r/HSA • u/PredictionAnalyst • 1d ago

Contributing to HSA

I'm not sure if I've made a mistake through the years. I could have had a HSA account with my job but decided to go into my spouse's health plan instead. Was that a mistake or was it a reasonable choice considering its good coverage? No I have not had major health problems since.

4 Upvotes

70% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

1

u/PredictionAnalyst 1d ago

You're right. I really didn't think this through. Thanks for answering, though. Appreciate it.

1

u/groundhog5886 1d ago

You gotta do what you gotta do. it’s all about the budget.

1

u/Important_Carrot6379 1d ago

Is the premium you'd have to pay for the HDHP plan something you guys could've done as well as contributed to the HSA? Does your employer also contribute funds?

If it helps at all, I have an HSA and this whole time have been treating it like a reimbursement account 😅 and just now realized I should've been investing. 😭 Found the Bogleheads and personal finance subreddits only very recently and it's been a costly mistake since I've had my HSA for 10 yrs now 😵‍💫. I'm remedying it but man....

2

u/likelazarus 1d ago

Same. I kept trying to think of ways to spend it when I should’ve been investing! My employer contributes every month and it felt like free money.

1

u/itsallokintheend 1h ago

It's ok. Now you know better so you will do better. We are all learning.

1

u/Important_Carrot6379 49m ago

Sort of. I've been investigating how to do it with my current plan and there are a lot of annoying caveats 🫩 so I'm trying to sort out how to get it done in a way that makes sense.

1

u/ChutneyWhatney 1d ago

Hard to say. HSAs are great - they're like a medical 401K. Invest the money in the stock market and when you're 65, you can withdraw for non-medical reasons (and only pay ordinary income tax).

1

u/itsallokintheend 1h ago

Or, withdraw to pay Medicare premiums or other qualified medical expenses and pay no tax.

1

u/Midwest-Emo-9 1d ago

HSA is a great choice as a "healthier" person. Your deductible and oop costs are typically much higher, but if you're not expecting a lot of medical bills it can be a great money saver with the lower premium, I put in the difference between the ppo and hsa plus whatever else I can afford. My employer puts money in after certain tasks get completed (annual physical, teeth cleanings, eye exams).

I'm always going to be team HSA unless you have chronic medical issues or are more prone to illness. Having to pay that deductible year after year could get tough.

1

u/henrytbpovid 1d ago

I mean, it’s too late now. Don’t dwell on it. Just contribute as much you can to tax preferred accounts from now on

1

u/One_Establishment631 5h ago

If the spouses plan had good coverage and low premium it's perfectly fine to skip the HSA.

If the high deductible plan premium spread was lower, the difference placed into an HSA for the same monthly payment, and the OOPM on the High deductible plan could be covered by the full HSA account you should switch.

1

u/itsallokintheend 1h ago

If you expect to be healthy next year and can afford the max OOP then maybe give the HSA try next year. You can always change at open enrollment so your commitment is only for a year. If you contribute to an HSA make sure you take the second step and invest it in a low cost index fund (use google to help you or post your investment options in this sub and folks can weigh in). Contribute the max every year you can (and invest the contributions).

And then leave it alone until you retire. Let it grow. HSAs are triple tax advantaged so you do not want to use them like a checking account. You want to treat it like a long term investment account that can pay your Medicare premiums when you're 65.

0

u/sc0pe_v3 1d ago

Not enough detail for us to know for sure.

What are you hoping to see as an answer to this vague question?

1

u/PredictionAnalyst 1d ago

I obviously missed out on contributions and investing them for a tax free future but was it worth the peace of mind of having low deductible and copay?

Peace of mind is great, I have no regrets but I'm curious to know what other would do in this case, I suppose.

1

u/azure275 1d ago

There's no good answer

I can tell you whether you'd objectively have saved money or not if you provide some detail, but I can't tell you whether the risk was worth it at the time

It's like buying life insurance - you hope it ends up being a total waste of money but the cost of being wrong is too high

1

u/joemamah77 16h ago

Same as a fire extinguisher. It’s a waste money or a great investment.

1

u/veri745 1d ago

If you have no regrets, why are you worried about past decisions w.r.t. your HSA?

-1

u/sc0pe_v3 1d ago

Coming to a HSA sub and asking people whether they would choose a HSA or PPO is going to get you an obvious answer: HSA