Unable to import account data for HSA account

starr.ryan
starr.ryan Quicken Mac Subscription Member ✭✭
in Download, Add/Update Accounts (Mac)

I'm having issues importing data for my HSA account which is with Optum Financial. The website has a .QFX download which works fine for my dependent care account and Flex spending. When I attempt to import the file for the first time it doesn't give me the option to link it to any investment account. Just to test I set up a dummy savings account and it worked fine. Is there a trick to importing files to investment accounts?

Money in the HSA can be invested so I would like to be able to track this no different than a brokerage account.

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Answers

  • John_in_NC
    John_in_NC Quicken Mac Subscription SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta

    Hi, @starr.ryan

    While I have had a high deductible insurance plan for 10 years, HSAs are just beginning to become more popular. What I have found from personal and others' experiences around here is that transaction download is limited. All of my transactions have to be manually entered, but some plans are beginning to allow Quicken support. It's not a big deal for me as I don't have much activity.

    One thing to note is that with HSA investing is that it is often two separate financial institutions: you have your main one that handles the cash transactions/medical transactions. (That is likely what you were able to QFX download-and from the name your employer uses/debit card.)

    The investment side is often handled by a third party brokerage (which usually does not support Quicken as they are acting behind the scenes)-and they report the balances back to your HSA provider. With the three managers of my HSA (same employer) over the years, they all work the same. Go to one website to see cash HSA transx, and then when you go to view/handle investments, you are actually being redirected to somebody else, sometimes with a similar interface.

    That said, I don't suspect you will be able to represent this with a single account in Quicken: You will have to have one for the cash transactions/transfers in from employer contributions and another for the investment account. Whether or not each support Quicken is HSA dependent. You will have to check out transx download ability on the investment side.

    I hope this info helps. Reach out if you have more questions.

  • starr.ryan
    starr.ryan Quicken Mac Subscription Member ✭✭

    Thanks for the comment. I don't currently have anything invested as we just started the HSA in January and I believe you are correct about multiple institutions. My question was more around Quicken. If I had the account setup as savings I could import the QFX file. I currently import from the same website for a dependent care account. Quicken (MAC) doesn't seem to allow you to import to an investment or retirement account. This could be a MAC thing over Windows.

  • John_in_NC
    John_in_NC Quicken Mac Subscription SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta

    Hi, again, @starr.ryan

    You can most certainly import QFX files into Investment accounts. I suspect your inability to do so is because the former indicates internally that it is a savings account (which it is) so the account mismatch prevents the import.

    While I could represent my HSA as a single Investment account, I prefer to keep the savings/investment sides as separate accounts as it is easier to handle reconciles. And, (in my case) it represents how it is being handled in the real world. Personal preference I guess.

    I personally keep my Cash side as an Asset account so I don't see the $ intermixed with my day to day banking accounts within Quicken. (I keep the bare amount to keep my investment side going without fees.) I view my HSA as a mini IRA.

  • starr.ryan
    starr.ryan Quicken Mac Subscription Member ✭✭

    I think you are correct, as you import the QFX file it does default to a savings account and gives me those options of where to link it. That explains why I can't see an investment account.

    So, if your HSA is like mine you can invest anything over $1000, anything under is seen as cash. I get that, my brokerage account with eTrade shows cash in the account no different, so I was going to treat it the same way. On eTrade my monthly transfer shows up as a "cash in" transaction and then my automatic investment shows a "cash out" purchase of VOO as an example. I keep a few hundred in there as cash and earn a small amount of interest on it so in my mind the HSA would work the same way.

    If I'm understanding, your contributions deposit into the asset HSA account and then you transfer it to the investing HSA account as it's invested? You are able to download transactions from both separately? I don't have anything invested yet, so I guess I will see how the accounts react when the money is invested. That may answer my question as to how to proceed.

    To this point I've been recording transactions as they happen. I'm capturing the receipt at the point of sale in Quicken for obvious reasons; so reconciling is not that challenging as I can review the account on one screen and match the very few transactions.

  • John_in_NC
    John_in_NC Quicken Mac Subscription SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    edited February 20

    Hi, again, @starr.ryan

    I can't speak for how your HSA is managed, but only how mine acts. But, with three different providers handling it, all were similar:

    My payroll contributions (and, in my case, also my employer contributions) all get moved into cash at my HSA's website. This is available on a provided debit card.

    I have the option there to manually move $ to investments, but there are also various "rules" I can setup to move $ over to the investment side based on %, amount, etc. Pretty simple, and I since I have the minimum balance covered there to avoid fees, I setup a rule to move all contributions directly to the investment side. You can leave things as manual while you become comfortable with how it works.

    When I click through my HSA to the Investment side, it still appears as the same HSA website even though a third party may be handling the investments. There, the $ will sit in a cash MMF (Money Market Fund) until I decide what funds to invest in. There also, I can set rules, and I have created one to make all contributions automatically be a buy of a preferred fund to avoid it getting dumped into a MMF. It's very similar to a 401k account.

    Everything is manual with no downloads available, but that is no big deal. (I don't have much activity in this account). Within Quicken, I have scheduled transactions setup (that auto-post on correct dates) for the addition of cash into the cash side, and the transfer over to the investment account I track in Quicken. The only thing I have to do is login to my HSA each pay period to get the amount of shares purchased for the Investment Buy transaction.

    Reconciling is easy: on the cash side it will be the minimum amount required to avoid fees for investing+a small amount of interest. The investment account maintains a $0 cash balance as everything gets invested automatically. I just make sure the share balances are correct via the portfolio. Oh, and I have to occasionally view the "transactions" there for any dividends, capital gain reinvests that might occur. But, typing in a few transactions is no big deal to me.

    I think it won't be hard for you to figure out once you invest a little $ to see how it behaves. You just want to replicate in Quicken how it is handled in the real world. Good luck!

    (On a sidenote, I started my HSA 11 years ago as a cheaper alternative as I am single with rarely any medical costs. I started putting in the difference between a high deductible plan versus traditional.) After a few years and seeing it grow (+ tax benefits), I have opted to contribute more. It has worked out, and is a great idea for younger folk. ) I now pay for my infrequent medical costs (such as teeth cleaning) out of pocket to keep my $ growing.

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