The Most Underrated Retirement Strategy You Need to Know About - George Kamel

Podcast Summary: The Most Underrated Retirement Strategy You Need to Know About

Host: George Kamel (Ramsey Network)
Date: March 25, 2026

Episode Overview

George Kamel dives into the surprisingly powerful—but often overlooked—Health Savings Account (HSA), framing it as a “secret weapon” for retirement investing. He explains HSAs’ triple tax advantage, busts common myths, and lays out specific life hacks to maximize long-term wealth through these unique accounts. Throughout, George leverages his signature humor and pop culture references to make the topic both accessible and entertaining.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What is an HSA? Why Should You Care?

HSAs: More than Just Medical Expense Accounts
- George opens by challenging the standard understanding of HSAs, noting, “HSAs are a great way to pay for health care. But beneath the surface, they're also a secret weapon for retirement investing.” (01:31)
Triple Tax Advantage Explained
- Pre-tax Contributions: “You don't pay income tax on the money you contribute.” (02:01)
- Tax-Free Growth: Money invested inside an HSA “grows tax free.” (02:15)
- Tax-Free Spending: Withdrawals for qualified medical expenses are completely untaxed. “And the list of qualified medical expenses is enormous!” (02:24)
Who’s Eligible:
- Must be enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). Many employers offer these, sometimes with a match. (03:05)
  - Lighthearted moment: “Thanks, Dave. Love you. Mean it.” (03:17)

2. HSA Retirement Investing Life Hacks

George introduces three little-known strategies to transform the HSA into a potent retirement tool.

Hack #1: HSA Acts Like a Traditional IRA at 65

Before age 65, non-medical withdrawals are taxed plus a 20% penalty.
After 65, the penalty vanishes. Withdrawals for non-medical expenses are taxed as income (like a traditional IRA), while growth remains tax-free.
- “You guessed it, a traditional IRA. Think about it. You fund a traditional IRA with pre tax dollars, it grows tax deferred, and you pay income tax when you withdraw in retirement. So the only real difference with an HSA is having to wait five and a half years longer than you would with the IRA.” (05:10)
2026 Contribution Limits:
- $4,400 (self-only) / $8,750 (family) with catch-up of $1,000 for 55+ not enrolled in Medicare (06:00)

Hack #2: Covering Medical Expenses in Retirement, Tax-Free

Healthcare is a massive retirement cost:
- “A retiring 65 year old can expect to spend an average of $172,500 in healthcare and medical expenses throughout retirement.” (07:14)
HSAs provide a “healthcare discount” of 10-30% thanks to the tax shield on both contributions and withdrawals for medical costs.
- “It’s a huge deal when you’re in retirement. It means less money comes out of your pocket for prescriptions, procedures, and premarital counseling should you need it.” (07:58)

Hack #3: Delayed Reimbursements—Turning Past Medical Bills into Future Tax-Free Cash

Pay medical expenses out of pocket; keep receipts.
Let the HSA funds grow, invested, for decades.
Later (even many years later), reimburse yourself tax-free using the saved receipts, regardless of how long ago the expense was incurred (as long as it happened after you opened the HSA).
- “It essentially turns your past medical bills into future tax free cash flow. All because you played the long game and you kept a receipt folder called for future me.” (13:18)
- Notable humor: “Just like grown men who watch anime...What are they gonna do, leave their mom’s house to come find me? Please don’t hurt me.” (11:28)
The catch: Receipts matter! “Be organized. Future you deserves that.” (10:54)

3. How to Get and Invest in an HSA

Eligibility: Most get access via work HDHPs; self-employed or uninsured can shop the healthcare marketplace.
- “I recommend using an independent broker who can shop multiple insurance companies to make sure you get the best coverage at the best price.” (16:10)
Once Opened: Invest above the cash threshold (usually ~$1,000) in mutual funds, index funds, ETFs, and target date funds.
- “The options in there are the wild, wild West.” (17:10)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“What if I told you there was an underrated, under the radar, underutilized retirement strategy that nobody's talking about?...And what if I told you I'm done with rhetorical questions?” (00:05)
“HSAs are a great way to pay for health care. But beneath the surface, they're also a secret weapon for retirement investing. And that’s because they have a triple tax benefit.” (01:38)
On spending in retirement: “Healthcare expenses go way up as you get older. Specifically, a retiring 65 year old can expect to spend an average of $172,500 in healthcare and medical expenses throughout retirement.” (07:14)
Advice on delayed reimbursement: “That original 500 bucks didn’t just sit around for all those years. Assuming it was invested and growing for 20 or 30 years, it probably tripled or even quadrupled. And now...you can tap into [it] whenever you want based on expenses you already had. That is magic.” (13:03)
“Be organized. Future you deserves that.” (10:54)
Characteristic snark: “Just like grown men who watch anime...What are they gonna do, leave their mom’s house to come find me? Please don’t hurt me.” (11:28)

Key Timestamps

00:05 — Introduction to HSAs as the ‘secret’ retirement strategy
01:31 — Triple tax advantage breakdown
03:05 — HSA eligibility requirements and HDHPs
05:10 — Hack #1: HSA as a Traditional IRA in retirement
06:00 — 2026 HSA contribution limits
07:14 — Hack #2: Covering rising healthcare expenses in retirement
10:54 — Importance of record-keeping for delayed reimbursements
13:03 — How HSA investments can compound for future tax-free access
16:10 — How to qualify for and open an HSA
17:10 — HSA investment options and closing encouragement

Episode Takeaways

HSAs offer unmatched tax benefits for retirement if used strategically.
Three powerful hacks: treat it as an IRA after 65, use tax-free for inevitable medical expenses, and delay reimbursements to let investments grow.
Eligibility requires a high-deductible health plan but is accessible to most, either through work or the marketplace.
Organization is essential: keep meticulous records of receipts for future tax-free withdrawals.
George’s final prompt: “Are you maxing it out like me and the boys?” (18:02)

Useful for anyone wanting to optimize their retirement savings and healthcare spending—with a good laugh along the way.

Transcript

A (0:05)

What if I told you there was an underrated, under the radar, underutilized retirement strategy that nobody's talking about? And what if I told you it comes with a triple tax advantage? And what if I told you I'm done with rhetorical questions? Finally. Well, I've got good news. I am done. And what I'm telling you is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God. You can't handle the truth. And in this video, you'll learn what it is, how it works, and how you can take advantage of it. But before we hop in, be sure to hit, like on this video, and subscribe to the channel if you haven't already. And allow me to dap up my friends that delete me for sponsoring the channel. Was that a good dap? Is that what a DAP is? I'm told by the whitest people you've ever met that that was what a DAP is. All right, what in tarnation am I talking about? Three words. Health Savings accounts for short, HSAs. Now, I know some of you may be rolling your eyes and thinking, but, George, that's what I use to pay for my colonoscopies. How can it help my retirement? Listen, I get the skepticism, and I'm glad you're getting checked. And it's true, HSAs are a great way to pay for health care. But beneath the surface, they're also a secret weapon for retirement investing. And that's because they have a triple tax benefit. First, you get a tax benefit on the front end. HSAs are funded with pre tax dollars, meaning you don't pay income tax on the money you contribute. Next up, you get a tax benefit in the middle. Any money invested grows tax free inside of an hsa. And finally, you get a tax benefit on the back end. And no, not talking about those colonoscopies. I'm sorry, if we're talking colonoscopies, plural. You got issues, bud, and I'm wishing you the best. Try a probiotic. I like the ones from Costco. All right, back to the back end. Tax benefit. Any money you withdraw from an HSA to spend on a qualified medical expense won't be taxed. And the list of qualified medical expenses is enormous. It covers everything from doctor visits to eye exams and dental cleanings. And also crutches, chiropractors, and, for some reason, Christian Scientists. What is that? What are we doing here? Why? Why are you whispering? Now, the most common way to qualify for an HSA is by enrolling in a high deductible health plan, or HDHP for short. Now a lot of employers make this super easy and some even offer an employer match, including mine. Thanks, Dave. Love you. Mean it. Love you so much. Thank you, Dave. Thank you, Dave. Dave's never gonna see this. And if he does, it's too late for me. You'll know what happened. Now at this point, all we've really proven is that HSAs are a great way to pay for medical costs. But HSAs also come with three investing life hacks that not many people know about or use. That's right. For most HSAs, once you're above a certain threshold in your HSA, usually a grand or two sitting in the cash section, any dollars above that threshold can be invested. So for my HSA, it's 1000 bucks. So I contribute 1000 bucks into that account and any extra dollars that can be invested into mutual funds. So let's cover these investing hacks, the first of which is that an HSA acts like a traditional IRA when you turn 65. So before 65, if you take money out of your HSA for anything aside from a qualified medical expense, you get hit with income tax and a 20% penalty. But once you turn 65, the 20% penalty disappears. Gone, poof, bye, bye, bye. You know where Justin Timberlake puts his dishes? In sync. Where does Brian Luttrell put his dishes? He probably has people doing that for him. Okay. Residency at the Sphere, he's got a team at the Estate de Luttrell. Now here's the deal. Once you're 65, you will still pay income tax on non medical withdrawals, but the penalty goes away and your growth is still tax free. So what does that sound like? You guessed it, a traditional Iraq. Think about it. You fund a traditional IRA with pre tax dollars, it grows tax deferred and you pay income tax when you withdraw in retirement. So the only real difference with an HSA is having to wait five and a half years longer than you would with the ira. So if you're maxing out your other retirement accounts but want to invest even more, an HSA is the perfect place to do that. And it's exactly what I do. Now for reference, the HSA maximum contributions for 2026 are 4400 for self only coverage and 8750 for for family coverage. And PS, any employer contributions count towards those limits. Now if you're 55 or older and you're not enrolled in Medicare, you get an extra catch up contribution of an extra thousand bucks per year. That's pretty incredible. All right, HSA retirement life hack number two, covering medical expenses in retirement. So picture this. You hit 65, you're retired, you've got grandkids, you've got more time on your hands, and you need knee surgery or a hip replacement or a pack of depends, depending on your personal level of incontinence. George, just stop, okay? The point here is that healthcare expenses go way up as you get older. Specifically, a retiring 65 year old can expect to spend an average of $172,500 in healthcare and medical expenses throughout retirement. And thanks to inflation, that number will only go up between now and whenever you retire. Now enter the hsa, which basically amounts to a healthcare discount of anywhere from 10 to 30%. So think about this. You don't pay income tax on HSA contributions or on withdrawals for medical costs, which great when you're 35 and healthy, but it's a huge deal when you're in retirement. It means less money ultimately comes out of your pocket for prescriptions, procedures, and premarital counseling should you need it. You know, in case your SilverSingles.com profile finally gets some traction. And ladies, he's not holding a fish anymore. He's got a bulk bottle of Tums. Let's get the party started. And it's the good kind, that new orange creamsicle flavor that one hits. Sometimes I just do the orange ones on their own. Don't tell anyone. All right, the next HSA life hack on the list will help you protect your investments and keep more money in your nest egg for retirement. And I'll explain exactly what it is in just a sec. First, though, let me explain a great way to protect yourself from online scams. Signing up for Delete me, a sponsor of today's video. Look, we all know it. Scams are everywhere these days. You got phishing, emails, AI phone calls, random texts asking if you're interested in selling the property on 93 Monterey Street. Well, DeleteMe helps keep you safe by getting your info removed from hundreds of these data broker sites before it gets sold to the people who send you all that nonsense. Now, could you try to do all that work on your own? Technically, but who's got the time for that? In fact, Delete Me's latest report shows me I've already saved over 100 hours of time it would have taken me, which is more time to write colonoscopy jokes. And right now they're offering you guys 20% off their annual plans when you go to joindeleteme.com George now, have you ever lost sleep at night because you couldn't stop tossing and turning while thinking, gee, I sure do wish I knew who George banks with. Well, wonder no more. Sleep better at night. The answer is Fairwinds Credit Union, another sponsor of this video. I love Fairwinds because of how they treat their customers. They actually want you to build savings and get out of debt. You know how weird that is for a bank? And they believe in the stuff so much, they even encourage their own team members to become debt free. So join the party. Right now, you can open a Fairwinds Smart Bundle, complete with a fee free checking account, high yield savings account, and the custom debt is normal Beweird debit card, which I love to adorn when shopping. Go to Fairwinds.org Ramsey to get that Smart Bundle today. All right, back to it. HSA retirement life hack number three, delayed reimbursements. Let me explain. Most people use their HSA like a glorified checking account. The doctor bill comes in, you swipe the HSA card, the money's gone. The end. And listen, there's nothing wrong with that. Especially if you're young, early in your career, or just getting started with investing. But once you're building real wealth and you can just cash flow the medical expenses, you've got some breathing room. Here's what to do instead. Let's say you go to the doctor and you get a $500 bill. Well, instead of paying that bill through your HSA, you pay it with cash from your regular checking account. And then, this is key. You save the receipt, scan it, upload it, bop it, twist it, pull it, stick it in a Google Drive folder called for Future Me. Now be organized. Future you deserves that Now. Meanwhile, your HSA remains untouched. Just like grown men who watch anime. Sick Anime girl. What are they gonna do? Leave their mom's house to come find me? Please don't hurt me. Those guys know. Like Kamehameha. Kamehameha. Sell a Pokemon card. Do it. 16 mil. Logan Paul did it. And the money inside the HSA, it stays invested. It's growing and growing and growing. Unlike me after the fifth grade. See, I can burn myself, too. Anime guys. Ooh. Self burn. Those are rare. Because remember, an HSA is not just a spending account, it's also an investment account. The money goes in tax free and grows tax free. So instead of draining it every time you get a medical bill, you let that money compound for decades. And you repeat this process every time you have a medical Expense pay out of pocket. Save the receipt, leave the HSA invested. Now fast forward to retirement. You're 65. You've got decades of receipts sitting there. Doctor's visits, prescriptions, braces. That one urgent care visit when WebMD was right and you did have a Victorian era plague. Who knew scarlet fever was back, baby? That's when you pull out the power move. HSA reimbursement. You see, the IRS allows reimbursements to yourself from your HSA for qualified medical expenses. And there's no expiration date. Unlike everything in your parents pantry that somehow expired before Obama left office. Thanks Obama. Those Rice Krispies ain't crisp anymore. So here's the deal. As long as the expense happened after you opened your HSA, you're in the clear. So at 65 you can say, hey, remember that $500 doctor bill from 20 years ago? And you can just pull out 500 bucks from your HSA into your checking account, tax free. And you're good to go as long as you have the receipt. Just in case the IRS ever hits you with one of those late night texts. You up for an audit? No. Whoa, calm down Jamal. I am down to call my lawyers. You will be hearing from then. Here's why this matters. That original 500 bucks didn't just sit around for all those years. Assuming it was invested and growing for 20 or 30 years, it probably tripled or even quadrupled. And now in retirement, you've got a much larger tax free pool of money you can tap into whenever you want based on expenses you already had. That is magic. It essentially turns your past medical bills into future tax free cash flow. All because you played the long game and you kept a receipt folder called for future me. And remember, even without reimbursing yourself, you can use this money after 65 for non medical expenses. You'll just have to pay income tax. All right, hopefully at this point you're going George, I am convinced HSAs are amazing. But how and where do I get one? Well remember, in most cases you need a high deductible health plan to qualify for an hsa. And the good news is most employers offer these. And when you're selecting your healthcare plan during open enrollment, you'll probably see these listed as HDHPs. So think about that as HSA. And while the deductibles are higher, with these plans, the premiums will be lower since you're taking on a little more risk. Now what about self employed people or workers whose employer don't offer health insurance well, you can still shop for an HDHP in the marketplace and it may not be as expensive as you think, especially if you're young and healthy. Just like when you're looking for a home or auto policy, I recommend using an independent broker who can shop multiple insurance companies to make sure you get the best coverage and at the best price. And to spare you the research, the company I recommend for this is called Health Trust Financial. Now, they're not a sponsor of this channel or this episode, but I've seen firsthand how they can help people save on policies. So if you want to check it out, go to ramseysolutions.com health or click the link in the description to get connected. Now, once you've got your HSA opened and you're above the cash threshold, then you can choose your investments and the options in there are the wild, wild West. Just like with an IRA, there's index funds, mutual funds, ETFs, target date funds, the whole menu. So which should you choose? Well, I answer that question in this video where I talk about the only type of investment you need to become a millionaire. So click here to check it out or click the link in the description. That's it for today. Let me know in the comments. Do you have an hsa? Has it helped you with investing? Are you maxing it out like me and the boys? Let me know. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.