The reason we are so bullish about HSAs is because it is hands-down the best way to protect yourself against unexpected medical expenses. The triple tax advantage (tax-deductible deposit, tax-deferred growth, and tax-free withdrawals when taking money out to cover a medical expense) make HSAs the very first place you should put any savings, before funding a 401k or other retirement vehicles. But of course there is much more that you should do as part of a complete financial planning program.
Lessons I Learned the Hard Way
Last week my wife and I spent a few days in San Francisco, California. The last time we were there together was in early 2001, as we were coming back to the U.S. from a 13 month trip around the world we had taken.
The trip back then was the type of opportunity that might come along once in a lifetime, and I look back today grateful that we took the risks a trip like that entails. We traveled to mostly inexpensive third world countries like Peru, Morocco, India, Nepal, and Bali, and we typically stayed in small inexpensive motels, and sometimes on thatched shacks on the beach
Unfortunately, the trip turned out to be incredibly expensive if you count what happened to our investments during that time. In my naiveté, I had decided that the best place to invest our money before heading off to the far corners of the world would, would be in technology and telecom.
A couple months later while we were in the jungles of Peru, the dot-com crash happened. Years of savings disappeared, and some of my accounts have yet to fully recover 10 years later.
What Should We Do With Our Money, Right Now?
Our philosophy at HSA for America is one of freedom and personal responsibility. We believe that the individual should take the steps protect against financial loss due to health expenses, and that the best way to do that is usually with a high-deductible health insurance plan combined with a health savings account.
In addition to your health, there are other financial areas where you want to minimize costs and risks, and maximize your return. You probably want to have disability coverage, to pay you an income if you cannot work. Long-term care insurance can provide benefits if you end up in a nursing home one day.
But probably most importantly, you want to have your long-term retirement plans laid out. I’ve certainly come to realize that as I get older, I can no longer afford to take financial hits like I did back in 2000. I’m now 10 years closer to retirement age, and I now have a child who’ll be incurring college expenses in 10 years.
Be Well Informed
Since so many of our members have been asking us about this, I’m proud to announce that we are expanding our services that we offer our members. On Thursday June 24th, we are having a special webinar titled The Financial Myth and Pitfall Busting Workshop.
This will be a free one hour webinar where we’ll go through a set of principles that will enable anyone to create financial balance in their personal and business life. You’ll learn the exact steps to take to make sure your financial future is on track in these times of stock market volatility and unsustainable government debt.
I hope you’ll join us. You can sign up at HSAforAmerica.com/financialplan.
To your health and wealth,
Wiley
Long
President - HSA
for America
