IRA to HSA?
Seasons Greetings,Terry! I would like to transfer money out of an IRA that's paying less than 1% to an HSA since we meet the requirements of having one. Is this better than just taking the funds from a regular checking account? We are both retired so cannot make contributions from our paychecks.
Terry Says
Well, you simply can't do that! You can't take money out of your IRA without paying taxes. You can't contribute to an HSA unless you have a "sponsored product" that includes underlying high deductible health insurance -- and if you're retired you are likely on Medicare and don't need that insurance. You've just got a lot confused. If your problem is that you're "only" earning 1% on your IRA, you can move that -- do a direct rollover from your current custodian to a new custodian like Fidelity or Vanguard. Of course, you would only do that if you want to invest more aggressively, which you could do in a stock market fund. And then you could get a much higher return -- OR you could LOSE a significant portion of your IRA! The 1 percent you are earning now is about the maximum you can get without taking more risk -- no matter what any salesman promises. Think about that before you make a move! If you can't afford to lose ANY money stick with that conservative investment hou already have.
