U.S. workers who contribute to health savings accounts (HSAs) may be better than comparable workers at saving for retirement.
Analysts at Fidelity Investments, Boston — a money manager with a large life insurance subsidiary — looked at 48,000 workers who ended 2010 with both Fidelity-managed HSAs and accounts in corporate 401(k) plans with records kept by Fidelity.
The average 401(k) balance was $71,500 for all 401(k) particiapnts and $170,500 for Fidelity 401(k) plan participants who were also Fidelity HSA holders.
The analysts tried to filter out the effects of income by performing a similar comparison of HSA-owning and non-HSA-owning workers in the same income category.
In the $20,000 to $40,000 annual earnings category, for example, the average 401(k) balance for a 401(k) plan-only participant was $19,000; the average 401(k) plan balance for a participant with an HSA was $30,000.