IRS Announces 2021 Health Savings Account Contribution Limits, Still Time To Make 2019 And 2020 HSA Contributions
The Internal Revenue Service announced new, higher contribution limits for health savings accounts for 2021 today. You’ll be allowed to contribute $3,600 for individual coverage for 2021, up from $3,550 for 2020, or $7,200 for family coverage, up from $7,100 for 2020.
In the meantime, you can still top off health savings account contributions for 2019 through the Covid-19-related extended tax day deadline of July 15, 2020. And it’s as good a time as ever to check that your contributions for the 2020 calendar year are on track.
While more and more Americans are opening up these triple-tax-advantaged accounts, few are fully embracing the potential tax savings they offer. Some accounts go unfunded. And only 6% of accountholders choose to invest the money they contribute, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
Is it really worth the hassle of keeping track of a savings and investing account dedicated to healthcare? Absolutely. With an HSA, you save whether you use the money in the account for current out-of-pocket healthcare expenses, or invest it with the intention of using it to help cover your healthcare costs in retirement.
You can even used an HSA to save on a typical trip to the CVS. Thanks to a tax relief provision tucked in the last Covid-19 stimulus package, you can use money you stash in an HSA or FSA (more on those later) for over-the-counter medications like Tylenol or Flonase as well as menstrual products like tampons and pads. That reverses Obamacare restrictions on OTC meds requiring a doctor’s prescription for them to be eligible for reimbursement. Lively, an upstart HSA and FSA provider, has an updated list of eligible expenses here.