Many people use an HSA as a short-term bank account to cover medical expenses, while others use it as a long-term investment or to save for retirement. Regardless of how you plan to use your HSA, the provider you choose will have a huge impact on how much you’re able to save.
When evaluating a potential HSA provider, it’s important to consider the typical HSA account fees, which can steal a significant amount of money from your health savings. For more information about typical HSA account fees, visit the website.
What to know about HSA fees
Many HSA providers charge administrative fees, which cut into your health overall savings. Often, the HSA providers that don’t charge administrative fees have minimum investment thresholds. Either of the two could end up costing you thousands of dollars in the long-run. So what should you do?
Before we answer this question, let’s take a look at some typical HSA account fees so you can see what you’re up against.
Typical HSA account fees
The following are typical HSA account fees that can drastically reduce your ability to save over time:
- Monthly maintenance fees - This is a run-of-the-mill fee for having an account with your HSA provider.
- Statement copies - This fee covers monthly statements and tax forms.
- Processing fees - This fee applies when you use a check or your debit card to pay for health-related expenses.
- Legal fees - These fees are related to legal processes associated with your HSA account.
- Closure fee - This fee applies if you decide to close your account and move to a new HSA provider.
- Debit card replacement - If you lose your HSA debit card, this fee covers the time and expense required to get a new one.
Although these fees may not seem like they’re that expensive individually, they can add up! In fact, these fees can average about $26 per year, which can accumulate over the years and cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars in the long-run.
Making a decision
If your goal is to save the most money possible for medical expenses and/or retirement, it’s important to find the right type of HSA account. To achieve these goals, you’ll need to choose an HSA with no fees or required investment thresholds. Although these are less common, they’re out there! You just have to do some searching and thoroughly compare your options. By choosing an HSA without fees or investment thresholds, your account will grow much faster and your dollars will stretch further.
Read a similar article about employer HSA plan here at this page.
