I have about $1100 in my HSA.
I am very likely leaving my company in Feb so I want to make sure I’m on top of any benefits now before I put my notice in.
Can I pull this money & pocket it?
They do have an Amazon connection so do I just buy a ton on tampons and Tylenols and health stuff before I leave?
I do have a balance from LabCorp for some blood tests. If I wanted to use this money to that, how would it work? That would be ideal.
I don’t think I ever got a bank card or anything. I just get emails from the HSA Bank website every month. It’s connected to my work email so I’m worried about access after putting in my notice.
Any info would be helpful – thanks!
ETA: I did some further research. Looks like they did in fact mail me a bank card in 2023 when I started the job but it’s listed as CLOSED. Likely because I never activated it. I’m going to see if they can mail me a new one.
How does an HSA actually work? Leaving my job
byu/FabulousPristine inpersonalfinance
Posted by FabulousPristine
8 Comments
You can keep the money in this HSA indepenant of your employment. You can use the money for anything medical related, so you should be able to use to pay LabCorp. There are penalties with most for pulling money out for not medical related. But check your plan’s specific details.
Some people use HSA as more of an extra investment account and it is often recommended as the next account to start funding right after getting your 401K match. That is how I am using mine.
Its YOUR HSA act, you keep it, its your money. I don’t think you can pull it out but might be able to at retirement ages.
Get control of the account and continue to add money to it if you want or just use it all on HSA eligible purchases or medical visits.
Think of it as a “health” Ira. The value is not tied to your continued employment
If you’re worried about access to the account, you can transfer to an independent HSA at Fidelity or something. The lack of a card to pay with is somewhat odd, but not a huge deal. You can just reimburse yourself with a transfer to your bank account, if need be.
Just don’t cash it out. That would mean taking penalties.
AND, log into their site and change your contact information to your home email and not your work email. Whenever I sign up for anything thru work, I use my home email. Including my HSA and 401(k).
Worth noting that even though an HSA is intended to be a card for healthcare related spending, if you can afford it, it is actually a good tax shelter for mitigation purposes. Basically, any gains from invested money in that fund is tax free, so not only is it a deduction to put money into it, you also benefit from not using it.
HSA is portable, meaning you can take the account with you. Unlike FSA, you don’t need to spend it within a given period (calendar year or runoff period following termination.)
The first thing you should do is to go into your account setting and change your email address from work to personal.
If you’re looking to use HSA against your blood test results, it depends on how your insurer/HSA providers are linked. Some insurance providers will allow you to pay directly from your HSA (review your claims and see if there is option to pay now), but if not, you can pay out of pocket then submit invoice and proof of receipt for reimbursement.
You don’t actually *have* to do anything with it. HSA money is yours forever, until you spend it on qualified medical expenses or use it as an IRA after you retire (any pay the taxes on it). No need at all to try to get the money back out by spending it on stuff that you could afford to pay for out of pocket. Let it sit invested and growing for as long as possible until you actually n*eed* to spend it on a medical emergency.
However, depending on how the account works, they may start charging you fees after you leave the company (the company may be paying the fees right now). If that is the case, or if you just don’t like the bank/brokerage where it is now, you can open a HSA account somewhere that you do like and roll over the money to that account.
You may be thinking of a FSA, which is a real “use it or lose it” situation.