By Andy Ives, CFP®, AIF®
IRA Analyst
QUESTION:
I have a question regarding joint health savings accounts (HSAs). What happens if an HSA is shared with a spouse who is not yet eligible for Medicare? Can that spouse continue to contribute if they remain enrolled in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP)?
Best regards,
Shyam
ANSWER:
Shyam,
Technically there is no “joint HSA.” Each spouse must open their own account, but the family contribution limits are aggregated among spouses. If one spouse is age 65 or older and enrolled in Medicare, that spouse can no longer contribute to an HSA. However, if the other spouse is not yet enrolled in Medicare and remains in an HDHP, that spouse can continue to contribute to an HSA based on the self-only contribution limits. For 2026, the self-only limit is $4,500, plus a $1,000 catch-up for those age 55 and older.
QUESTION:
I am age 71 and currently have a small traditional IRA at Vanguard as well as a large traditional IRA and a Roth IRA at Fidelity. In the interest of preparing for required minimum distributions (RMDs) in a couple of years, I plan to roll my Vanguard traditional IRA into my Fidelity traditional IRA, and convert some of my Fidelity traditional IRA into the Fidelity Roth IRA. Can I do both of those transfers this year? Does it matter what order I do them in?
ANSWER:
You can do of both these transactions this year, and you can do them in any order. We recommend that you move the small IRA into the larger traditional IRA via direct transfer as opposed to a 60-day rollover. That way you can avoid any tax reporting with the transfer and not have to worry about either the 60-day deadline or the once-per-year rollover rule. As for the partial Roth conversion, you can do that at any time and for any amount. (But be aware that, once your RMDs start, you must take your full RMD before you do any Roth IRA conversions.)
If you have technical questions you would like to have answered, be sure to submit them to [email protected], to be answered on an upcoming Slott Report Mailbag, published every Thursday.