: Tell me about your HSA
« Reply #9 on: August 11, 2017, 11:25:29 AM »
I'm currently enrolled in a HDHP, but my company does not offer a corresponding HSA, so I'm looking to open an HSA account with another institution.  I've done a bit of research already, but I'd like to call on the collective experience here to have a look at my options.

The best I've found so far is offered by HealthEquity (http://healthequity.com/indexinvestor/):
 - Vanguard funds with low expense ratios, mostly institutional and admiral shares
 - $36/yr administrative fee (waived for first year if >$1000 deposited within 90 days of account opening)
 - 0.24%/yr investment fee
 - $50 investment threshold

Most of the other accounts I'm finding have higher admin fees, higher investment fees, or both.  Am I missing anything?  Are there other better options out there?

I had terrible, TERRIBLE, and multiple recurring (!!!), customer service experiences with Health Equity.  AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE.  The HSA custodian that I was transfering the money to (out of Health Equity into the other one) told me that Health Equity had a bad reputation for messing up.  If you look hard enough, you might find my BBB complaints.  It was until I got in touch with one of their VPs that I got their mistakes mixed... that was a lot of wasted time.

At the time, they didn't have good investing options (not sure if they still don't... you should invest your HSA balance if you can afford to not use it) and their fees weren't great either.

HSA Bank is a good alternative, commonly recommended.  I used to use HSA administrators, though their fees weren't the best.  Currently I use Fidelity because it is good and the work place covers the fees.

So to reiterate, DO NOT USE HEALTH EQUITY.

extremedefense

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Re: Tell me about your HSA
« Reply #10 on: August 11, 2017, 11:27:03 AM »


I'm currently enrolled in a HDHP, but my company does not offer a corresponding HSA, so I'm looking to open an HSA account with another institution.  I've done a bit of research already, but I'd like to call on the collective experience here to have a look at my options.

The best I've found so far is offered by HealthEquity (http://healthequity.com/indexinvestor/):
 - Vanguard funds with low expense ratios, mostly institutional and admiral shares
 - $36/yr administrative fee (waived for first year if >$1000 deposited within 90 days of account opening)
 - 0.24%/yr investment fee
 - $50 investment threshold

Most of the other accounts I'm finding have higher admin fees, higher investment fees, or both.  Am I missing anything?  Are there other better options out there?

I had terrible, TERRIBLE, and multiple recurring (!!!), customer service experiences with Health Equity.  AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE.  The HSA custodian that I was transfering the money to (out of Health Equity into the other one) told me that Health Equity had a bad reputation for messing up.  If you look hard enough, you might find my BBB complaints.  It was until I got in touch with one of their VPs that I got their mistakes mixed... that was a lot of wasted time.

At the time, they didn't have good investing options (not sure if they still don't... you should invest your HSA balance if you can afford to not use it) and their fees weren't great either.

HSA Bank is a good alternative, commonly recommended.  I used to use HSA administrators, though their fees weren't the best.  Currently I use Fidelity because it is good and the work place covers the fees.

So to reiterate, DO NOT USE HEALTH EQUITY.

How long ago was this?

As of August 2017, they have been nothing but great to me.

Case

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Re: Tell me about your HSA
« Reply #11 on: August 14, 2017, 07:39:29 AM »


I'm currently enrolled in a HDHP, but my company does not offer a corresponding HSA, so I'm looking to open an HSA account with another institution.  I've done a bit of research already, but I'd like to call on the collective experience here to have a look at my options.

The best I've found so far is offered by HealthEquity (http://healthequity.com/indexinvestor/):
 - Vanguard funds with low expense ratios, mostly institutional and admiral shares
 - $36/yr administrative fee (waived for first year if >$1000 deposited within 90 days of account opening)
 - 0.24%/yr investment fee
 - $50 investment threshold

Most of the other accounts I'm finding have higher admin fees, higher investment fees, or both.  Am I missing anything?  Are there other better options out there?

I had terrible, TERRIBLE, and multiple recurring (!!!), customer service experiences with Health Equity.  AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE.  The HSA custodian that I was transfering the money to (out of Health Equity into the other one) told me that Health Equity had a bad reputation for messing up.  If you look hard enough, you might find my BBB complaints.  It was until I got in touch with one of their VPs that I got their mistakes mixed... that was a lot of wasted time.

At the time, they didn't have good investing options (not sure if they still don't... you should invest your HSA balance if you can afford to not use it) and their fees weren't great either.

HSA Bank is a good alternative, commonly recommended.  I used to use HSA administrators, though their fees weren't the best.  Currently I use Fidelity because it is good and the work place covers the fees.

So to reiterate, DO NOT USE HEALTH EQUITY.

How long ago was this?

As of August 2017, they have been nothing but great to me.

Let's see, maybe ~3 years ago?

It's always possible the company did a complete about face, but I was so greatly scarred by them that I'd never return (well, unless the financial incentive was large enough :-) ).

I am certain that a few years ago their investment options were quite weak.

In any, HSA Bank has more consistently been a top-recommended HSA provider.

Raenia

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Re: Tell me about your HSA
« Reply #12 on: August 14, 2017, 09:18:06 AM »
It looks like HSA Bank only offers ETF's, is that right?  I've been avoiding ETF's due to only being able to buy whole shares, which requires more attention paid to it than I wanted to put in.  If the fees really are significantly better, maybe I'd better bite the bullet and deal with the ETF's.  Or, based on dleavitt's comparison, maybe I'm better off going with Health Equity (or another similar if it has bad reviews) for a few years until I have a significant invested balance, then move the account to HSA Bank?  That of course assumes all the rules and fees remain the same by then.