I've had my HSA with HSA Bank for years. Several years ago, they had me move my HSA investment account portion to Schwab, which was great because I use Schwab for my retirement aco****s, brokerage, checking, etc. Now, they've stopped working with Schwab and I'm not allowed to transfer HSA cash to my Schwab account. I have to use one of they're investment account options - which I'm not totally clear about.

I'd prefer to have all of my HSA investment funds in the same place and it kind of pisses me off HSA Bank did this. I also had an incredibly frustrating experience with HSA Bank's customer service.

So, I'm looking to switch from HSA Bank alltogether and I'm told these 3 banks allow Schwab investments. Does anyone have any experience with Lively, Optum or, HealthEquity? I guess an alternative is to just liquidate my HSA investment funds with Schwab and transfer them to whoever HSA Bank is using now...but I'm really not excited about doing that after my experiences with them.

I really just want to have everything in the same place...and also good investment options.

Any thoughts, advice, etc.?

Optum sucks

Took forever to transfer funds out and then they kept trying to charge me account fees after I moved everything out.

I appreciate it. I'm not opposed to considering the Fidelity option at all. Really not happy with HSA Bank. Thanks for the input and keep em coming! Was really hoping someone had some experience with Lively as my quick research showed that to be a good option along with Schwab.

+1 another for Fidelity after negative experiences with Optum.

Schwab or Fidelity. It's the same as their regular brokerage account so you can buy pretty much whatever stock, ETF or mutual fund you want.

I don't think Schwab has a stand alone HSA. Only a Schwab Health Savings Brokerage account, which is what I have (it initially linked to my HSA Bank HSA account).

From their website:

"How does it work?

• Your Health Savings Account provider must offer a brokerage option as part of your HSA, in order for you to open an account."

I'd love to be wrong though.

You are right I was unaware Schwab was set up that way. I guess Fidelity is my suggestion then. It's no fee for stocks and ETFs (also get access to Fidelity Zero mutual funds like FZROX). It also lets you trade options and buy individual treasuries and brokered CDs. I doubt any other platform would give you more flexibility that that for a lower fee.

Sorry for giving incorrect information in my last post.

Yep - I appreciate the help! Sounds like Fidelity may be the way to go.

Lively is OK, I found out about them and moved all my HSA to Lively a few years ago, and they had partnered with TD Ameritrade for investment options, which was great.
Then Schwab bought TDA out and you had to keep like $3000 in a pitiful savings account and could only invest the amount over that.

Ended up transferring it all over to Fidelity, and never looked back. No brainer, Fidelity is by far the best.

insulator_king said:

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Lively is OK, I found out about them and moved all my HSA to Lively a few years ago, and they had partnered with TD Ameritrade for investment options, which was great.
Then Schwab bought TDA out and you had to keep like $3000 in a pitiful savings account and could only invest the amount over that.

Ended up transferring it all over to Fidelity, and never looked back. No brainer, Fidelity is by far the best.

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I use lively and I've never heard of or had to deal with an account minimum. Not trying to argue but am genuinely curious.

I really like lively. In fact, I haven't figured out how they make money yet other than they get a day float on your withdrawals. Fees are low, website is user friendly, their app is easy to use. I would say my only complaint is that when you transfer reimbursements out, each reimbursement is deposited individually. In other words, if I want to transfer out a reimbursement for 10 different expenses, I will get 10 different deposits. If there is a way to change that, I haven't figured it out yet.

kyle field 94 said:

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I was with HSA Bank and got tired of paying their monthly fees and required amount left in cash

I moved everything over to Fidelity with no monthly costs, no cash reserve requirement in another account etc

I know you are a Schwab customer, but might think about fidelity for this account

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Same here. Was with HSA Bank, then got notice that they were dropping Schwab in lieu of their own brokerage window a couple of years ago. I moved all my accounts to Fidelity and couldn't be happier.

For the HSA, it's actually way better. Fidelity is the bank and brokerage, so there's only one account. No more moving money to A, then moving that money to B. It also allows me to invest 100% of the account balance without fear of fees for not maintaining x cash "in the bank account".

Plus, what cash is there is in essentially a high-yield savings account.

Way better, IMO.

ETA: moving the accounts was very easy and straightforward, IIRC.

gigemhilo said:

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insulator_king said:

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Lively is OK, I found out about them and moved all my HSA to Lively a few years ago, and they had partnered with TD Ameritrade for investment options, which was great.
Then Schwab bought TDA out and you had to keep like $3000 in a pitiful savings account and could only invest the amount over that.

Ended up transferring it all over to Fidelity, and never looked back. No brainer, Fidelity is by far the best.

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I use lively and I've never heard of or had to deal with an account minimum. Not trying to argue but am genuinely curious.

I really like lively. In fact, I haven't figured out how they make money yet other than they get a day float on your withdrawals. Fees are low, website is user friendly, their app is easy to use. I would say my only complaint is that when you transfer reimbursements out, each reimbursement is deposited individually. In other words, if I want to transfer out a reimbursement for 10 different expenses, I will get 10 different deposits. If there is a way to change that, I haven't figured it out yet.

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I see I wasn't clear. There is no Minimum balance to have an account, but to be able to invest in stocks, you have to have a minimum balance of $2 or 3 thousand.
Also, I am using it as an investment account instead of using it to pay medical expenses right now, which it sounds like you are doing. When I turn 65, I may start to withdraw some funds without penalty, or I might leave it to grow a little more for longer.

insulator_king said:

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gigemhilo said:

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insulator_king said:

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Lively is OK, I found out about them and moved all my HSA to Lively a few years ago, and they had partnered with TD Ameritrade for investment options, which was great.
Then Schwab bought TDA out and you had to keep like $3000 in a pitiful savings account and could only invest the amount over that.

Ended up transferring it all over to Fidelity, and never looked back. No brainer, Fidelity is by far the best.

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I use lively and I've never heard of or had to deal with an account minimum. Not trying to argue but am genuinely curious.

I really like lively. In fact, I haven't figured out how they make money yet other than they get a day float on your withdrawals. Fees are low, website is user friendly, their app is easy to use. I would say my only complaint is that when you transfer reimbursements out, each reimbursement is deposited individually. In other words, if I want to transfer out a reimbursement for 10 different expenses, I will get 10 different deposits. If there is a way to change that, I haven't figured it out yet.

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I see I wasn't clear. There is no Minimum balance to have an account, but to be able to invest in stocks, you have to have a minimum balance of $2 or 3 thousand.
Also, I am using it as an investment account instead of using it to pay medical expenses right now, which it sounds like you are doing. When I turn 65, I may start to withdraw some funds without penalty, or I might leave it to grow a little more for longer.

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I use it as an investment account - we've had ours since the HSA accounts were passed into law. I do occasionally pull money out for current medical expenses.

I have a HealthEquity HSA. You can connect to a Schwab brokerage account...

Quote:

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The Schwab brokerage account is a self-directed Schwab brokerage account that resides with Schwab that you can access through your HealthEquity account, providing expanded investment choices for members to invest and potentially grow their HSA tax-free. It is most appropriate for knowledgeable, experienced investors who want an expanded selection of investment options, can dedicate more time to managing their portfolio, and are comfortable making more of their investment decisions.

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I thought the HSAs were like 401ks in that your employer picks the custodian while you're an employee and then, once you leave, you can transfer it to another financial institution.

Is that correct, or can you choose what financial institution you have your HSA with your current employer (that you are making paycheck deduction contributions to) with?

TexAg2k8 said:

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I thought the HSAs were like 401ks in that your employer picks the custodian while you're an employee and then, once you leave, you can transfer it to another financial institution.

Is that correct, or can you choose what financial institution you have your HSA with your current employer (that you are making paycheck deduction contributions to) with?

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Employer picks the custodian if you find it through payroll deductions.

If you find it directly, like an IRA, you choose the custodian.

I direct fund mine and take the deduction when I file my taxes.

You should be able to do periodic in service rollovers/transfer of assets to a self directed HSA for better investment options and lower fees. This is what we do with my wife's HSA- keep the required minimum in her employer sponsored account while annually transferring out the rest to Fidelity.
https://www.reddit.com/r/fidelityinvestments/comments/15vfi5q/can_i_move_funds_from_a_functional_hsa_with_my/

I am self-employed but I have a high-deductible PPO plan that grandfathered in after Obamacare (not offered anymore). I keep expecting BCBS to cancel me and they never have.

For my HSA, I originally had it with my local bank. When we were more settled, I started saving it to invest and moved it to HSA Bank for a while. When I learned about Lively, I moved it there to open the TD Ameritrade/now Schwab account.

Another vote that Optum sucks. My employer had Health Equity before. Now swapping to Fidelity which should be much better.

Just curious, what was the complaint on HealthEquity? Fees? I just switched from an employer with Fidelity to HealthEquity. I noticed the fees were higher (my old employer covered the quarterly Fidelity fee) if you had a higher amount invested. I wasn't sure if there were other complaints.