Health savings accounts can not only cover health care costs but also serve as a powerful tool for retirement planning.

As health insurance costs have continued to increase, more individuals and employers have shifted from co-pay health care plans to lower-premium, high-deductible health plans (HDHP).

Many of these plans have the advantage of allowing participants to offset the higher deductible cost with the ability to utilize a health savings account (HSA) for pre-tax or tax-deductible contributions and tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses.

While the popularity of HSAs continues to grow, many participants are not utilizing the accounts to their fullest extent.