<prompt> Human: My company offers a 500 match for the first 500 put into the HSA account. I dont really understand how these accounts work, and have seen some talk about HSAs on Reddit and how they can be used as a retirement fund of sorts. Can yall help me out and ELI5 this one? I dont really understand how they work at all. Thanks!  <response>: An HSA is a holding account just like an IRA or 401k. With most HSAs, you can invest the funds within the HSA account into mutual funds. Different HSA custodians have different rules around this. Some require you hold a minimum amount in a cash account, others will charge a monthly fee for investing in mutual funds. HSAs are good investment vehicles because if used properly, can be triple tax-advantaged, meaning not taxed on contributions contributions to HSA are immune to federal income taxes, most state income taxes and FICA - not even 401k contributions are immune to FICA, not taxed on earnings, and not taxed on withdrawals if used for medical expenses. Even if not used for medical expenses, an HSA can serve as a tax deferred retirement savings account. No other retirement savings account IRA, 401k, 403b, etc have this tax treatment perk.Heres a Bogleheads article on best use of an HSA: Heres a Bogleheads article on prioritizing retirement savings accounts: And heres this own subs flow chart: 