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I live in the United States.

I have read that you can contribute money to a Health Savings Account even if you are no earned income. It that right?

The reason I find it a bit hard to understand is that I understand that when I am 65, I can transfer the money in a Health Savings Account into my IRA without any tax consequences. At that point, I can convert the account to a Roth IRA (paying tax). Do I have this right? It seems to good to be true.

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    What age are you now? Are you married? Do you have or will you have a high deductible health plan?
    – mhoran_psprep
    Oct 2, 2019 at 18:47
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    Why is that too good to be true? You'd pay tax if you cash out the HSA anyways - all you're saving is the 10% penalty. Plus there's a limit on how much you can roll from an HSA to an IRA.
    – D Stanley
    Oct 2, 2019 at 19:34
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    Too late to edit, but I realize the penalty is 20% not 10%. Still not quite "too good to be true" IMHO given the limits (and you can only do it once).
    – D Stanley
    Oct 2, 2019 at 19:40
  • @mhoran_psprep I am 57 and single. I have a high deductible health plan.
    – Bob
    Oct 2, 2019 at 19:44
  • @DStanley How much can you roll, one time, into your IRA?
    – Bob
    Oct 2, 2019 at 19:49

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I have read that you can contribute money to a Health Savings Account even if you are no earned income. It that right?

Correct, there is no minimum earned income requirement to contribute to an HSA (source). However, with no income there's nothing to take the tax deduction from and you can't carry that deduction into future years. Therefore you would be missing out on any tax savings from the contributions (assuming they were made outside of payroll deduction).

I can transfer the money in a Health Savings Account into my IRA without any tax consequences

Not correct. You can not transfer from an HSA to IRA, but the reverse is allowable (IRA to HSA). However, this transfer can only happen once and must be less than the annual maximum contributions including any personal or employer contributions. You must also be eligible to contribute to the HSA for 13 months following the transfer. Failure to do so will incur income taxes and penalties.

(Source from 53.com, under Frequently Asked Questions)

EDIT: Here are the IRS rules regarding IRA to HSA transfers, from Publication 969:

Qualified HSA funding distribution.

A qualified HSA funding distribution may be made from your traditional IRA or Roth IRA to your HSA. This distribution can’t be made from an ongoing SEP IRA or SIMPLE IRA. For this purpose, a SEP IRA or SIMPLE IRA is ongoing if an employer contribution is made for the plan year ending with or within the tax year in which the distribution would be made.

The maximum qualified HSA funding distribution depends on the HDHP coverage (self-only or family) you have on the first day of the month in which the contribution is made and your age as of the end of the tax year. The distribution must be made directly by the trustee of the IRA to the trustee of the HSA. The distribution isn’t included in your income, isn’t deductible, and reduces the amount that can be contributed to your HSA. The qualified HSA funding distribution is shown on Form 8889 for the year in which the distribution is made.

You can make only one qualified HSA funding distribution during your lifetime. However, if you make a distribution during a month when you have self-only HDHP coverage, you can make another qualified HSA funding distribution in a later month in that tax year if you change to family HDHP coverage. The total qualified HSA funding distribution can’t be more than the contribution limit for family HDHP coverage plus any additional contribution to which you are entitled.

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