Thank you, Bill!
In addition to being introduced to and made aware of the new acronyms in this complex alphabet soup of legal and financial benefit, I truly appreciate the value of expertise and experience shared by members like yourself.
The community could definitely benefit from such advice by avoiding my scenario, if there is any straddling of coverage, and planning to act earlier, for related looking-back requirements.
I am trying to catch up, but certainly would not be ready before time is up!
1. Should I, at January, on my year 70 (2026), get an Individual FSA plan or no coverage at all to free up my wife for her own HSA until August 2026, when we get coverage from my wife's new HSA plan? (see related item 5 and 6 below.)
2. If so, that would require my wife to sign up in August 2025, for a simple FSA to cover both of us until 2026.
3. Can my wife, in August 2026, apply for her own individual HSA, independent of any plan I may have
4. Can she then apply for family HSA to get our combined limits, provided that I have no coverage? or provided that I'm not under FSA, nor Medicare (full SSA) by that August 2026.
5. Assuming that my wife got an HSA in August 2026, when is the time to factor in my own Medicare retro-active '6-mo looking back'
6. Since SSA will pay only a maximum of six months of retroactive benefits, would asking for such delay, receiving say in January 2027 (my year 71), help at all in this quest, be at all related to Under-Medicare-effective, or be even possible
7. If I am able to carry out the delay from step 6, is there any other timing that influences, preventing me from getting a family HSA in January 2027?
There is a lot of knowledge to master, to guess whether the benefits are possible and outweigh all the efforts, but the amount of technical literature you have covered and what we can learn from your experience is certainly invaluable.
My oversight by being late to this complex opportunity keeps us out of this HSA benefit, but there is any way if I can stay out of this picture, perhaps I can help her, and not denying her own chance sooner.
Gratefully and best regards!
-Willis
