In 2025, the 401k had its’ 47th “anniversary”; while Health Savings Accounts celebrated their 22th “birthday”. However, most employers don’t offer either a 401k or HSA capable coverage. And, unless you offer both, neither program, by itself, will deliver optimal value.
The 401k and HSA are better together, where plan designs anticipate diverse financial capability/fragility.
Combined they meet almost all worker financial wellness / resilience needs.
Done right, the combination offers workers the best opportunity to become benefits Middle-Class Millionaires … Someday.
It is long past time to leverage the 401k’s superior asset accumulation capability by coupling it with the HSA’s superior utility – capable of quadruple duty.
Jack Towarnicky serves as an ERISA attorney, Koehler Fitzgerald, LLC, Cleveland Ohio. Previously, Jack held corporate benefits leadership positions in plan sponsor roles at four Fortune 500 firms - Nationwide, Tenneco, Cooper Industries and Marathon. Nationally recognized - Plan Sponsor of the Year, Benefits Manager of the Year, etc. Education: LLM - Employee Benefits, JD, MBA, BBA-Business Economics.