@kip16 wrote:
So the insurance plan that my employer offers automatically includes an HSA account. If I open the HSA account, but make 0 contributions until I am HSA eligible, will it still be ok to have the account?
This was asked and answered on another post, not sure why you asked it again.
Any contributions you make, or that are made by your employer, will be considered excess and ineligible. They might be subtracted from your pay pre-tax, but they will be added back to your taxable income on your tax return. And, if you don't remove the excess contributions before the deadline, they will also be subject to a 6% penalty.
However, once money is deposited in an HSA, it can be spent tax-free for qualified medical expenses, even if it was an ineligible deposit. The rules for spending are not intertwined with the rules for contributing.
This means that, there might be some circumstances where it could be beneficial to open the HSA, accept contributions (especially free money from an employer), but withdraw them before the deadline or pay the 6% penalty. This can get tricky and would be better for an in-person discussion with an advisor who knows the rules for HSAs and also knows your personal financial situation.
But as stated, the fact that you can be claimed as a dependent, means any contribution are ineligible and subject to tax and penalty, even if the person who could claim you, won't be claiming you.
