HSA and you - what’s in your cart?
I’ve only recently realized that I can use my HSA account to buy food and supplements, as well as some actual fitness equipment. I’m based in USA - so I’m sure this varies by location. I have recently used it to get protein and it made me wonder, what’s everyone else use theirs for?
I was told by my doctor if I don’t lose weight and control my BP that I’d be heading for an early grave. I was up to 268 lbs and had BP considered “hypertensive crisis” level. I knew it was time to change, and I thank God for keeping me around long enough to make that change.
One website I found is mostly over priced garbage, but it did make me wonder if anyone else uses them or another LMN providing service (letter of medical necessity) to secure supps at a pretax rate?
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I think you are confusing an FSA with an HSA. An FSA is use it or lose it. All contributions must be used by end of the tax year or are lost. An HSA is for people with a High Deductible plan and allows various funding levels based upon household size up to $10,750 for families with both parents over 55 or $8,750 for families with parents under. The contributions are an above the line deduction on your tax return which can be huge if you are applying for ACA insurance. However, the BEST thing to do with these contributions is to invest them a the market, in a fund like VOO, and let them grow tax free until retirement like an IRA. You still get the deduction on your taxes but don’t actually have to spend the money that year. It’s a nice additional wealth builder.
Do you have to have an underlying diagnosis to justify buying supplements or do they just include that in HSA purchases automatically? You should go more public with this, i bet there is a lot of unused and lost HSA for not knowing. Use it or lose it right?
Actually, no, FSA (slight difference) is a use it or lose it. HSA, for MOST companies, just rolls over. My company contributes a small amount, $19 per pay period, and then I’ll have a limit on what I can put in.
I’ve been doing some research actually, and you can invest HSA funds, depending on your plan. There’s a ton of great YouTube videos on it, I believe I’ve only scratched the surface on that one.
For the use of the funds, there’s a “vanilla” list of IRS approved items, however, with a LMN (letter of medical necessity), you can tap into a much wider range of products. I’m in NY, so the pretax advantage for someone like me is significant. There’s a site that does have a good amount of “secondary” partners, and the process for a LMN is very simple. You just save that LMN to submit if requested during tax time by the IRS.
Huge tax benefits. Pretax and investment gains are not taxed either. Can roll over year after year. If you can save it up, you could have a nice nest egg for medical expenses when you retire and don’t have an active income.
I am dabbling into all this now - I plan on maximizing my benefits here, and investing, in some blue chips so I can earn a solid yield
Good to know
6'3" 268 obviously isn't lean, but doesn't sound like "crisis" level obese. Do you have some other health problems, or was it gear induced?
Also I don't think the sources you mentioned matter but be careful mentioning sources on the forums.
Congrats on ur weight loss and using your HSA to get yourself a gym. Get some badass stuff that we are all jealous of.
Actually it was only while on TRT. My BP was approaching 200/140 (exact numbers were only marginally lower!). I was getting such bad headaches I couldn’t even lay my head down, always on one side of my head too. The only other health issue I’ve had was kidney stones and fatty liver, the latter of which was a result of putting weight on. Had a bit of depression which was exacerbated by drinking, or vice versa. Haven’t touched alcohol in over a year though.
Editing out the site I mentioned, just in case. Thanks
God damn, that is some high BP. Congrats on getting it figured out and ur progress. If you're still struggling with it, there's sources on here that you can get BP meds. Be careful tho, some deplete potassium, or retain potassium or have other sides. Cardio and water help with bp along with fish oil
Thank you - the whole concept of high BP is a new one for me. I’ve had to maintain a healthy BP forever as a CDL holder, only recently have I had issues. I have an at home tester now, and started getting regular bloods to make sure I’m gonna be around long term. It was definitely a wake up call