I recently parted ways with my employer. Over my years of saving/investing in a Health Savings Account (HSA) I have built up a relatively substantial account balance.
Does anyone know if:
it is possible to move these monies out of my employee-sponsored account to a different institution (similar to what we can do with our 401k’s)?
if so, any recommendations for low-cost institutions to port the account to?
Thank you in advance for your help!
Brian
The best HSA in the Country is that offered by Fidelity Investments. Theyhave no competition. Totally free of all fees. Stay away from Optum, HSA Bank, Schwab’s HSA which is really a loosely affiliated 3rd party with offensive high fees. Fidelity. Fidelity. Fidelity. They got me in with the HSA and I brought over a sh** ton of assets after having a good experience over there. If Schwab had bothered to have a good HSA I’d probably still be over there.
Absolutely you can do a tax free rollover from one HSA plan to the next! It should go custodian to custodian, to avoid a taxable event
Thank you so much, ochotona. Funny you mentioned Optum and HSA Bank - that is exactly where my HSAs are at (from two previous employers) and why I want to transfer them out.
Good to know about Fidelity. I had inquired with them some years ago but at that time, they didn’t offer one. I’ll contact them immediately (also need to move my 401k monies).
Thank you again,
Brian
Fidelity credit card pays 2% cash back, no fees. Fidelity Cash Management offers $1 million+ FDIC insurance by pooling banks, but I hold T-Bills in mine, you can buy stocks, bonds. Very versatile account.
As per ochotona- Fidelity is the consensus HSA choice.
I did it several years back when I told my company to shove it. If Fidelity had one at the time I did not know it, and might not have used it anyway because of previous bad blood when I had a 401K that they ran per orders of my company. I did choose HSA bank and it was OK until it got down too low and they started slamming me with fees. Now with it tapped out and zero balance they still send me emails telling the virtues of an HSA. And they know darned well that the chances of me not being on medicare are slim and none…
Yes
Fidelity, we did this year when my wife started a new job. The process was done online with Fidelity. As I recall Fidelity’s on line process was a form fill then their website generated the forms which we printed, signed and mailed to Fidelity and they handled the transfer from her employer’s HSA custodian.
I was just listening to Clarks podcast from 8/16 and he covered this exact topic. It started just after the 9 minute mark…
Thanks, tszefr! I have the same experience with HSA Bank (where one of my accounts is located). They are killing me with fees - death by a 1000 paper cuts (Literally! They charge for paper statements). And exactly why I was hoping I could transfer both of my HSAs to one of the low-cost investment firms.
On a side-note, I have had the similar experience with Fidelity and their employer-sponsored 401k’s. The fees are terrible. But I have the opposite experience once they have been transferred to personal accounts. Weird how those fees go away - I wonder where most of their revenue comes from. I wouldn’t shy away from Fidelity for personal accounts.
Thank you, everyone, for your responses and help! Much appreciated!
Brian