Invest in your future
Your Optum Financial health savings account (HSA) provides more than medical cost savings. It’s a smart investment option that can help you build a financial plan for today and tomorrow.
Investing HSA dollars has many potential tax benefits and can be an additional way to save for long-term health care needs and financial goals. HSAs are triple tax-advantaged, making them an effective savings and investment account:
- Withdrawals for qualified medical expenses are income-tax-free.
- All contributions to an HSA are income-tax-free.
- And, any interest earnings and investment growth from deposits are income-tax-free.
Once your HSA reaches a certain designated balance of $1,000, you may choose to invest a portion of your HSA dollars. In addition to mutual funds, Optum Financial is excited to announce a new investment option: digitally managed investments with Betterment.
You can use your HSA with other retirement accounts to maximize your after-tax retirement income. Saving in an HSA for retirement gives you a tax-advantaged account dedicated to future medical expenses — allowing you the opportunity to avoid dipping into retirement accounts intended for cost-of-living expenses. Also, HSAs are a great way to pay for qualified medical expenses in retirement. Once you reach age 65 you may use your HSA funds for nonqualified medical expenses without penalty — just pay ordinary income tax.
Investment guidelines:
- When funds are transferred to your investment account, the amount of the transfer cannot bring the balance of your HSA below your investment threshold.
- The minimum amount that can be transferred to your investment account is $100.
- You can’t make payments for qualified medical expenses directly from your investment account. If you wish to use funds from your investment account to make payments, the funds will first need to be moved back into our HSA.
Video
Investment options
You've got choices for your HSA investment options, allowing you to select the solution that's best for you.
Watch this video to learn more about your investment options and how to start investing today.
Investing resources
Investing opportunities for your HSA
Investing your HSA dollars can play an important role in your overall wealth and retirement strategy.
Investing resource
HSAs and retirement
An HSA is a great tool to help you prepare for future health care costs and retirement and save on taxes.
General investing FAQ
Money you contribute to your HSA is placed in a deposit account, also called a cash account. When you reach a certain balance in your cash account, you may put your money over that minimum balance into an investment account.
This gives you the opportunity to potentially grow your HSA savings longer term — whether you are planning for a medical procedure in several years or saving for health costs in retirement. Investment returns are not guaranteed and involve more risk than cash deposits.
You currently have diverse investment options in your HSA, including digitally managed investments from Betterment, self-directed mutual funds and a health savings brokerage account with Schwab. You can choose to invest based on how experienced you are and how involved you want to be in selecting your investments.
I want help investing and don’t want to spend a lot of time managing my portfolio. Can I get help investing?
You may choose to have Betterment manage your investment funds. Betterment is an independent online investment advisor and combines low-cost, tax-efficient investment strategies with technology and personalized advice to help you pursue your financial goals.
Once you answer a few brief questions about your investment goals and priorities, Betterment will build a personalized portfolio of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with investment mixes and risk levels that are suitable for you.
I have some investment experience and prefer mutual funds. Can I choose my own investments?
You may choose from among a number of preselected mutual funds from nationally recognized fund families. These have been selected to offer a broad and diverse range of investment objectives, with high Morningstar ratings and some of the lowest expense ratios in the industry.
I am comfortable managing my own investments. Can I have the added flexibility?
You may choose to open a health savings brokerage account through Schwab. Find the right investments for you by selecting from thousands of investments. Schwab offers support when you need it with their industry-leading tools and resources.
* Based on an account holder making no withdrawals and incurring no account fees. Your situation may vary, please consult your tax advisor. Individual Results may vary, investing may result in losses including the loss of the principal amount invested.
** Devenir Research 2021 Year-End HSA Market Statistics & Trends