By Amanda Umpierrez | Originally posted on 401K Specialist Panelists at the Broadridge 360 Advisor Summit urged advisors to include Medicare and HSAs in their retirement planning strategies. Are health savings accounts (HSAs) and Medicare a perfect union when retirement planning? A recent panel at the Broadridge 360 Advisor Summit thinks so. Medicare expert Melinda Caughhill, who is also co-founder of i65, a Medicare guidance software for financial planners, opened the session with an animated presentation urging advisors to include Medicare in their overall retirement plan strategies with cli ..read more

By Tessa Campbell | Originally posted on Business Insider Social Security provides a vital safety net for millions of Americans who might otherwise fall below the poverty line. Still, it was never meant to be a primary source of income for retirees. Longer life expectancy and increased health care costs have significantly strained the program's finances. The 2023 Social Security and Medicare Trustees annual report projects that the program's trust fund reserves will be depleted by 2035. That doesn't mean there wouldn't be money to pay out Social Security benefits. But if officials don't find a ..read more

by ABA Banking Journal The IRS this week published the inflation-adjusted contribution limits and high-deductible health plan requirements for 2025. For the coming year, the annual deduction limit for individuals with self-only coverage under a high-deductible health plan is $4,300. The annual deduction limit for individuals with family coverage is $8,550. Also for 2025, the minimum annual deductible for a high-deductible health plan is $1,650 for self-only coverage and $3,300 for family coverage. The minimum annual-of-pocket limit—such as deductibles, co-payments and other amounts, but not pr ..read more

By Maurie Backman | Originally posted on The Motley Fool The nice thing about savings accounts is that anyone with money can open one. And if you have extra funds at your disposal, you may be in a position to open a certificate of deposit (CD) if you're all set on emergency savings. HSAs, or health savings accounts, are a bit more exclusive in that you need to meet certain criteria via your health coverage to be able to fund one. But if you're eligible for an HSA, you stand to benefit in a really big way. So even if you didn't have HSA access in 2023, it pays to see if things have changed for ..read more

By William G. Stuart | Originally posted on LinkedIn for Health Savings Academy This column is an excerpt (Question 99) from a book to be published later this year to help guide account owners, employers, benefits managers, and administrators understand Health Savings Account compliance issues. The format consists of a common question, an explanation in easy-to-understand English (often with an appropriate example), and citation from government documents to support the answer. The book is designed to inform. It is not a legal document, and the contents should not be construed as legal advice ..read more

By William G. Stuart | Originally posted on LinkedIn for Health Savings Academy * Only a very small percentage of Medicare Part A enrollees are eligible to disenroll to continue funding a Health Savings Account. Chances are excellent that you're not among this handful. No Health Savings Account topic is more confusing than the intersection of these financial accounts and Medicare coverage. This observation was reinforced last week when an industry colleague asked me to weigh in on a compliance question. One of his company's account owners had talked to a Social Security representative and was ..read more

By John Manganaro | Originally posted on ThinkAdvisor Survey data published this week by Northwestern Mutual shows that Americans’ “magic number” for retirement has surged to an all-time high — rising much faster than the rate of inflation and swelling more than 50% since the onset of the pandemic. According to the poll, Americans on average think they need to save $1.46 million to retire comfortably, a 15% increase over the $1.27 million reported last year. That jump far outpaces today’s inflation rate, which hovers between 2% and 3%. The magic number has jumped 53% from the $951,000 tar ..read more

By William G. (Bill) Stuart | Originally posted on LinkedIn by Health Savings Academy This column is an excerpt (Question 52) from a book to be published later this year to help guide account owners, employers, benefits managers, and administrators understand Health Savings Account compliance issues. The format consists of a common question, an explanation in easy-to-understand English (often with an appropriate example), and citation from government documents to support the answer. The book is designed to inform. It is not a legal document, and the contents should not be construed as legal ad ..read more

By William G. Stuart | Originally posted on LinkedIn for Health Savings Academy Some expenses for general health may be qualified for tax-free reimbursement from a Health Savings Account. But a Letter of Medical Necessity isn't a guarantee that the product or service is qualified. Last week, the Internal Revenue Service took the unusual step of issuing a press release [IR-2024-65: IRS alert: Beware of companies misrepresenting nutrition, wellness and general health expenses as medical care for FSAs, HSAs, HRAs and MSAs (govdelivery.com)] to inform Health Savings Account owners, Health FSA, par ..read more

By National Council on Aging | Originally posted here Many people take advantage of Health Savings Accounts to put money aside for future medical costs. But there are special rules you need to know about these accounts when first joining Medicare. What is a Health Savings Account (HSA)?  An HSA itself is not a health insurance plan but an option with a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). Employer Group HDHPs are increasingly popular due to their relatively lower costs to employers.  An HSA is a valuable tool to save money to pay the higher upfront out-of-pocket costs and offers tax b ..read more