Owners of health savings accounts appear to be using the accounts primarily to cover their current expenses rather than fully taking advantage of the accounts' tax preference by contributing the maximum or maintaining HSA balances for retirement health care expenses.
That is the highlight of longitudinal studies conducted by the Employment Benefit Research Institute.
Other highlights include the fact that the use of investments other than cash within HSAs remains low, and that end-of-year account balances increased between 2011 and 2020 but remained low.
“Between 2019 and 2020, average annual individual contributions fell,” EBRI said in a release. “It is possible that as unemployment increased during the pandemic, HSA owners reduced contributions. Notably, average annual distributions fell as well, reaching an all-time low. The decline in both contributions and distributions may also be due to lower use of health care services during the pandemic."
Chicago-based Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions adds flexPATH's plan-level outsourced fiduciary book, boosting its retirement market reach to $164 billion.
Also, Raymond James's employee advisor channel adds breakaways from Wells Fargo and Stifel, while UBS welcomes an ex-Morgan Stanley duo in Indiana.
It promised guaranteed principal and 10% monthly returns. The SEC says it invested nothing.
Ten years after entering the fee-based annuity market, MassMutual Ascend says nearly half its lifetime sales came in the past two years alone – but barriers remain among fee-only advisors.
Amplify, WealthReach, Zeplyn and Zocks have unveiled partnerships aimed at automating portfolio management, content creation, account opening, and client communication.
Northern Trust’s Ken Lassner shows advisors how to convert volatility into after-tax portfolio gains
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
