If you apply after that time, you should plan to stop depositing funds to your HSA up to six months prior to signing up for Medicare because you could face penalties if you continue to contribute. Decide when you plan to retire and when you plan to sign up for Medicare; those may not be the same date.
Once you turn 65, you can use the money in your HSA for anything you want. If you don't use it for qualified medical expenses, it counts as income when you file your taxes. Six months before you retire or get Medicare benefits, you must stop contributing to your HSA.
Remember, premium-free Part A coverage begins 6 months before the month you apply for Medicare (or Social Security/RRB benefits), but no earlier than the month you turn 65. To avoid a tax penalty, you should stop contributing to your HSA at least 6 months before you apply for Medicare.
The Last Month Rule
There is a testing period of twelve months. This means you must stay eligible through the end of the next year, or else you will face taxes and penalties.
Drawbacks of HSAs include tax penalties for nonmedical expenses before age 65, and contributions made to the HSA within six months of applying for Social Security benefits may be subject to penalties. HSAs have fewer limitations and more tax advantages than flexible spending accounts (FSAs).
Contributing more to your health savings account (HSA) than the IRS limit for the tax year creates excess contributions. All excess contributions are subject to income tax and a 6% excise tax each year until corrected.
While you can continue to spend from your HSA, you cannot set up or contribute to an HSA in any month that you are enrolled in Medicare. age, Social Security will give you six months of “back pay” in retirement benefits. This means that your enrollment in Part A will also be backdated by six months.
Finally, consider which account will give you the most tax benefits. An HSA is taxed in essentially the same way as a 401(k), except it also includes tax-free medical withdrawals, so in that sense, the HSA wins.
You can repay the incorrect distribution before filing your federal taxes for that tax year. However, if you do not correct the mistake, the unqualified amount will be subject to income tax, and you may also face an additional 20% tax penalty.
Gym memberships. While some companies and private insurers may offer discounts on gym memberships, you generally can't use your FSA or HSA account to pay for gym or health club memberships. An exception to that rule would be if your doctor deems fitness medically necessary for your recovery or treatment.
If you or any other authorized party, like an employer, make excess contributions to your HSA once you have Medicare, you can be charged a 6% Internal Revenue Service tax penalty on those funds and any interest they accrue until the funds are removed from your account.
If you are retiring at the age of 65 ½ or older, to avoid potential tax issues, you want to STOP YOUR HSA CONTRIBUTIONS so that you have 6 months of NO contributions before you FILE FOR MEDICARE. Please keep in mind that the EMPLOYEE and EMPLOYER contributions do appear in the “look-back period”.
Try to invest as much of your HSA money as possible while ensuring that you keep enough cash to cover your qualified medical expenses. Consider where your other retirement plans are invested as well to make sure that your HSA investments provide diversification. Avoid taking out funds from your HSA as much as possible.
The amount of money you should have in your HSA during retirement depends on your healthcare needs and circumstances. According to the Fidelity Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate, a single person who is age 65 in 2023 should aim to have about $157,000 saved (after tax) for healthcare expenses during retirement.
An IRS penalty applies to HSA contributions made, even if unknowingly, during the Part A retroactive period. To avoid an IRS penalty, stop contributions to the HSA between 1-7 months prior to enrolling in Medicare Part A or claiming Social Security (SS) benefits after age 65 years.
The "last month" rule answers this question. If your HSA eligibility begins by the “first day of the last month” of the year – which would be December 1 – you're considered an “eligible individual.” That means you're allowed to put that year's total contributions, for the full year, into your HSA.
An account beneficiary may defer to later taxable years distributions from HSAs to pay or reimburse qualified medical expenses incurred in the current year as long as the expenses were incurred after the HSA was established.
In 2022, the IRS contribution limit for individual HSAs was $3,650, and $7,300 for those with family coverage. While HSAs are touted by providers and financial experts for their use as investment accounts, only 13 percent of owners used them in that capacity in 2022, EBRI found.
HSA Contributions Have Annual Limits
For 2025, you are only allowed to deposit $4,300 in your HSA for individual plans ($8,550 for family coverage). You can make an additional $1,000 contribution if you are 55 or older. Deposits that exceed this limit can incur tax penalties and/or IRS fees.
One benefit of the HSA is that after you turn age 65, you can withdraw money from your HSA for any reason without incurring a tax penalty. You are, however, subject to normal income tax on any non-qualified withdrawals.
Sacrificing other financial goals: If you have the spare money, there's nothing wrong with maxing out your HSA. But if you're behind on other financial goals, like paying off student loans or saving for a down payment, you might want to tackle those first and make smaller HSA contributions.
Any contributions above the IRS set limit will be considered as taxable income. If you over contribute to your HSA and don't correct it, you may be charged a 6% penalty rate each year on the excess that remains in your account. Although funds in your HSA are tax-free, tax penalties may arise.
You will see the total amount of your excess contributions for the year on IRS Form 8889, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). This amount is taxable income. If the excess contributions are from your employer, they will include them in your wages when they report them on your W-2.