HSAs: Spend or Save It?
As employers increasingly roll out HSA-qualified health insurance plans to their employees, many are asking the question of their HSA: spend or save it?

IRS regulations allow HSA funds to be invested into investments approved for IRAs. Things like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, CD’s, are all acceptable. HSA providers have begun to offer brokerage accounts that allow for savings in these products, just the sort of long-term savings you need for future health expenses. Coupled to the many tax benefits, chief among them tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses, a strong case for saving your HSA funds is easy to make.
However, HSAs can feel confusing. Unlike the familiar checking accounts, credit cards, and 401(k)’s, HSAs are not only new but also rhyme with FSA, which are in fact spending accounts, not savings accounts.
Further, HSAs attach to a particular form of health insurance. The health care insurance is not tasked with the long-term financial security of its members, of course, so the integration of HSAs with other tax preferred savings vehicles is well beyond their scope. Even the financial advisor community is still unprepared with how to incorporate these accounts into the mainstay of retirement planning.
Mark Miller, a Reuters reporter covering health insurance, Medicare, Social Security and other topics, recently published “HSAs: Spend or Save It?” Mark’s is another voice to the chorus of those asking how best to integrate all the programs available to individuals and families as they navigate the increasing complexity of modern living.
For those of you wondering the same, HSAs: Spend It or Save It? is a good place to look.
Thanks for reading. I’ve written on Money, Investing, Healthcare, Nutrition, Behavior, and other (mostly) related topics. More on Medium, LinkedIn, and Quora.
About Us:

After the HelloWallet sale to Morningstar we built a digital platform, HSA Coach, that combines this acquired book-knowledge into user-friendly financial guidance. We are particularly focused on helping you manage your health paperwork (expenses, forms, results, etc.) while incorporating Health Savings Accounts into the broader retirement savings plan, with some personalized calculators to allocate between your HSA and 401(k). More coming. Available for free in the App Store and Google Play.
As always, comments and reading suggestions on this and other topics welcome.
