@maury2 wrote:
Thank you for your explanation regarding HSAs. My second question pertains to the catch-up contribution of $1,000 available to individuals aged 55 or older. Both my wife and I are over the age of 55. However, under our family HSA, the catch-up contribution is only $1,000 total. If we were to each have our own single HSAs, would we be eligible to contribute $1,000 to each account for a total catch-up contribution of $2,000? Am I correct in this understanding?
Let's go back one step.
There is no such thing as a "family HSA." An HSA is a bank account or financial account that is owned by one person and one person only, there are no joint or family HSAs. You might have family insurance coverage that makes you eligible to contribute to an HSA, but the HSA itself is owned by a single individual.
With that out of the way, if you are "covered" by a family HDHP and you have no other medical coverage (like Medicare or Medicaid) then you can contribute to an HSA, even if you aren't the "owner" of the HDHP. Your overall family limit for 2023 is $7750, and each person over age 55 gets an individual $1000 catch-up contribution.
That means that your wife can contribute $8850, and you can contribute $1000, or you could each contribute $4875, or almost any other combination—you can divide the $7750 any way you like and the $1000 is individual.
If you don't currently own an HSA in your name, you could open one and make contributions up to April 15, 2024, and have it count as a retroactive 2023 contribution that would give you a tax deduction on your 2023 return. Then you could go on making 2024 contributions and so on, until you stop being covered by the HDHP, or start being covered by other insurance that makes you ineligible, like Medicare.
