The 10 Best Health Savings Account (HSA) Providers in 2024

Looking for the best HSA account in 2024? We’ve got your covered. If a Health Savings Account (HSA) hasn’t been top of mind – there really is no better time to start or switch to a new HSA account, as provider competition is at an all-time high. HSA funds are portable, meaning that individuals with HSA balances can move funds at any time from one account to another, even if they currently sit in an underwhelming employer-sponsored HSA. This article will review, compare, and rank the best HSA accounts in 2024 available to individuals and families (outside of employer-sponsored offerings) – including fees, investment options, pros, and cons.

The entrance of Lively, Fidelity, Starship (an Optum and United Health partnership), and re-entrance of Bank of America into the individual (non-employer) HSA account space, each with competitive offerings, has resulted in an industry-wide reduction of HSA account fees and improvement to HSA investment account options in recent years. The HSA space is not quite as pro-consumer as with investment brokers – but it’s catching up.

Best HSA Account Ranking List Criteria

There are hundreds of HSA account providers available to consumers. That’s great for customer choice, but it makes finding the best HSA account very difficult. Most HSA accounts are through banks or credit unions and very few of them allow you to invest your savings in anything outside of their own savings and money market accounts. And, unfortunately, most of the big online investment brokers do not even offer an HSA account option.

With that said, here are the main criteria we used to find and rank the best HSA accounts:

1. Debit Card: does the HSA come with a debit card for simple HSA-eligible qualified medical expense tracking? The best HSA accounts do.
2. Setup Fees: are there setup or opening fees? If so, look elsewhere. HSA accounts with setup or opening fees were cut from this list of the best HSA accounts.
3. Maintenance Fees: are the HSA account maintenance fees at or close to zero? For a number of years, most HSAs had very high fees, including annual or monthly maintenance fees. HSA accounts with high base account fees did not make this list.
4. Savings, Investment, or Both: Does the HSA have only a save-and-spend savings account, or also an investment account? The top HSA accounts have both. Each account that made this list had some type of investment account option. If you can’t invest a portion of your funds in higher yield investments, as you would in a 401K or IRA, the value of your HSA contributions will erode from inflation every year. And the save-and-spend accounts all offer under a 1% APR, despite much higher rates available in the marketplace.
5. Self-Directed Brokerage or Managed Funds: if the HSA offers an investment account, is it only a small list of managed/curated funds to choose from or a self-directed account? A self-directed brokerage account option is preferable here, so you can choose low cost options and investments including money market funds and CDs versus being stuck with only high-fee managed mutual funds.
6. Investment Fees: if the HSA offers an investment option, what are the fees to invest, management fees, and the ongoing expense ratios of the funds you have to choose from? The lower the fees the better.
7. Reputation: is the bank, credit union, broker, or other HSA administrator reputable and do they have good customer reviews?

The Best HSA Accounts in 2024

Based on the criteria above, I’ve ranked the 10 best overall HSA accounts in 2024 in the chart further below. Next are the picks for the best overall, best investment, and best savings HSA choices.

Best HSA Account Overall: Lively

Lively is the choice for the #1 best HSA account overall. With its low fees and multiple investment options (self-directed brokerage account through Schwab or a Devenir managed funds options), Lively is a great choice for anyone. There are no fees for the base account at Lively, while the Schwab self-directed brokerage account option is either $0 if your Lively cash balance is $3,000+ or $24 annually if below that. The Devenir managed option has a 0.5% annual management fee – so the Schwab option is the more affordable and better route for most individuals.

Lively is 100% focused on HSAs as a company and their website and support is transparent, detailed, educational, and responsive – which is rare in the HSA space.

Best HSA Account for Investing: Lively & Fidelity (Tie)

The best HSA account for investing is a tie between Lively (which uses Schwab’s investment platform) and Fidelity, which both offer self-directed brokerage account options for their HSAs, with no additional account management fees (note: your balance at Lively must be $3,000+ to avoid a $24 annual fee). Self-directed is preferable, as it gives the most personal choice and the potential for the lowest overall fees (any HSA provider has standard fund expense fees). Both brokerages offer an extensive selection of stocks, bonds, ETFs, and mutual funds to choose from, with $0 in trading fees on their respective platforms. If you do want managed investment options, Lively (via Devenir) and Fidelity (via their “HSA Go” managed account option) both offer this, but I would personally avoid these options due to the management fees charged. I’d give the slight nod to Schwab’s investment platform vs Fidelity’s in terms of user friendliness.

Best HSA Account for Savings (Non-Investment Cash Balances or “Cash-and-Spend”): Lake Michigan Credit Union

The Lake Michigan Credit Union HSA is my choice for the Best HSA account if all you want to do is hold your money in a cash savings account (non-investment cash balance, aka “cash-and-spend” account). LMCU, a large and reputable credit union, offers an interest-bearing (though currently low) base account with zero added maintenance fees. It also has an investment option if you do want to begin investing later. This type of account may be preferable for those with small balances who plan to save-and-spend versus building up a larger balance over time.

Unfortunately, even with the Federal Reserve rates having increased in recent years, the interest rates on cash balance savings accounts are are still at historically low levels, including at Lake Michigan Credit Union, at typically under 1% APR. If you don’t want to invest in stock or bond mutual funds, but you still want a reasonable investment return, you may be better off going with Lively or Fidelity as their self-directed brokerage options allow you to purchase short-term CDs or money market mutual funds with no minimums – both of which have recently offered rates near 5% APR. I’ve found Schwab’s new issue CD purchasing to be easier to navigate than Fidelity’s.

Best HSA Accounts: Top 10 HSA Account Provider Comparison Chart

Here is a comparison of the top 10 HSA account providers, including maintenance and other fees, investment options, investing fees, pros, and cons as criteria:

Can you Switch HSA Accounts?

When I first signed up for an HSA, I wondered how tied I would be to a particular HSA account. Could I switch if I didn’t like mine, just like I could with an IRA? I’ve since done a lot of research on this topic.

If you or your employer have picked a poor HSA account admin (common), the good news is that you are not stuck with them. Just as with IRAs, you can switch if you are not happy with your administrator’s policies, investment options, and fees. A person contributing to an HSA is under no obligation to contribute to his or her employer-sponsored HSA. And, you can contribute to an HSA outside of employer payroll deductions. Employers, however, may require that direct payroll contributions be made only to their sponsored HSA plan.

Can you have Multiple HSA Accounts?

You can have more than one HSA account. And you can make transfers between accounts if you do not like one. Full HSA transfers or partial HSA fund transfers can be initiated at any time by starting a new account with the HSA provider of your choice.

Can you Transfer FSA Funds to an HSA

HSAs are superior to FSAs and the 2 types of accounts primarily have a similar function. So, you may ask, “can you transfer FSA funds to an HSA?“. The answer to that is “No”. However, I’ve been able to successfully pair an FSA with an HSA to boost my HSA account balance.

The Pros of HSAs: The Best Account for Health Care Costs

Why curate and maintain a list of the best HSA accounts? I have previously noted that the HSA is my pick for the best retirement account (employer matching funds aside), in addition to being the best account for out-of-pocket health care costs. Why are HSAs the best? For these reasons:

1. Tax Benefits: HSAs offer a unique combination of tax-free pre-tax contributions and tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses (QMEs), employer contributions, and growth through investments. In other words, for qualified medical expenses, you’re not taxed when the funds are contributed or withdrawn from an HSA!
2. Significant Contributions: HSA maximum contributions are significant – $4,150 per individual and $8,300 per family in 2024 and $4,300 per individual and $8,550 per family in 2025. That is a good amount of tax-free savings.
3. Funds Carryover: HSA account contributions fully carry over from year-to-year (unlike with FSAs). In other words, HSA funds are not “use it or lose it”.
4. IRA Rollover: You can do a one-time IRA to HSA rollover to boost your funds.
5. Bonus Incentives: If you have an employer sponsored HDHP with an HSA, you may be eligible for HSA bonus incentives.
6. Self-Owned: You are the owner of your HSA account and your employer can’t take the funds away from you.
7. Portability: HSAs are “portable”. This means that you can take an HSA with you from one employer to another, or even to self-employment.
8. Retirement Withdrawals: You can withdraw funds from HSA accounts in retirement similar to an IRA, without penalty, for any reason, starting at age 65.
9. No RMDs: HSAs don’t have required minimum distributions at retirement age, like IRAs do.
10. Flexible QMEs: HSAs can now be used to pay for OTC medications, feminine hygiene and menstrual care products – in addition to all of the previous qualified medical expenses (QMEs) like doctor visits, prescription drugs, and more.

Remember, you must have an HDHP to get access to and then continue contributing to an HSA. You can withdraw from an HSA at any time, for a qualified medical expense, without penalty (even if you no longer have an HDHP). For more basics on HSAs, check out the above links and the full IRS HSA guidelines.

The Cons of HSAs

The challenge with HSAs, however, is that a lot of the big name financial players (e.g. major banks and investment brokers) aren’t in the HSA space. Many HSA administrators have a maze of fees to navigate as well, sadly. If you get stuck with the wrong HSA account provider, it can really cut into your HSA savings. You need to do your homework.

The HSA marketplace is still young, but quickly growing. HSAs are fairly new to the health insurance and investing worlds. They weren’t established until 2003. In 2008, only about 6 million Americans had one. But that number has more than quintupled since, and there are now 37 million HSA accounts in the United States, with total HSA assets surpassing $123 billion.

HSA accounts can be started with banks, brokers, credit unions, and even insurance companies. Any company that offers an HSA is referred to as an “administrator” or “custodian”. HSAs were originally designed for modest deposits through payroll, followed by frequent small withdrawals. This is why most started and are still administered by banks and credit unions, which makes investing tricky, because most banks and credit unions don’t have their own investing platform. But, the good news is that you are not locked in. If you’re not happy with your current HSA(s), you can transfer your HSA funds to one of the best HSAs at any time.

Best HSA Account Provider Discussion:

• Who is your current HSA account administrator and what are their fees, policies, and investment options?
• Have you invested within your HSA account?
• What is your pick for the best HSA account?

Related Posts:

• Should you Front-Load HSA Contributions?