HSA accounts in France

I was thinking about opening an HSA account, but I wondered how the U.S. government would treat it in France. Would I be able to use my HSA balance in France? If not, why would I even make contributions to the account?

My question was answered by a customer service representative from Citibank. He told me that, as long as you can find a way to use your funds from your bank (i.e. if you can use your debit card), you will be able to use your HSA funds for "qualified medical expenses" in France. No extra fees, no hassle, just as if you were in the U.S.

That brought up the question, "what are qualified medical expenses?" Boy, was I in for a ride on answering that question! It didn't take long to find out where to look for what's covered, which is here, the IRS web article about what qualified medical expenses are for an HSA. The problem is the page is extremely long, just as is any other government web page. However, after skimming the article, it's pretty basic. Most medical expenses do qualify, and what is covered is the same in France as it is in the U.S.

There you go, a crazy little article on HSA in France.

How to get cash in France

I often get asked the question, "what's the best way to get cash from the U.S. to France?" There are a few ways to get euros for your dollars:

- Get euros from your local bank
- Order euros online
- Exchange your paper dollars for paper euros
- Withdraw from an ATM machine in France
- Use your U.S. credit card in France

All of the above will involve currency exchange. This means, inevitably, that you will lose money. The banks (or whoever it is) have to make their money, for goodness sakes! Your mission, should you accept it, is to lose the least amount possible in the process. How do you do that? I've decided to follow these guidelines:

- Use your credit card. This seemed to be the least expensive and most convenient way to go about getting euros in France. When you use your card in a foreign country, you will get charged a "foreign transaction fee" from your credit card company, but you won't get charged an ATM fee from the ATM machine or a fee from the currency exchange booth. Different banks charge anywhere from 0% to 3%. Here's a list of the fees different banks charge for international transactions. Chase bank seems to be the best to go with.

- If you must use cash, withdraw infrequently. Those euros sure look fancy, don't they? Well, you might want to think twice about using the paper ones instead of blips on the screen. You can withdraw euros directly from your U.S. bank account, but each time you withdraw money, not only will you be charged the exchange rate and foreign transaction fee; you will also be charged an ATM fee by the bank you physically get money from as well as sometimes your own bank. Here are some issues to think about when using an ATM internationally.

- Call before you go. You may be in a rush to get overseas, but if you have a few spare minutes, call your bank(s) and ask them about the exchange rates and fees in France. If you have more than one bank, compare the rates between the two. As you've seen above, the fees differ widely between banks. Also, let them know you will be traveling. Some people have had their accounts frozen when the banks suspected fraudulent international transactions.

International Finance: France and U.S.

Does a U.S. Citizen have to pay taxes while living in France?
Can I keep my 401k if I move to France?
Will I continue to get Social Security from the U.S. even if I'm in France?

All these questions and more I hope to answer here on the US-French Finance blog.

Do you have an answer to one of the questions above? Do you know about financial issues between these two countries? Tune in on the blog and make a comment! I'd love to get some feedback.

See you here soon.