HSA Calculator: Your Tax Savings & Tax-Free Growth

For 2026 you can contribute up to $4,400 with self-only HDHP coverage or $8,750 with family coverage, up from $4,300 and $8,550 in 2025. If you're 55 or older you can add a $1,000 catch-up contribution on top, and a married couple who are both 55+ can each put their own $1,000 catch-up into separate HSAs. To be eligible you must be covered by a qualifying High-Deductible Health Plan — for 2026 that means a deductible of at least $1,700 (self-only) or $3,400 (family), with out-of-pocket maximums no higher than $8,500 and $17,000. Employer contributions count toward these same limits.

An HSA is the only account in the US tax code that's tax-advantaged three times — the 'triple tax advantage.' First, contributions are deductible, so they lower your taxable income (and if you contribute through your employer's payroll, they also dodge the 7.65% FICA/Social Security and Medicare tax, which even a 401(k) doesn't avoid). Second, the money grows completely tax-free — no tax on interest, dividends or capital gains. Third, withdrawals for qualified medical expenses come out tax-free at any age. The calculator above shows all three: your immediate tax saving this year, and the tax-free growth by retirement.

If you can afford to pay current medical bills out of your regular cash, investing the HSA is usually the single best move available to you — better than a 401(k) for that slice of money — because of the triple tax advantage. Most HSA providers let you invest the balance above a small cash threshold in index funds. The strategy that supercharges it: pay today's medical costs out of pocket, save the receipts, and let the HSA compound for decades. There's no deadline to reimburse yourself, so you can withdraw that money tax-free years later against those old receipts — turning the HSA into a stealth retirement account.

At 65 the HSA gets even more flexible. Withdrawals for qualified medical expenses stay tax-free, and that now includes Medicare Part B, Part D and Medicare Advantage premiums (though not Medigap). For non-medical withdrawals, the 20% early-withdrawal penalty disappears — you simply pay ordinary income tax, exactly like a traditional IRA or 401(k). So at worst your HSA behaves like a traditional retirement account, and for any healthcare cost it's better than both a 401(k) and a Roth. There are no required minimum distributions either, so it can keep compounding untouched.

An HSA beats a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) on almost every front: the money rolls over year to year instead of being 'use it or lose it,' it's yours forever even if you change jobs, and it can be invested. Versus a 401(k), the smart order for most people is: contribute enough to your 401(k) to capture the full employer match first (that's free money), then max the HSA, then go back to the 401(k). The HSA wins that middle slot because it's the only account with the triple tax break and the extra FICA saving via payroll — money spent on healthcare is never taxed at all.

Yes. California and New Jersey are the two states that do not conform to the federal HSA rules. In those states your HSA contributions are not deductible on your state return, and the account's interest, dividends and capital gains are taxable at the state level each year. You still get the full federal benefit — the deduction, the FICA saving via payroll, and tax-free growth and withdrawals federally — so an HSA is still very much worth it. Just set the state-tax-saving field in the calculator to 0% if you live in CA or NJ so the numbers stay honest.