One can certainly contribute directly to an HSA at any time. But one advantage to contributing through an employer cafeteria plan is that you don't pay FICA (SS/Medicare) on the contribution, in addition to the tax withholding issue that you mention above. If you contribute with post-tax funds then you can take a deduction for the contribution, but you've still paid FICA on it (assuming you're employed).Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't have to contribute to an employer-sponsored HSA. You can just open an individual one at Fidelity or wherever and make deposits on your own whenever you want. You can definitely front load if you want to. As long as the total contributions across all HSA accounts doesn't exceed the annual limit and you were covered by a HDHP you're golden. You'll get the reduction in taxable income no matter what HSA account you put the money in. The only small downside would be your W2 provider might not lower the tax withholding from your paycheck since they can't know how much you put into the other HSA account.At my employer, our per-pay-period contribution is limited to a prorated share of the annual limit, it is not possible to front load. Every plan is different in how they handle it, the only one that matters is yours.One question though: From what I understand, a HSA is what one funds pretty early every year (after emergency fund and getting the 401k match). Are people really funding their HSAs as early as possible in the year? That would mean you're pretty certain that you're staying at your current place of employment... well it's my fault, I'm eight years behind >_<
Statistics: Posted by MP123 — Wed Jul 31, 2024 1:05 pm — Replies 8 — Views 480