HSA

[lucas]

I have my HSA through HSA Bank and I've been transferring all of my contributions over to be invested.  I noticed that HSA bank withdraws $ from the invested $ as needed to pay for it's fees.  I don't incur any tax penalty for this, correct?  Just wondering if I should instead be leaving a small stash in the HSA account instead of letting them withdraw.

Thanks.

[jfoxcpacfp]

lucas wrote:

I have my HSA through HSA Bank and I’ve been transferring all of my contributions over to be invested.  I noticed that HSA bank withdraws $ from the invested $ as needed to pay for it’s fees.  I don’t incur any tax penalty for this, correct?  Just wondering if I should instead be leaving a small stash in the HSA account instead of letting them withdraw.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Yes, I would leave a small cash balance to take care of it. Here is a comparison of other HSA custodians. Click on the column header for "Monthly Maintenance Fees" and you can sort by fee to find no-cost providers.

[lucas]

Can you clarify why you're saying I should leave a small amount in the account?  I'm fine having them pull it as long as I'm not incurring any tax penalty

[Gigemags]

It sounds like you're talking about leaving money in your HSA bank instead of investing it.  They charge me $3 / month or $36 per year for not keeping the $3,000 minimum in my HSA bank. That's only ~1%. I'm hoping that my money invested beats that so I keep Just a minimal $100 in the HSA and transfer the rest. I say pay the fee. No use keeping the money out of the market (if you're using it as a stealth IRA).

 

[The White Coat Investor]

Yes, leave a little or they send you hatemail.

[jfoxcpacfp]

lucas wrote:

Can you clarify why you’re saying I should leave a small amount in the account?  I’m fine having them pull it as long as I’m not incurring any tax penalty

Click to expand...

Because that's a cornerstone of my investment policy. Only invest what you won't need for 5 years. It's only $2.75/mo, anyway. Plus, may be fees within the mutual funds that are charged against you for these liquidations. I can't imagine your expenses in a fund that would allow liquidations like that would match the expenses of a fund available to the public. Many funds charge 2% if you liquidate w/i 90 days of investing.

[hightower]

My HSA requires that you leave a certain amount in cash.  You can pick how much.  I choose 2000 because I figured that would cover most of our deductible if one of us got sick.  Anything over 2000 gets invested and left alone for the long haul.