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Welp.
Are you sure that last amount was contributed in 2021? Our accounting seems odd, as leave counts in the year accrued but contributions to the TSP count in the year made. So if the pay was officially contributed Jan 1, the amount contributed out of that paycheck goes towards 2022 but the leave earned (and use or lose if relevant) is part of 2021.jm192 said:
Not seeing where VTIVX is negative. https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/profile/performance/vtivx
It threw off about $4.34 in reinvested dividends end of December. That's about a 15% return.
Move that retirement up a few minutes.Gotta love dividends. Got two in my traditional IRA last week. .03 and.01.
If we contribute $50 / pay period; so $1300 for the year, when can I withdraw the money to cover January’s medical bills? With the new year, our deductible in January means we will pay more this month than in most. Do I just have to wait until we’ve contributed enough to cover the withdrawal?
With a health FSA, the amount you elect is fully available day 1 of the plan year. if you would happen to leave the company, you would not owe those funds back, even if the whole $1,300 wasn’t deducted from your pay.
Thanks. I thought I had read that but it seemed odd to get basically a zero percent loan along with the tax benefits.
Just remember, FSA is use it or lose it. Some plans have a carryover, or a grace period which helps if you can’t spend all of your funds in 2022. Read you plan documents so you know what your specific plan offers
I've never understood why one would elect FSA over HSA (and invest/carryover).
Not all plans are HSA eligible. My wife has some chronic conditions and never has one, but we are combining plans this year.
All depends on what employer offers. HSA is only eligible if the health plan is compatible. You can have both. But I’m a big advocate of HSAs.
Sounds good.
Yeah, I Bonds and then a brokerage account with a Total Market ETF seem like the best way to go with some liquidity, although clearly not as much as a cash equivalent.You could consider Series I bonds for funds you don't need for the next year. You get 7.1% interest on it for the first 6 months and probably something in the 5-6% range for the next 6, but you forfeit the last three months of interest if you withdraw before 5 years.
There isn't really a lot of options out there for short term liquid funds. Many would suggest keeping savings above your emergency fund level in a taxable brokerage maybe a total market or a dividend focused ETF.
You could also consider using that cash to churn bank or brokerage bonuses if you are well organized and good at bureaucracy
FSA can be very useful for some items. Some dental and vision procedures aren't medical, but FSA is allowed. When I got LASIK I funded the FSA so I was using pre-tax monies.
HSAs can be used for lasik as well as most dental bills. I haven’t come across any dental bills that I wasn’t able to use my HSA for.
At the time I had an FSA, but no HSA. Regardless of that I've left my HSA alone to grow - the longer it stays in the tax free space the better the long term outcome there.
Almost? What more do you need? HDHPs generally come with lower premiums. So you’re saving money up front.
The minimum deductible to still possibly be an HDHP is 1,400 for an individual (2,800 for a family) this year. The key to an HDHP is that nothing can come before that deductible (no copays for Rx or dr visits).
Ok, but you might want to do some reading on it. For background, I’m a life and health insurance agent. An HDHP (high deductible health plan) is a term coined I think by the IRS. It means a health plan that meets the requirements set by them, each year (as the ruleS change). For this year the lowest an individual deductible can be is 1,400 (though most hdhps have higher deductibles). The key is that you can’t have any “up front benefits” prior to meeting that set deductible. Say your deductible just reset with the calendar year and you went to the doctor today and got an Rx for something. You’d pay full price for both (so you wouldn’t have a $20 dr visit copay for instance, or a $15 tier 1 drug copay) - which could be $100 for the dr visit and $70 for the Rx. Both of those paid amounts can be paid for from the HSA, and both would go towards your deductible (and max out of pocket) for the plan/calendar year.
Union worker?
I pay $25 / month for a plan with a max oop $3,000 annual. We’re ineligible due to our being covered by tricare, and I’m not about to waive that coverage.
NutterButter said:
Oh ya... that makes sense now that I think of it being I know you went with a VA loan. 'vid still has me a little fuzzy in the head.-OZ- said:
You can get an HSA on your own if you qualify.NutterButter said:
Smart keeping receipts like that. Current tax law does indeed allow you to reimburse yourself, even years later. Also keep in mind that you can pay Medicare premiums (part B and D, NOT a Medicare supplement) from an HSA, so it’s not just “medical expenses.” If I make it to 65 (or whatever Medicare age will be for us) and have significant HSA $ first off I’ll be happy that I’ve had a healthy life, but it will just be my Medicare prepayment fund.
