Imagine all of your HSA needs in one place. Where getting a trip tax break, no hidden fees, and automatic investing is all done for you.
This is all possible through Starship HSA, an attractive solution for those looking to save and invest their future health care costs.
Who Is Starship HSA?
Founded in 2017, Starship HSA is the modern health savings account for people looking to spend and save on eligible health expenses, and invest in the future.
With over 130,000+ users, Starship is giving health savings accounts (HSAs) a good name–not historically an easy feat! Since their inception in 2003, HSAs have long been thought of as confusing and complicated, but Starship’s changing that narrative thanks to their simple, beautiful app, stellar customer support, and ample educational resources.
Here’s what else you need to know about Starship.
What Do They Offer?
First, let’s talk about the obvious: what exactly is an HSA?
HSA stands for health savings account. They’re kind of like personal savings accounts, except that the money in them is used to pay for eligible healthcare expenses.
How does this benefit you? Well, when you use your Starship HSA, you’re lowering your overall tax-burden… an offer most of us can’t, and shouldn’t refuse. A health savings account is the only triple-tax-advantaged account out there, and it’s truly made to save you money whenever and wherever possible, and ensure both short- and long-term health and wealth.
Does Starship Offer an FSA?
Nope! And for quite a few reasons.
The most significant difference between FSAs and HSAs is that FSA money is use it or lose it, meaning if you haven’t used up all of your account’s funds by year end, you’re out of luck, and that money’s gone.
With an HSA, if you don’t use the money in your account by the end of the year, no worries–it’ll still be there come January 1st. In fact, that money is yours year-over-year. And with Starship, you can even leave an employer, or add another one, and keep your same account (and all the funds in it!). With many other providers, a job change would mean a new account number–even if remaining with the same provider–and a request to roll over funds. Not-so with Starship. What’s yours, stays yours, simple as that.
Another important difference between HSAs and FSAs is this: FSAs are employer-owned, while HSAs are individually controlled. This means that if you get a different job in the middle of the year, you’re likely to forfeit whatever hard earned cash you had in your FSA.
And as if you needed more reasons why HSAs win over FSAs… HSAs are triple-tax-advantaged, while FSAs are not.
With your HSA, your:
- Contributions to your Starship HSA are tax-free
- Withdrawals on eligible health expenses are tax-free
- HSA investment growth is tax-free, too!
Another bonus? Everything that your Starship HSA is capable of, can all happen from the palm of your hand. I’ve yet to see that for any FSA.
Right from within the Starship app, you can:
- Manage HSA contributions
- Track HSA savings
- Track HSA spending
- Set a savings threshold and put your invested funds on auto-pilot
- Pay yourself back for qualified health expenses
- Store receipts
- Order a Starship Visa® Debit Card to swipe or tap and pay for eligible expenses
The 411 on Starship Investing
I think that Starship’s investing feature is what really sets them apart from other HSA providers. Their approach is simple: a fully integrated investing platform built right into the existing Starship app.
Enrolling in a Starship Investing Account takes only a few minutes, and all you need to do to get started is the following:
- Answer a few questions about your risk tolerance, financial situation, and investing goals
- Approve the portfolio suggested to you
- Initiate a transfer from your savings
- Start investing
Starship’s use of robo-investors makes growing your money tax-free virtually hassle-free. Once enrolled, you can easily track your investing performance over time, move funds, or make changes to your investments… yes, all from the Starship app.
Of course, there’s always the option to adjust your preferences in the future. But for now, you can let Starship’s robo-investing technology do the heavy lifting.
Are There Any Fees?
Starship’s HSA is totally free. The only fee you’ll ever pay with this provider is for its investment component. And even that fee is incredibly low at $1/month.*
You’ll also never need to worry about being charged for any of the following:
- No monthly maintenance fees
- No withdrawal fees
- No minimum balance fees
- No transaction fees (within the U.S.)
- No debit card fees
- No overdraft fees
- No account opening fees
- No account closing fees
*If you have more than $5,000 a month in your investing account, you’ll incur an extra .35% fee on investments. To learn more about these Starship’s investing agreements, click here.
How Do I Open An Account?
Opening a Starship HSA is super simple and will only take a few minutes.
Here’s how to get started.
- Download the Starship app, available on both the Apple Store and Google Play stores
- Create an account
- Connect your bank account
- Set up monthly recurring contributions*
*You don't need to set up recurring contributions during the sign up process. In fact, you can simply opt to contribute to your HSA when you have some extra funds down the line. But by automating contributions, both saving and investing become a lot easier.
How Do I Know If I’m Eligible?
Whether or not you’re HSA eligible depends on what type of insurance you have. Right now, in order to have an HSA, you must also be enrolled in a high deductible health plan (HDHP).
For 2021, an HDHP is defined as a plan with a deductible of at least $1,400 for an individual and $2,800 for a family. Yearly out-of-pocket expenses (including deductibles, copayments and coinsurance) can’t be more than $7,000 for an individual or $14,000 for a family. For 2022, individual and family deductible amounts are the same, and the out-of-pocket expenses will increase by $50 and $100, respectively.
Here are some additional requirements you’ll want to keep in mind around enrolling in an HSA:
- You must be at least 18 years old.
- You cannot be covered under any health plan that does not qualify as an HDHP (with limited exemptions). In other words, if you have a secondary insurance policy with a low deductible, you may not be eligible.
- You must not be enrolled in Medicare.
- You cannot be claimed as a dependent on another person’s tax return.
Is My Money Safe?
Yes.
All Starship accounts are FDIC insured. Starship Spending Accounts (that’s how they sometimes refer to your HSA) are insured for $250k. Any invested funds are SIPC-insured for $500k. Starship is a fully licensed investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
Starship HSA vs. Competitors
Starship is the only mobile-first HSA provider I’ve come across, and they continue to up the ante with every new product enhancement–which seem to come quite frequently. Their mobile-first approach is especially helpful to those a part of the individual market, like drivers who are often on the go, and freelancers who may receive contributions from more than one employer (this capability is specific to Starship!).
You also won’t find another HSA that’s as easy to use or customer-focused. There are a couple other leaders in the HSA space right now, like Lively and Bend HSA, but on top of being the only mobile-first account of this kind, Starship also does an impressive job at both customer education and support, something I’ve not seen done this well by any other provider. And in an industry as niche as this one, support and education are imperative. There’s a lot to be learned!
You can contact Starship’s Customer Support at [email protected], or chat with them right from within the app. And as far as education is concerned, I especially like Starship’s extensive blog and FAQ page.
Pros
- Free app available in both in the App store or Google Play
- Can be managed entirely in the mobile app
- No monthly cost for your HSA
- No account minimums
- Super low investing fee of $1/mo
- You can keep if you change jobs, or easily transfer from a different HSA
- Your money is FDIC insured
- Beautiful, free Starship Visa® Debit Card
Cons
- No DIY investing option
Is It Worth It?
Yes.
Starship offers a mobile-first HSA with simple management, no hidden fees, and amazing educational resources that’ll keep you up to date with industry changes and answer your burning questions.
