Adulting

There are different rules governing how much you can contribute to an HSA vs. an FSA. In short, each plan holder is allowed to contribute $3050 in 2024 to an FSA (so that if you're on a family plan, you're stuck at $3050). On the flip side, if you're on a single-coverage HDHP, you can contribute $4150 in 2023 to an HSA, and $8300 if you have family coverage. Finally, note that contributions to an FSA are usually lost (although some plans allow for small roll-overs), so that you shouldn't contribute more to an FSA than your yearly expenses. On the other hand, HSAs roll over (and can accrue interest!), so there's no need to limit contributions based on yearly expenses. Finally, note that if one spouse contributes to an FSA, the other is no longer eligible to contribute to an HSA, even if the latter is covered by a HDHP. See this calculator's help page for more details.

Note that copays are counted differently than normal medical expenses. In general, copays count toward the out-of-pocket maximum, but not toward a deductible. See this calculator's help page for more details.

Enter here the amount of medical expenses for each person, excluding copays (see the help button for copays for more detail). Note that coverage for services, medications, etc. varies by plan type! In other words, you might not enter the same number for all plans. Note also that traditional plans are symmetric by person (that is: you can enter the people in any order). However, the HDHP is not symmetric; person 1 is assumed to incur charges before person 2, etc. For a worst-case scenario, generally you would enter the lowest-costing person as person 1, and the most costly person as person 4.