Health Savings Administrators or HSA Bank

[Mt Tahoe]

Hi Everyone. New to the forum. Love the site.

I had just signed up with Health Savings Administrators but began getting worried about their fees. I was reading here about HSA Bank as a possible alternative, but was kind of confused about the difference. Has anyone done a side by side comparison? I found the spreadsheet that someone had posted:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ao3W1htzFpYidGNRemw1amVqRWNQU2txNEZJbjZoTUE

But it is a little confusing since it seems to have been modified multiple times.

We already have an HSA through work, but was looking to simply invest the money in either HSA admin or HSA Bank. We could keep a minimum in the work HSA, and transfer remaining out and invest maximum per year to invest.

To avoid the 3$ fee with HSA Bank, you have to have more than about $5k, but do you gain interest on that?

[sherr]

First things first, it is important that you realize that you can get a Health Savings Account from literally any bank that offers them, not just entities that have manipulated their initials to be very close to HSA.

Okay, now to answer your question. It looks like Health Savings Administrators offer you a service (and charge you for it) that enables you to invest money in your HSA account into 22 Vanguard funds they have selected. So the interest you'll receive is whatever those funds end up paying.

HSA Bank looks like it's roughly the same thing but with many more options, allowing you to invest your money either with TD Ameritrade or DEVENIR Mutual Funds (whatever that is). Again they charge fees, and again the interest will depend on what you choose and how well it does, same as any other stock / mutual fund investment. HSA Bank is set up so that you'll have two accounts, a cash savings account and an investment account. I suspect that the $5k minimum to avoid fees is the sum of your money in both, but you'd only be getting interest / capital gains on money in the investment account.

This setup is not unique to these two organizations. My HSA at work is through Chase Bank, and then offer a similar investment account with a selection of mutual funds available. I pay no fees at all now that I meet the minimum balance, although that could be part of a deal that my company has worked out with them.

[Nothlit]

I've also heard that ELFCU (Eli Lilly Federal Credit Union) offers an HSA with TD Ameritrade investment option that doesn't charge any fees or require you to keep a minimum amount in the cash side of the account, but I have not signed up for it yet myself. You may want to look into that as well.

[TheDude]

I have been signed up for ELFCU for about a month. Just made a purchase in my TD account today. So far so good. I would recommend them but don't have a long term report yet.  So far the consensus on the fatwallet thread is that ELFCU is a pretty good deal.

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/542257/

[wuj818]

I have been signed up for ELFCU for about a month. Just made a purchase in my TD account today. So far so good. I would recommend them but don't have a long term report yet.  So far the consensus on the fatwallet thread is that ELFCU is a pretty good deal.

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/542257/

Are you able to fund the ELFCU HSA with a credit card? One person on Bogleheads successfully did it last year but I'm wondering if anyone has any more recent info.

[Woodreaux]

The Financial Buff did a good write-up regarding the Eli Lilly option.
http://thefinancebuff.com/elfcu-hsa-setup.html

[Mt Tahoe]

This is more complicated and confusing than I thought. I should have done more homework before jumping in. I reviewed documents I received and found that HS Administrators signed me up with HSA Bank. I don't think they made it clear that It was a separate entity.

I will call and try to get more info.

[Mt Tahoe]

Ok, just spoke to Health Savings Administrators. They set up the HSA Bank for you, and you don't need to deal with the bank, but always call HSAdmin for all issues relating to bank. Makes it easier.

With the HSAdmin HSA Bank account, you DO NOT have any minimums that you must keep in the account, so no monthly $3 fee (i think it is) if you are under $5000.

Free debit cards and free reimbursement (electronic only) as required.

BTW, they said I could cancel the account as long as not money has been invested/transferred. Would not be liable for $45 fee.

[unix_kung_fu]

I was planning on going through Health Savings Administrators because they use Vanguard funds.. I figured no big deal, I can fund it post-taxes and deduct that later. Then I figured "What about payroll taxes?" I would lose out not going with my employer provided HSA (JP Morgan Chase offered via ADP, anyone know anything about that?)

I guess there is no good reason for me to go outside of what work offers and just use that instead.

[the fixer]

I use HSA Bank. I think either is a decent choice, hard to really tell which one's better.

The fees for HSA Bank are twofold: one is an investing fee if your cash balance is below $5k, and there's another account maintenance fee if your cash balance is below the average of the individual and family contribution limit for the year (I think, can't remember exactly). Note that both of these fees are based on how much cash you keep around, and they total up to ~$60/year. You'll get a better return from investing the money instead of trying to maintain their minimum balance requirements because the interest they pay is so horrible.

Remember that you have to opt in with TD Ameritrade to get commission-free ETF trades. I didn't know this at first and just thought I wasn't eligible for commission-free trading because it was an account set up through my HSA.

[Mt Tahoe]

Well, i am moving toward Elf Credit Union. They have very good rates and pay 1% on what you have in the HSA. Plus you can tie them to vanguard funds. No fees.

I think if you want one stop shopping, the Health Savings Administrators/ HSA Bank combo might be a good option. But it comes at a price. With this combo, there are no HSA Bank minimums and no account fee period.