By choosing a Health Savings Account, one is betting on
themselves... in a way. If you stay healthy, then with a
typical health insurance plan you're just out a lot of
money. With a Health Savings Account, not only will you
pay significantly less in premiums, but at the end of the
year you have a nice deposit of up to $5,650 sitting in
your account. Money which you didn't pay any federal
income taxes on, state income taxes (with the exception of
four states) on, or social security taxes.
Let's say a 30-year old man with a family opens a Health
Savings Account and has a high-deductible health plan that
allows him to fund the account with $5,650 each year. If
he takes $1,000 or less out each year for medical expenses,
and earns a 10% return on his money, he'll have $1,422,878
when he retires.
The best way to accumulate this much money in your Health
Savings Account is to stay healthy, so that you don't need
to access those funds to pay for medical expenses. The
good news is that the vast majority of diseases and
disorders people have are the direct result of their
lifestyle choices. High blood pressure, cancer, diabetes,
Alzheimer's, digestive disorders, endometriosis,
osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and more, are all largely
preventable.
The Average Guy Doesn't Get It
The average American lives as if social security, a few
prescriptions, and some good luck will take care of him in
his later years. So he saves little for retirement. He
eats packaged foods like French fries, chips, cokes, pasta,
and cold cuts. And over the years he puts on "a few extra
pounds", and he gets out-of-shape, and he gets high blood
pressure, and high cholesterol, and eventually heart
disease, cancer, diabetes, or Alzheimer's.
Insurance Companies Get It
Some insurance companies do understand the tremendous
impact lifestyle can have on health, and are beginning to
institute programs to encourage healthy lifestyles among
their customers. Healthy policyholders will use their
coverage less, resulting in lower rates for them, and
better customer retention and higher profitability for the
insurance company. Some insurance companies started new
programs designed to help reward their customers for
staying healthy. The programs provide health risk
assessments, personalized health-improvement plans, email
access to trainers, counselors, and nutritionists, and even
credits that can be redeemed for health-related merchandise.
HSA Owners Get It
People who open Health Savings Accounts are proactive.
They act ahead of time, and think about how their actions
now will affect their future. That is why they put away
tax-deferred money for future possible health expenses, and
that is why many are also interested in taking a proactive
approach to their health. Choosing to live an
extraordinarily healthy life, and actively making lifestyle
changes, is an activity that will bring tremendous returns.
Tax-free, just like an HSA.
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By Wiley Long - President, HSA for America (
http://www.health--savings--accounts.com ) - The nation's
leading independent health insurance firm specializing in
individual and family coverage that work with Health
Savings Accounts.
