Health Savings Account-Health Savings Account Info

Sarah asked:


I realize that the medical bills have to total at least 7.5% of my adjusted gross income, but can I write it off even if I pay them with the (tax-free) money in my health savings account?

Brandon Hadsell

RB asked:


I’m 53 years old health care professional in a secure job market making around $170,000 plus benefits.

I have about a million dollars saved up in my IRA, SEP-IRA, 401K, and regular savings account.

My house worth about $300,000 is payed off and I have no dependents. I divorced a long time ago.

My mother who is 80 and my brother who is disabled lives with me. They both collect Social Security and have good health benefits, and are in good health.

Am I doing well compared to rest of the households in our country?

Boyce Stokes

junkfood1 asked:


Ok I live at home for now til. I find a new job I am not going to collage. I don’t plan to. I work for a junk mail place. I make 8.75 an hour. How can I budget better. Here are things I need and want.

Rent 200 dollars a month
Health insurance $96.50
auto insurance is paid for a while. I sold my my dad my car for 4000 dollars he is going to take that money and pay my insurance.

Hair cut $14.00 great clips. I do give a tip but I feel like I should. And my hair is growing more and need to cut it often.

Fast food and going out. This month I spent 45.00. I am buying for 2 people.don’t say don’t go out to eat.

Gas is going to go down. I spend different prices. I do go out I will spend more. I would like to say I spend less then 100 dollars. My job is 4 miles away from my house. I live in the country and don’t want to walk.

retail stores I spend very amounts. I would Like to say 1-75. I buy pop, candy, I do stock up when on sale. I do need candy and pop.

Personal stuff shaveing cream, razors, zit cream, I spend maybe less then 100 dollars a year. I do use coupons when I do buy these item.

Going to the movies. I buy 2 tickets. We normally go to the early ones. I buy pop 2. Candy I get at the gas station. When I say 2 its me and my friends. There a girl they don’t have a job. I don’t want to stay home or go to my house. I don’t mind. To buy the tickets or dinner.

I don’t pay light bill, cell, food. I plan on geting health insurance from my work. And dental. I get paid every 2 weeks. So far in my accounts I have checking 933.70, savings 379.21 vacation fund. 244.88 credit card is 1000 dollars but I use my credit card for health insurance. I have a balance of 903.00. My other saveing account is $2653.03

please help every bit helps.

Rashad Mcgillivray

Huntsman asked:


My husband refuses to step foot in a car dealership.
He would just rather pay a bit of a discount and walk away with the car.
He hates to spend hours hagglings.
I spend days. Make phone calls and visits to other dealerships and play hard ball.
It’s almost a sport for me.
Needless to say, all the cars are in my name only.

We have a sweetheart will in case we both die.
Self – made one with the Quicken software. Notorazided, etc.
No need for individual wills since all we really have is a house (and the cars), and savings accounts.
All the accounts have beneficiaries well in place. (which overrides the wills).
We have the individual health directives. But found that individual wills are really useless.
The sweat heart will was a must for us.

With the cars, if I die, what happens?
Will this have to go to court so the cars can be put in his name?
Or can he simply go to tax office with my death certificate and put the car in his name since he is my husband?
I know that he can be added to the title, but I think it costs about $40.
Why go through this cost if you don’t have to?

If I die, what happens to cars that are in my name only?
Could he just continue driving them without ever changing the name?
Could he get insurance on a car that does not have his name on it?
We don’t have individual wills.
Trying to see if I really and truly need to get a will together just for a couple of seriously old cars.

Stefanie

IKJ asked:


This questions sounds stupid, so let me explain.

I’m 25 years old. I’m making about 5000 dollars a month (after taxes, 5% to retirement, health care etc.). I originally had 60k in student loan debt (undergraduate through masters) which over the past 8 months I’ve paid down to around 45k. I just graduated, so I have been living with my parents to try to pay down my loans and save up money. I’ve also got a 600 dollar a month car payment (my choice, but I love cars, so that was the choice I made). I want to move out – but I just keep getting overwhelmed with all the money advice and what I “should” be doing.

For example: retirment. I’m putting away 5% now, I get a 3% match plus a 3% cash balance plan. So that’s 11% that’s going to retirement currently. But some people have told me I should be putting in more.

Then, savings. You need 20% down payment on a home. So if I buy a 100,000 dollar house I need to save up 20,000 dollars. On top of that you’re supposed to have an ” emergency fund” so I’ve got to at a minimum double that. So I’ve got to save up 40,000 dollars.

Now, student loans. My minimum is around 600 a month for that. I’ve been paying a lot more. I’d like to keep doing that.

So, I’ve got: 600 a month to car, 600 a month (minimum) to loans. Which currently leaves me with 3800 dollars a month. I’ve got a chronic medical condition, so I have to set aside 300 a month to pay for things, so now 3500. Food. 50 dollars a week x 4 weeks = 200 dollars. 3300 dollars.

And I live with my parents. So, if I move out and get an apartment, that’s 900 a month rent (2400 dollars left) plus utilities (200 a month) down to 2200 dollars. Now I’ve got to put gas in my car – 200 a month. We’re down to 2000 dollars.

So with that 2000 dollars, I’m guessing I’d have 1500 a month leftover at the end of the month for other things after I pay for my other variable expenses. So, I don’t know if I should put it all into savings or put half into savings half towards my student loans. My student loan interest varies from 3-6.8% (I have a few different loans). But if I am only putting 750 dollars towards my savings it will take me 4.5 years to save up 40k. I’ve got other random expenses that come up throughout the year, so that 750 a month wouldn’t even be guaranteed.

How do people manage to buy their first home? It seems financial advice people – suze orman, etc. want you to have huge savings accounts plus 20% (which I do understand why) but it seems almost impossible. I’m discouraged that all my money is basically spoken for before I have any say in it – and that even then I’m only putting a little extra into my student loans per month. I’m also worried that the housing market is so good right now, in 5 years when I can afford to buy something I would miss out on taking advantage of it. I want to move out of my parents house – but I feel like at this point if i do, I’ll never be able to save any money.

It’s also frustrating to hear things like, just don’t go shopping or buy clothes, no tv, no internet, etc etc. i understand how good that frugal advice is, and I have been doing it. But sometimes it makes me feel like what am i working so hard for if at the end of the day I have no money? I can go six months without going out to dinner or going to see a movie, or spending money on anything extra. But 6 years of doing that seems so depressing to me. I know people do buy houses. How do they do it? How do you get to that first home?

How did you save up for your first home? How much downpayment did you make? How long did it take you to save up?

Leon Jelden

pink_me asked:


We all know you’re *supposed* to have that Emergency Fund saved up and stashed away. And better to have more liquid funds, than less. But how do you calculate 3 months’ “living expenses”?

1. The amount of your gross salary salary for 3 months
2. The amount of your net salary for 3 months, because if you lost your job you wouldn’t be paying taxes and some other deductions
3. The amount of your usual budget for 3 months, minus amounts normally put in savings/investments accounts, and amounts spent on non-essentials such as clothing, vacations, etc.
4. The amount of your usual budget, minus the taxes, minus the transportation costs (because you’re not driving to work) but plus the full cost of health insurance because it wouldn’t be partially subsidized by your employer
5. Other ….

Can you see why I find this confusing and never feel like I have “enough”?

Darron Venuti

Feroze R asked:


my friend have about 100,000/- in her traditional ira acct.in stable kind of savings investment plan, since she was laid off in 2006.
she have no resources beside her $724/month social security income.she is almost 69 years old.the ira account gives her about $176 to 200/month income that she automatically asked to reinvest in her acct. now she has enroll in a medicare health plan that is universal med gap where she got the freedom of going to any dr or surgeon of her choice so whatever medicare, do not pay that insurance cover the expenses that is costing her $147/month this beside the medicare deduction from her monthly pension of like $96/month. so from her monthly income $724-$147+96=$451. just because of her ira savings she will never be able to get any help from the government. now her question for the finance geek people is if she take out from her monthly ira re investment money about $150/month to compensate the med gap money to run her daily expenses and the bills, can she do that? just leave the Principal amount of $100,000/- and only take from the monthly interest income,so how much uncle same will deduct from that $150/interest income fund? or how much she have to pay the taxes? she wants her distribution from the age of 71.5 age. as i told you her yearly income is right now is total= 9288/yearly + 150/month will make it $11088/- yearly. she is still way below poverty level.
since the cd rates are down so it is not wise to take out all the amount from ira and invest in a place where she can have better return,and as she will take out a big chunk like $25,000/- or 50,000/- they will deduct a lot of income tax on it.so what is the best financial solution for her? her investment are in T-roweprice.
please give the right solution or advice for her to help her live poor but with dignity without any aid, or gov Charity.
only professionals please who understand the situation and give the advice to benefit her financially.
thanks

Antone Elkington

junkfood1 asked:


Ok I live at home for now til. I find a new job I am not going to collage. I don’t plan to. I work for a junk mail place. I make 8.75 an hour. How can I budget better. Here are things I need and want.

Rent 200 dollars a month
Health insurance $96.50
auto insurance is paid for a while. I sold my my dad my car for 4000 dollars he is going to take that money and pay my insurance.

Hair cut $14.00 great clips. I do give a tip but I feel like I should. And my hair is growing more and need to cut it often.

Fast food and going out. This month I spent 45.00. I am buying for 2 people.don’t say don’t go out to eat.

Gas is going to go down. I spend different prices. I do go out I will spend more. I would like to say I spend less then 100 dollars. My job is 4 miles away from my house. I live in the country and don’t want to walk.

retail stores I spend very amounts. I would Like to say 1-75. I buy pop, candy, I do stock up when on sale. I do need candy and pop.

Personal stuff shaveing cream, razors, zit cream, I spend maybe less then 100 dollars a year. I do use coupons when I do buy these item.

Going to the movies. I buy 2 tickets. We normally go to the early ones. I buy pop 2. Candy I get at the gas station. When I say 2 its me and my friends. There a girl they don’t have a job. I don’t want to stay home or go to my house. I don’t mind. To buy the tickets or dinner.

I don’t pay light bill, cell, food. I plan on geting health insurance from my work. And dental. I get paid every 2 weeks. So far in my accounts I have checking 933.70, savings 379.21 vacation fund. 244.88 credit card is 1000 dollars but I use my credit card for health insurance. I have a balance of 903.00. My other saveing account is $2653.03

please help every bit helps.

I use the credit card for health insurance. So it build up my credit.

David Strasburger

valerier925 asked:


I want to put some money away in a savings account for about 3 years but I want it to gain interest at it’s highest possible rate. What kind of account would I get? CD, Money Market, etc?

Ermelinda Emo

yeah asked:


I want to open a Savings account. Do you pay something to do that? I have free checkings account but I don’t know about savings account.

Craig Harsch