Meet the Wiggins Family – A young, self-employed family with an HSA plan.
Who: Steve and Michelle Wiggins and their two children Mia and Michael
Where: Tampa, FL
What: HSA plan owners
Why: Small business owners with a growing family
Steve and Michelle Wiggins are building for their family's future, in part with a health savings account plan.
Steve owns a small construction firm. Michelle runs her own accounting business from home. Mia is a soccer-playing fourth grader and Michael is also in grade school.
A health savings account plan makes sense for the Wiggins family because of:
- Qualified, lower-cost high deductible health insurance.
- A combined family deductible – one calendar-year amount to pay out-of-pocket for the whole family, and then 100% of expenses covered by the health insurance plan are paid.
- The ability to use HSA savings to cover the insurance deductible.
- Tax advantages like an IRA – ideal for the self-employed.
Their goal is to fund their HSA to the maximum amount each year.
How does the Wiggins family use their HSA?
First, the Wiggins use HSA savings to cover their insurance deductible. Since they have no dental or vision coverage, they use their HSA savings for regular dental and vision care for the entire family.
Michelle is also looking ahead in case her children need braces. They hope to save enough to pay a good part of that major expense.
So, with an HSA plan the Wiggins family has quality, major medical insurance that kicks in once they meet their calendar-year family deductible. They're building a savings account which earns interest tax-free and helps pay their health insurance deductible. Plus, they get significant tax advantages any family dependent on income from self-employment can really use.
*The Wiggins' story is a hypothetical example for purposes of illustration only
