HSA transfer: Health Equity to Fidelity

[FIREchief]

Hi. I'm helping a friend get their HSA assets transferred to a Fidelity HSA. The current HSA is held at Health Equity and will continue to be routinely funded with payroll deductions. That said, Health Equity has a $1000 cash minimum balance requirement and, while the investment options are good, we would like to transfer the maximum to Fidelity on a recurring basis. A few questions for anybody who may have done this:

a) Does Health Equity charge a transfer fee for a partial account transfer such as this? (I realize it may vary due to specific employer plan agreements).
b) Can this be initiated as a "pull" through Fidelity?
c) If yes to "b", would the existing investments need to be sold to cash prior to the transfer?

I would also be interested in any other tips or lessons learned. Thanks!

[life in slices]

I have a HE plan that I am currently contributing to and transfer a few times a year to my HSA account at Fidelity

a) I think this is employer specific - I have $0 fees for partial transfers and only have to keep $25 or greater at HE after a transfer to keep the account open. On BH some have mentioned fees in the $25 range for transfers, so I would have your friend check his documentation or call into HE to see what fees there are. That said there is a once every 12-month ability to do a rollover that has should have no fees
b) Yes - I do all of my transfers directly from Fidelity as it seemed to be more efficient - there is a Transfer of Asset form that can be accessed by clicking a link within the Fidelity HSA - the transfer is long though, about 20 calendar days on average
c) Not sure, I have only been transferring cash and have not invested anything at HE

Hope that helps!

[life in slices]

ETA - this is what I see this about transfers on my account at HE:

"To authorize HealthEquity to transfer a partial amount of your health savings account (HSA), complete this form. You must leave at least $25.00 inmyour cash balance in order to do a partial transfer. In order to allow for all transactions to settle, your account will be frozen for a period of at least five (5) business days prior to the funds being transferred.
Note: You must have the funds you are requesting to transfer available in the HSA Cash balance plus $25.00 before a Partial Transfer can be completed. HealthEquity does not automatically liquidate investments on your behalf. To do this, you must log in to your online account and sell enough funds to cover the balance you are requesting to transfer plus $25.00 to leave in the cash balance"

It might also be employer specific, but in my case HE will only transfer cash - I would have your friend call HE or look at the HE transfer form for more info

[w5000]

My employer uses Health Equity for our HSA. We have a $2,000 minimum before you can invest the funds, but then they also charge around a 0.36% fee on invested funds, on top of fund expenses. So I've been transferring funds from HealthEquity to my HSA at Fidelity. In fact, my third partial transfer of the year is in progress right now.

You can do a (theoretically) unlimited number of partial transfers from HealthEquity. You have to leave $25 in the account to keep it open.

a) Does Health Equity charge a transfer fee for a partial account transfer such as this? (I realize it may vary due to specific employer plan agreements).

no. At least I've never been charged any fee, and I've done at least 6 transfers now.

(b) Can this be initiated as a "pull" through Fidelity?

yes? At least when I spoke with Fidelity earlier this year, they said they could do it, but I've always initiated my transfers from HealthEquity.

c) If yes to "b", would the existing investments need to be sold to cash prior to the transfer?

I don't know of an option to do an in-kind transfer.


The process is a bit of a PITA:

• Fill out a partial transfer form on the HealthEquity website (you can find it by searching help for partial transfer).
• Wait a few days for them to process the form.
• They freeze your account for 5 days in case you have any debit charges coming in.
• Then the send a check via US mail to Fidelity.

The whole process has taken around 1.5 weeks until the funds are in my Fidelity HSA.

[dcabler]

I have a HE plan that I am currently contributing to and transfer a few times a year to my HSA account at Fidelity

a) I think this is employer specific - I have $0 fees for partial transfers and only have to keep $25 or greater at HE after a transfer to keep the account open. On BH some have mentioned fees in the $25 range for transfers, so I would have your friend check his documentation or call into HE to see what fees there are. That said there is a once every 12-month ability to do a rollover that has should have no fees
b) Yes - I do all of my transfers directly from Fidelity as it seemed to be more efficient - there is a Transfer of Asset form that can be accessed by clicking a link within the Fidelity HSA - the transfer is long though, about 20 calendar days on average
c) Not sure, I have only been transferring cash and have not invested anything at HE

Hope that helps!

Pretty much the same all the way around for me as the above except for where I initiate the transfer. The first time I did it I initiated from Fidelity. The second time I did it I initiated it from HE using their online form which is hard to find. The transfer happened one week sooner by initiating from HE. So I always initiate from HE now after every 3 paychecks.

To the OP are sure it's a $1K cash balance? We only require greater than $1K if you're going to transfer from cash to invest any excess above $1K. If you're not going to invest, the cash can go as low as $25

Cheers

[FIREchief]

I have a HE plan that I am currently contributing to and transfer a few times a year to my HSA account at Fidelity

a) I think this is employer specific - I have $0 fees for partial transfers and only have to keep $25 or greater at HE after a transfer to keep the account open. On BH some have mentioned fees in the $25 range for transfers, so I would have your friend check his documentation or call into HE to see what fees there are. That said there is a once every 12-month ability to do a rollover that has should have no fees
b) Yes - I do all of my transfers directly from Fidelity as it seemed to be more efficient - there is a Transfer of Asset form that can be accessed by clicking a link within the Fidelity HSA - the transfer is long though, about 20 calendar days on average
c) Not sure, I have only been transferring cash and have not invested anything at HE

Hope that helps!

Thanks!!!!!!

[life in slices]

I have a HE plan that I am currently contributing to and transfer a few times a year to my HSA account at Fidelity

a) I think this is employer specific - I have $0 fees for partial transfers and only have to keep $25 or greater at HE after a transfer to keep the account open. On BH some have mentioned fees in the $25 range for transfers, so I would have your friend check his documentation or call into HE to see what fees there are. That said there is a once every 12-month ability to do a rollover that has should have no fees
b) Yes - I do all of my transfers directly from Fidelity as it seemed to be more efficient - there is a Transfer of Asset form that can be accessed by clicking a link within the Fidelity HSA - the transfer is long though, about 20 calendar days on average
c) Not sure, I have only been transferring cash and have not invested anything at HE

Hope that helps!

Pretty much the same all the way around for me as the above except for where I initiate the transfer. The first time I did it I initiated from Fidelity. The second time I did it I initiated it from HE using their online form which is hard to find. The transfer happened one week sooner by initiating from HE. So I always initiate from HE now after every 3 paychecks.

To the OP are sure it's a $1K cash balance? We only require greater than $1K if you're going to transfer from cash to invest any excess above $1K. If you're not going to invest, the cash can go as low as $25

Cheers

Good to know that it is faster from the HE side - I will give that a try for a transfer I will do at the end of the month

[FIREchief]

To the OP are sure it's a $1K cash balance? We only require greater than $1K if you're going to transfer from cash to invest any excess above $1K. If you're not going to invest, the cash can go as low as $25

Cheers

Thanks. I said that wrong. As you mention, there must be $1000 in cash prior to any HE investments. We'll take the entire account down to $25 a few times a year. We'll also likely just incur the extra time and have Fidelity pull the funds. We turned off the automatic investing, so should have $100 or so in extra cash to do a dry run prior to selling all current investments to cash.

I appreciate everybody's help.

[seawolf21]

Hi. I'm helping a friend get their HSA assets transferred to a Fidelity HSA. The current HSA is held at Health Equity and will continue to be routinely funded with payroll deductions. That said, Health Equity has a $1000 cash minimum balance requirement and, while the investment options are good, we would like to transfer the maximum to Fidelity on a recurring basis. A few questions for anybody who may have done this:

a) Does Health Equity charge a transfer fee for a partial account transfer such as this? (I realize it may vary due to specific employer plan agreements).
b) Can this be initiated as a "pull" through Fidelity?
c) If yes to "b", would the existing investments need to be sold to cash prior to the transfer?

I would also be interested in any other tips or lessons learned. Thanks!

I have same setup.

AFAIK Health Equality charges $25 for a full transfer. Partial transfer should be free.
Yes Fido can pull.
Health Equity requires you to liquidate. Since the account is tax deferred, there's no tax implications from selling.
https://answers.healthequity.com/app/an ... fer%20fees

[OffGridder]

To the OP are sure it's a $1K cash balance? We only require greater than $1K if you're going to transfer from cash to invest any excess above $1K. If you're not going to invest, the cash can go as low as $25

Cheers

Thanks. I said that wrong. As you mention, there must be $1000 in cash prior to any HE investments. We'll take the entire account down to $25 a few times a year. We'll also likely just incur the extra time and have Fidelity pull the funds. We turned off the automatic investing, so should have $100 or so in extra cash to do a dry run prior to selling all current investments to cash.

I appreciate everybody's help.

The reason Health Equity won't let you transfer the last $25 is because that is their account closure fee. Once my wife retired she transferred all but the $25 to Fidelity. Then she withdrew the $25 for a medical expenses reimbursement. The HE account is still open with a zero balance and either my wife or HE will eventually close it, but at no cost to my wife because there are no dollars in the account for HE to tap.

[anon_investor]

... Since the account is tax deferred, there's no tax implications from selling...

This assumes the HSA owner does not reside in CA or NJ, it would be a taxable event for CA or NJ state income tax purposes.

[FIREchief]

... Since the account is tax deferred, there's no tax implications from selling...

This assumes the HSA owner does not reside in CA or NJ, it would be a taxable event for CA or NJ state income tax purposes.

Are you talking about capital gains taxes on sales of investments internal to the HSA? Yikes!! If not, why would a custodian to custodian transfer incur any taxes?

[anon_investor]

... Since the account is tax deferred, there's no tax implications from selling...

This assumes the HSA owner does not reside in CA or NJ, it would be a taxable event for CA or NJ state income tax purposes.

Are you talking about capital gains taxes on sales of investments internal to the HSA? Yikes!! If not, why would a custodian to custodian transfer incur any taxes?

Yes, because CA and NJ do not recognize HSAs, so they treat them like a taxable account and tax annual dividends and taxable gains on sales! Though NJ does not tax capital gains on treasuries.

[FIREchief]

... Since the account is tax deferred, there's no tax implications from selling...

This assumes the HSA owner does not reside in CA or NJ, it would be a taxable event for CA or NJ state income tax purposes.

Are you talking about capital gains taxes on sales of investments internal to the HSA? Yikes!! If not, why would a custodian to custodian transfer incur any taxes?

Yes, because CA and NJ do not recognize HSAs, so they treat them like a taxable account and tax annual dividends and taxable gains on sales! Though NJ does not tax capital gains on treasuries.

Wow. I didn't know that. Thanks for the explanation.

[anon_investor]

... Since the account is tax deferred, there's no tax implications from selling...

This assumes the HSA owner does not reside in CA or NJ, it would be a taxable event for CA or NJ state income tax purposes.

Are you talking about capital gains taxes on sales of investments internal to the HSA? Yikes!! If not, why would a custodian to custodian transfer incur any taxes?

Yes, because CA and NJ do not recognize HSAs, so they treat them like a taxable account and tax annual dividends and taxable gains on sales! Though NJ does not tax capital gains on treasuries.

Wow. I didn't know that. Thanks for the explanation.

Bottom line if your friend isn't in NJ or CA, no worries.

[FIREchief]

This assumes the HSA owner does not reside in CA or NJ, it would be a taxable event for CA or NJ state income tax purposes.

Are you talking about capital gains taxes on sales of investments internal to the HSA? Yikes!! If not, why would a custodian to custodian transfer incur any taxes?

Yes, because CA and NJ do not recognize HSAs, so they treat them like a taxable account and tax annual dividends and taxable gains on sales! Though NJ does not tax capital gains on treasuries.

Wow. I didn't know that. Thanks for the explanation.

Bottom line if your friend isn't in NJ or CA, no worries.

Thanks. We're good.

[roth evangelist]

Didn't want to start a new thread because there are already so many HealthEquity to Fidelity threads on here, so here it goes:

I have my HSA at HealthEquity because that's what my company uses. I'm annoyed at keeping the required $2,000 in a tax-free account in cash, so I want to move as much of my balance to a new Fidelity HSA account as I can. I understand I will need to be out of market for a time, and I'm ok with that given I'll be investing nearly $2,000 that was previously just cash. I have to keep $25 in the account, so what I want to do is transfer everything above $25 via a partial transfer from HE to Fidelity. I will then periodically, say, every 3 months, do partial transfers to keep my HSA cash balance to a minimum and keep as much invested as I can. If there are any holes in my logic, please let me know. But here's my concern: Is this going to add another layer of complication when I do my 2021 taxes in a few months? Does a partial transfer from HE to Fidelity require a form for reporting a rollover? If so, I might want to wait until January to do this so I don't have to worry about it for 2021.

[exarkun]

Earlier this year started the same thing as you are planning.

I don't know why there would be any tax considerations.

[roth evangelist]

Earlier this year started the same thing as you are planning.

I don't know why there would be any tax considerations.

I don't mean that the transfer would be a taxable event. I know that it isn't. I just mean, will this require me to worry about another tax form when filing? Dealing with two HSA's from a tax filing perspective may be annoying. I realize this is low stakes, but it's something that's influencing my decision of when to make the rollover nonetheless.

[masrepus]

No, it doesn't add anything extra for tax time. You have the entries for what your payroll takes out for pretax in your taxes as usual. The transfer isnt reported anywhere. You will get the yearly HSA form 5498 from both HE and Fidelity but that is for informational purposes.

I do exactly what you have planned. I dont invest any money at HE and simply leave it as cash. Once I hit 1025.00+ after 8 weeks, I transfer 1000.00 to Fidelity using the HE partial transfer online form. Two to three weeks later the money pops up at Fidelity and I buy FSKAX. I prefer the HE form, tiny bit simpler than Fidelity's and seems to complete quicker, though the timing I cant say is exact. The form also has autocomplete in the browser so easier to use. As others noted, HE will freeze the account a few days to cover any debits. I saw a comment once that said they only cut checks on a certain Friday, I think. So that could delay payments. HE cuts a check and sends to Fidelity. The agreement between HE and my company is no fees for partial transfer and as often as I want.

[roth evangelist]

No, it doesn't add anything extra for tax time. You have the entries for what your payroll takes out for pretax in your taxes as usual. The transfer isnt reported anywhere. You will get the yearly HSA form 5498 from both HE and Fidelity but that is for informational purposes.

I do exactly what you have planned. I dont invest any money at HE and simply leave it as cash. Once I hit 1025.00+ after 8 weeks, I transfer 1000.00 to Fidelity using the HE partial transfer online form. Two to three weeks later the money pops up at Fidelity and I buy FSKAX. I prefer the HE form, tiny bit simpler than Fidelity's and seems to complete quicker, though the timing I cant say is exact. The form also has autocomplete in the browser so easier to use. As others noted, HE will freeze the account a few days to cover any debits. I saw a comment once that said they only cut checks on a certain Friday, I think. So that could delay payments. HE cuts a check and sends to Fidelity. The agreement between HE and my company is no fees for partial transfer and as often as I want.

Thanks! I'm much closer to pulling the trigger on this now. Might just do it this week.

[jbsmith05]

I’m looking at doing the same thing…for those of you that mentioned you pushed from HE to Fido via the health equity form - is the form your referring to the PDF, or some other non-paper based option? I don’t want to have to print and mail in my form all the time (which is the only form I can find for this on HE’s site)

[roth evangelist]

I’m looking at doing the same thing…for those of you that mentioned you pushed from HE to Fido via the health equity form - is the form your referring to the PDF, or some other non-paper based option? I don’t want to have to print and mail in my form all the time (which is the only form I can find for this on HE’s site)

I haven't gone through with it yet, but this appears to be the correct page for the online partial transfer form.

https://answers.healthequity.com/app/an ... w/transfer

[masrepus]

I’m looking at doing the same thing…for those of you that mentioned you pushed from HE to Fido via the health equity form - is the form your referring to the PDF, or some other non-paper based option? I don’t want to have to print and mail in my form all the time (which is the only form I can find for this on HE’s site)

I haven't gone through with it yet, but this appears to be the correct page for the online partial transfer form.

https://answers.healthequity.com/app/an ... w/transfer

Yep, that's the online form. I have that bookmarked and pull it every couple months to start the partial transfer. When you log into your HE account there is a support and history page. That online form ends up as a pdf and attached to your account history, so you can always look at it or download it if you want.

[dcabler]

No, it doesn't add anything extra for tax time. You have the entries for what your payroll takes out for pretax in your taxes as usual. The transfer isnt reported anywhere. You will get the yearly HSA form 5498 from both HE and Fidelity but that is for informational purposes.

I do exactly what you have planned. I dont invest any money at HE and simply leave it as cash. Once I hit 1025.00+ after 8 weeks, I transfer 1000.00 to Fidelity using the HE partial transfer online form. Two to three weeks later the money pops up at Fidelity and I buy FSKAX. I prefer the HE form, tiny bit simpler than Fidelity's and seems to complete quicker, though the timing I cant say is exact. The form also has autocomplete in the browser so easier to use. As others noted, HE will freeze the account a few days to cover any debits. I saw a comment once that said they only cut checks on a certain Friday, I think. So that could delay payments. HE cuts a check and sends to Fidelity. The agreement between HE and my company is no fees for partial transfer and as often as I want.

Exactly what I do - even the dollar amount. I've tried initiating the transfer from both the Fidelity end and the HE end and I've found that initiating from the HE end results in the transfer appearing at Fidelity a little sooner.

Cheers.

[roth evangelist]

I'm about to initiate a partial transfer to Fidelity tomorrow. Anyone know what the right address to include in the form? I've got this:

Fidelity Investments
PO Box 770001
Cincinnati, OH 45277-0047

There are so many possible addresses and it's pretty confusing.

EDIT: Also, there's a question on here that says, "Please provide the phone number which is associated to this incident." That is so strangely worded ... Is that my phone number or a phone number at Fidelity?

[Jeev1]

The address is fine. I did not see the question about incident phone number. The only phone number I saw was ‘delivering firm phone’.
I hope this helps.

[roth evangelist]

The address is fine. I did not see the question about incident phone number. The only phone number I saw was ‘delivering firm phone’.
I hope this helps.

I'm guessing it's the Fidelity number. HE should already have mine. Thanks!

[roth evangelist]

I finally completed my partial transfer to my new Fidelity HSA. The whole process took about two and half weeks. For posterity, here was what happened and when:

9/23: Moved to cash
9/24: Started partial transfer
10/7: Transfer to Fidelity initiated
10/12: Money received at Fidelity

Other than being a big frustrating being out of market for that long, and a brief scare when my HE account was labeled for "pending closure," which the HE rep assured me was a mistake, it went pretty smooth. As a small bonus, I got back into the market a little bit lower than I exited.

[masrepus]

I also received the account closing message the first time I did the partial transfer, contacted HE to make sure it was not closed and was told it wouldn't as long as more than 25.00 was left in the account. I did not see that message on the subsequent transfers.

The transfer time is a pain. No idea why it has to be a physical check.

[Johnny Thinwallet]

Three months after my wife's employer HSA moved to HealthEquity (thanks to Fifth Third resigning as HSA custodian), her employer decided to move their future contributions away from HealthEquity and into an HSA firm managed locally. That was essentially going to leave us with a dormant HE account that would no longer have any contributions going in.

Given this, we finally decided to pull the plug on HE and open a Fidelity HSA so we're transferring the entire HE balance (minus $40 or so) to Fidelity. Thanks to folks on this thread, we completed the partial transfer form online and just submitted it this morning. Hopefully in about 2-3 weeks the process completes.

After the process completes, we expect to have around $40 or so in the HE account. We'll just spend that down with HSA qualified withdraws and hopefully be able to "close" the account without any account closure fees. At least that's my plan, if everything works ...

[Johnny Thinwallet]

To the OP are sure it's a $1K cash balance? We only require greater than $1K if you're going to transfer from cash to invest any excess above $1K. If you're not going to invest, the cash can go as low as $25

Cheers

Thanks. I said that wrong. As you mention, there must be $1000 in cash prior to any HE investments. We'll take the entire account down to $25 a few times a year. We'll also likely just incur the extra time and have Fidelity pull the funds. We turned off the automatic investing, so should have $100 or so in extra cash to do a dry run prior to selling all current investments to cash.

I appreciate everybody's help.

The reason Health Equity won't let you transfer the last $25 is because that is their account closure fee. Once my wife retired she transferred all but the $25 to Fidelity. Then she withdrew the $25 for a medical expenses reimbursement. The HE account is still open with a zero balance and either my wife or HE will eventually close it, but at no cost to my wife because there are no dollars in the account for HE to tap.

Health Equity may be catching on to this. We just finalized a large transfer to Fidelity (see prior post), leaving only $40ish in Health Equity. I have receipts now I'm trying to reimburse from the remaining $40 from HE, and HE is only letting us reimburse receipts until we hit that $25 threshold. They won't let us make a reimbursement withdraw below that $25 threshold.

Ironically, my wife needs to fill an Rx today or tomorrow. I'm debating activating the HE debit card and seeing if it will work when we buy the Rx. But I have a feeling it'll either permit only the few dollars left until the $25 threshold or just get declined altogether.

I'd love to get around that $25 fee, but not sure if there's an open loophole remaining anywhere.

[OffGridder]

To the OP are sure it's a $1K cash balance? We only require greater than $1K if you're going to transfer from cash to invest any excess above $1K. If you're not going to invest, the cash can go as low as $25

Cheers

Thanks. I said that wrong. As you mention, there must be $1000 in cash prior to any HE investments. We'll take the entire account down to $25 a few times a year. We'll also likely just incur the extra time and have Fidelity pull the funds. We turned off the automatic investing, so should have $100 or so in extra cash to do a dry run prior to selling all current investments to cash.

I appreciate everybody's help.

The reason Health Equity won't let you transfer the last $25 is because that is their account closure fee. Once my wife retired she transferred all but the $25 to Fidelity. Then she withdrew the $25 for a medical expenses reimbursement. The HE account is still open with a zero balance and either my wife or HE will eventually close it, but at no cost to my wife because there are no dollars in the account for HE to tap.

Health Equity may be catching on to this. We just finalized a large transfer to Fidelity (see prior post), leaving only $40ish in Health Equity. I have receipts now I'm trying to reimburse from the remaining $40 from HE, and HE is only letting us reimburse receipts until we hit that $25 threshold. They won't let us make a reimbursement withdraw below that $25 threshold.

Ironically, my wife needs to fill an Rx today or tomorrow. I'm debating activating the HE debit card and seeing if it will work when we buy the Rx. But I have a feeling it'll either permit only the few dollars left until the $25 threshold or just get declined altogether.

I'd love to get around that $25 fee, but not sure if there's an open loophole remaining anywhere.

Well, that's interesting and not good. I would try the debit card to see what happens. If that does not work, I would call Health Equity and see if there is a work around without telling them your intent to actually close the account. If your HSA was through your employer and you have now separated, I believe Health Equity will start charging a monthly service fee on minimum balances which in the end will bleed the account to zero. Glad we got out of Health Equity when we did. Good luck.

[ee22bee]

Health Equity may be catching on to this. We just finalized a large transfer to Fidelity (see prior post), leaving only $40ish in Health Equity. I have receipts now I'm trying to reimburse from the remaining $40 from HE, and HE is only letting us reimburse receipts until we hit that $25 threshold. They won't let us make a reimbursement withdraw below that $25 threshold.

Ironically, my wife needs to fill an Rx today or tomorrow. I'm debating activating the HE debit card and seeing if it will work when we buy the Rx. But I have a feeling it'll either permit only the few dollars left until the $25 threshold or just get declined altogether.

I'd love to get around that $25 fee, but not sure if there's an open loophole remaining anywhere.

Yes, try the debit card. Ask Rx pharmacy to put the exact available balance on the debit card, and the rest on another form of payment.

Happened to us 3 years ago (so it might have changed since). Had $25 similarly "stuck" in HE, could not withdraw to reimburse self. A few months later at a dental appointment, asked dental office to charge exactly $25 on the HE debit card, and the rest on another credit card. It worked. Successfully used the remaining $25 that was sitting in HE.

[dink2win]

I have a similar situation but we switched from HSA to HMO this year, so I am looking to transfer the full balance from HE to Fidelity. Does anyone know the process? Am I supposed to sell all my mutual funds in HE and move all the cash to checking then initiate a transfer from Fidelity website?

[seawolf21]

I have a similar situation but we switched from HSA to HMO this year, so I am looking to transfer the full balance from HE to Fidelity. Does anyone know the process? Am I supposed to sell all my mutual funds in HE and move all the cash to checking then initiate a transfer from Fidelity website?

I believe there is no in-kind transfer (HE is not a broker - no ACAT) so yes you have to liquidate to cash.

You can initiate transfer from Fidelity website before liquidating because this is a paper process involving a check and will take at least 1-2 weeks before HE will even cut a check out to Fido. Once you factor in mailing time, it will be closer to 3-4 weeks.

[MotoTrojan]

My HSA also has a $1000 minimum cash balance and $2.5/month fee to invest the rest if cash is under $3K but I just do the transfer annually via indirect rollover. https://thefinancebuff.com/how-to-rollo ... r-fee.html

I have had some painful experiences in past trying to get a direct transfer processed so I found having control of the situation easier. I take an online distribution to my checking account, then I write Fidelity a check and mail it in (silly this can't be done online, maybe now it can be but not last year).

[seawolf21]

My HSA also has a $1000 minimum cash balance and $2.5/month fee to invest the rest if cash is under $3K but I just do the transfer annually via indirect rollover. https://thefinancebuff.com/how-to-rollo ... r-fee.html

I have had some painful experiences in past trying to get a direct transfer processed so I found having control of the situation easier. I take an online distribution to my checking account, then I write Fidelity a check and mail it in (silly this can't be done online, maybe now it can be but not last year).

Looks like you still cannot do a 60-day mobile deposit to HSA.

Last question in FAQ.
https://www.fidelity.com/go/hsa/transfer

[MotoTrojan]

My HSA also has a $1000 minimum cash balance and $2.5/month fee to invest the rest if cash is under $3K but I just do the transfer annually via indirect rollover. https://thefinancebuff.com/how-to-rollo ... r-fee.html

I have had some painful experiences in past trying to get a direct transfer processed so I found having control of the situation easier. I take an online distribution to my checking account, then I write Fidelity a check and mail it in (silly this can't be done online, maybe now it can be but not last year).

Looks like you still cannot do a 60-day mobile deposit to HSA.

Last question in FAQ.
https://www.fidelity.com/go/hsa/transfer

Thanks. Oh well, I still prefer it to calling my HSA admin over and over trying to figure out why the transfer won't go thru directly. The check in the mail to Fidelity has never failed.

[Johnny Thinwallet]

Health Equity may be catching on to this. We just finalized a large transfer to Fidelity (see prior post), leaving only $40ish in Health Equity. I have receipts now I'm trying to reimburse from the remaining $40 from HE, and HE is only letting us reimburse receipts until we hit that $25 threshold. They won't let us make a reimbursement withdraw below that $25 threshold.

Ironically, my wife needs to fill an Rx today or tomorrow. I'm debating activating the HE debit card and seeing if it will work when we buy the Rx. But I have a feeling it'll either permit only the few dollars left until the $25 threshold or just get declined altogether.

I'd love to get around that $25 fee, but not sure if there's an open loophole remaining anywhere.

Yes, try the debit card. Ask Rx pharmacy to put the exact available balance on the debit card, and the rest on another form of payment.

Happened to us 3 years ago (so it might have changed since). Had $25 similarly "stuck" in HE, could not withdraw to reimburse self. A few months later at a dental appointment, asked dental office to charge exactly $25 on the HE debit card, and the rest on another credit card. It worked. Successfully used the remaining $25 that was sitting in HE.

Thanks for this tip! We'll definitely give it a shot.

[Johnny Thinwallet]

I have a similar situation but we switched from HSA to HMO this year, so I am looking to transfer the full balance from HE to Fidelity. Does anyone know the process? Am I supposed to sell all my mutual funds in HE and move all the cash to checking then initiate a transfer from Fidelity website?

There's an online form to fill out here: https://answers.healthequity.com/app/an ... w/transfer

Make sure you're logged in to your HE account, go to that link and then hit the Complete Online link on the page. You'll fill an electronic form out. You'll need your Fidelity HSA account number, and you'll want to make sure you fill out the complete/accurate Fidelity address because HE will mail a check to Fidelity. The address I used was:

P.O. Box 770001
Cincinnati, OH 45277-0036

Do a Google search of Fidelity addresses for transfer of assets (TOA) for HSA accounts, and you should find that same address.

For us, here's the process and how long it took:

12/22: We liquidated investments to prep for the move. S&P 500 closed at 4,696.56 on the day we sold.
1/3: Filled out form
1/6: HE cash account with our full balance was frozen by HE for 5 business days
1/13: HE mailed a check to Fidelity
1/18: Fidelity received check, funds showed up in our Fidelity HSA that afternoon
1/19: HE lists check as cashed/cleared

So for us it took 15 calendar days, though we did lose 1 business day in the mix with the MLK holiday.

The only remaining outstanding item I have left is when to invest these funds with Fidelity given the market drop. We liquidated on 12/22 at a close of 4,696.56 so I'm kind of playing with house money here, but I guess I'll have to entertain a bit of timing on when to get back in.

[seawolf21]

I have a similar situation but we switched from HSA to HMO this year, so I am looking to transfer the full balance from HE to Fidelity. Does anyone know the process? Am I supposed to sell all my mutual funds in HE and move all the cash to checking then initiate a transfer from Fidelity website?

There's an online form to fill out here: https://answers.healthequity.com/app/an ... w/transfer

Make sure you're logged in to your HE account, go to that link and then hit the Complete Online link on the page. You'll fill an electronic form out. You'll need your Fidelity HSA account number, and you'll want to make sure you fill out the complete/accurate Fidelity address because HE will mail a check to Fidelity. The address I used was:

P.O. Box 770001
Cincinnati, OH 45277-0036

Do a Google search of Fidelity addresses for transfer of assets (TOA) for HSA accounts, and you should find that same address.

For us, here's the process and how long it took:

12/22: We liquidated investments to prep for the move. S&P 500 closed at 4,696.56 on the day we sold.
1/3: Filled out form
1/6: HE cash account with our full balance was frozen by HE for 5 business days
1/13: HE mailed a check to Fidelity
1/18: Fidelity received check, funds showed up in our Fidelity HSA that afternoon
1/19: HE lists check as cashed/cleared

So for us it took 15 calendar days, though we did lose 1 business day in the mix with the MLK holiday.

The only remaining outstanding item I have left is when to invest these funds with Fidelity given the market drop. We liquidated on 12/22 at a close of 4,696.56 so I'm kind of playing with house money here, but I guess I'll have to entertain a bit of timing on when to get back in.

Thanks. Sounds like this would be faster than initiating from Fidelity.

[livesoft]

My spouse initiated a transfer from HSA Bank to Fidelity around January 6 by submitting a pull online at Fidelity and NOT at HSA Bank. It was completed by January 14.

[dink2win]

Thanks for all the replies really helpful.

I guess one other question is do I need to sell off the investments in the old account? Or if I initiate a full transfer they will automatically sell eevrything and merge with checking account themselves and send everything over?

[Johnny Thinwallet]

Thanks for all the replies really helpful.

I guess one other question is do I need to sell off the investments in the old account? Or if I initiate a full transfer they will automatically sell eevrything and merge with checking account themselves and send everything over?

For HE, they require you to sell your investments and move to the cash account before being able to transfer any money out of HE. They will not automatically sell anything from your investment account for you.

[dink2win]

Thanks for all the replies really helpful.

I guess one other question is do I need to sell off the investments in the old account? Or if I initiate a full transfer they will automatically sell eevrything and merge with checking account themselves and send everything over?

For HE, they require you to sell your investments and move to the cash account before being able to transfer any money out of HE. They will not automatically sell anything from your investment account for you.

Thanks for the clarification this is what I was trying to figure out.

Now it boils down to when I should sell as the market cratered recently and may have another fast paced recovery while the money is in transit.

[anon_investor]

Thanks for all the replies really helpful.

I guess one other question is do I need to sell off the investments in the old account? Or if I initiate a full transfer they will automatically sell eevrything and merge with checking account themselves and send everything over?

For HE, they require you to sell your investments and move to the cash account before being able to transfer any money out of HE. They will not automatically sell anything from your investment account for you.

Thanks for the clarification this is what I was trying to figure out.

Now it boils down to when I should sell as the market cratered recently and may have another fast paced recovery while the money is in transit.

Do you have bonds in your 401k you can swap for equities in the same amount as your HSA while the funds are in transit to keep a similar exposure to equities?

[dink2win]

Thanks for all the replies really helpful.

I guess one other question is do I need to sell off the investments in the old account? Or if I initiate a full transfer they will automatically sell eevrything and merge with checking account themselves and send everything over?

For HE, they require you to sell your investments and move to the cash account before being able to transfer any money out of HE. They will not automatically sell anything from your investment account for you.

Thanks for the clarification this is what I was trying to figure out.

Now it boils down to when I should sell as the market cratered recently and may have another fast paced recovery while the money is in transit.

Do you have bonds in your 401k you can swap for equities in the same amount as your HSA while the funds are in transit to keep a similar exposure to equities?

Not really, I'm pretty much 100% in stocks for all my retirement accounts since I cannot touch the money for like 20+ years. I'll probably start switching to bonds about 5 years before I hit 59. Even then, I don't think I would go over 25-30% on bonds ever.

[anon_investor]

Thanks for all the replies really helpful.

I guess one other question is do I need to sell off the investments in the old account? Or if I initiate a full transfer they will automatically sell eevrything and merge with checking account themselves and send everything over?

For HE, they require you to sell your investments and move to the cash account before being able to transfer any money out of HE. They will not automatically sell anything from your investment account for you.

Thanks for the clarification this is what I was trying to figure out.

Now it boils down to when I should sell as the market cratered recently and may have another fast paced recovery while the money is in transit.

Do you have bonds in your 401k you can swap for equities in the same amount as your HSA while the funds are in transit to keep a similar exposure to equities?

Not really, I'm pretty much 100% in stocks for all my retirement accounts since I cannot touch the money for like 20+ years. I'll probably start switching to bonds about 5 years before I hit 59. Even then, I don't think I would go over 25-30% on bonds ever.

Ah okay, yeah, then you are at the mercy of the markets while the money is in transit since you have no way to increase your equity exposure while your money is out of the market.

[hookgrip]

Has anyone initiated a transfer at HE in the last few weeks?

I initiated a partial transfer out on January 21 and there has still been no activity. HE acknowledges my transfer request and says it is in queue for processing in the order of receipt. This seems unusually slow based on what others have described.