The Best Places To Open An HSA (Health Savings Account)

HSAs offer more than just tax advantages for medical expenses. You can also invest any idle cash into various investments for a potentially higher return.

For 2018, IRS contribution limits for family HSAs are $6,900, while for individuals they are $3,450. HSA savings are generally FDIC-insured. However, investments generally are not. Verify with the HSA plan you’re considering.

You’ll also need to have a high-deductible health plan to qualify for an HSA. There can be other restrictions but your HSA provider can help with details on eligibility.

Note that most employers will cover the HSA monthly fee. But if you are choosing an HSA that is different from the one offered with your employer health plan, you’ll likely need to cover any monthly fee. Or, if you've left your employer and are looking for a good option to move your HSA too - check out this list.

Keep in mind that most HSA plans do not allow you to participate in multiple HSA plans.

In this article, we’ll provide a summary of several attractive HSA plans that also offer investment options. Remember, we love using our HSA as an IRA - and think you should too. Check out these companies for the best places to invest your HSA money.

Lively offers an FDIC-insured HSA account with the following features (Editor's Note: These features are from the website):

• "Free health savings account for individuals. No hidden fees."
• "FDIC insured. Your money is safe. Interest included."
• "100% paperless. We don't waste your time."
• "Invest for $2.50/month."
• "Simple. Intuitive. Transparent. Sign up in 5 minutes."

If you are an individual, Lively is free for their basic HSA. Interest on your savings are as follows:

Fees are limited. After three debit card transactions, each additional transaction is $5. To access investments at TD Ameritrade, there is a $2.50/month fee. This is very competitive to other HSAs. Plus, this amount can be withdrawn from your normal checking account, so you don't ever have to reduce your HSA balance to pay fees.

With access to TD Ameritrade, the number of investments and asset classes available to you are fairly broad. These include individual stocks, bonds, CDs, over 250 commission-free ETFs, and more than 13,000 mutual funds. In addition to the $2.50/month fee for investments, there are investment transaction fees. You can see a fee schedule here.

But, if you're using commission-free ETFs with low expense ratios, this is an excellent choice. 

HSA Bank has many of the features common with modern HSAs such as online access and a mobile app. Medical expenses can be paid from your HSA account using a check, debit card, or bill-pay system.

HSA Bank offers investment options through TD Ameritrade Self-Directed Brokerage or DEVENIR Self-Directed Mutual Fund Program. You can read more about both here.

Where HSA bank lacks is it's fees. You pay $2.50 per month in your HSA bank account if you don't maintain a minimum balance of $5,000. That's a lot of money to keep in cash earning very little interest. 

HSA Bank also charges a $3.00 per month Investment Service fee. So, you could end up paying $5.50 per month to HSA bank (or $3.00 if you keep that $5,000 in cash). That's more than Lively's $2.50. 

Optum Bank is part of Optum, a technology services division, which is part of UnitedHealth Group. If you work for a major company, this will likely be your default HSA for your company health plan. Their monthly fee is $2.75/month (usually covered by the employer). There is no minimum balance to get started. Features of this plan include a debit card, checking, online banking, and a mobile app.

Optum Bank is a member of the FDIC, currently services over three million accounts and $9 billion in assets under management.

There are a large number of investment options available with Optum Bank. You’ll need to first meet the $2,000 investment threshold. Once you do, you can rebalance your portfolio and easily move money back and forth between investments and your main account. To see the current listing of investment options, check here.

The bummer about Optum's investing is that you have to use their platform, and their fund choices. They are okay, but aren't typically the best out there. You also don't get the flexibility of being able to invest on a platform like TD Ameritrade.

However, if you leave your employer, you will start seeing your monthly fees deducted from your account - and Optum isn't the cheapest option. 

Fidelity is well-known for its investment offerings, including employer-sponsored 401(k)s. They are lesser-known for offering HSAs. But you can get an HSA directly through Fidelity.

Fidelity’s HSA offers a plethora of features, including (Editor's Note: These features are from the website):

• "Account features—debit card, checkwriting, electronic funds transfer, and bank wire."
• "Online Fidelity BillPay®—an efficient, convenient way to make online payments for qualified medical expenses."
• "Account management—online account opening, balance inquiry, transaction history, and beneficiary designation."
• "Fidelity core positions, plus thousands of mutual funds available through Fidelity FundsNetwork® (which are subject to investment minimums). There is no fund minimum for Fidelity Asset Manager® and Fidelity Freedom Funds®. You can also invest in individual securities (stocks, bonds, ETFs) which are subject to commission fees. Visit Fidelity.com to view the commission schedule. There are no additional investment maintenance fees."
• "Reporting—integrated Fidelity Account® statements and aggregate employer and tax reporting (1099-SA and 5498-SA)"
• "Track and Pay – Manage health care claims, payments, and receipts all in one place."

U.S. equity trades are $4.95. Although, you also have access to no-transaction-fee funds and research provided by Fidelity at no charge.

As of today, you can only access the Fidelity HSA if your company uses them for their HSA plan. You cannot currently roll over an HSA to Fidelity (sadly). 

As you can see, most HSA providers offer comparable services, making it difficult to choose any particular one. One way to narrow down the choice is to investigate the HSA offered with your employer’s health plan. It will likely meet your investment needs. 

If you're no longer with your employer and are looking to move your HSA, look at free HSA providers like Lively, who also offer investment options.

Among the shortlist above, you’re sure to find an HSA provider who can check all of the boxes you’re looking for.