Lesson: How HSAs Actually Work (2026-07-17)

Location: Lesson: How HSAs Actually Work

What was wrong: The lesson printed six 2025 figures under 2026 headings. It gave the HSA contribution limits as $4,300 self-only and $8,550 family, and the qualifying HDHP thresholds as a $1,650 self-only or $3,300 family deductible with out-of-pocket maximums of $8,300 and $16,600. It also said a 35-year-old who maxes the self-only HSA for 30 years at a 7% real return reaches roughly $430,000 by 65.

What it now says: Corrected to the 2026 figures: $4,400 self-only and $8,750 family contribution limits, and HDHP thresholds of $1,700 and $3,400 deductible with out-of-pocket maximums of $8,500 and $17,000. The 55+ catch-up of $1,000 was already correct and is unchanged. The 30-year projection is now roughly $447,000, and the year-one tax saving at the 22% bracket is $968 rather than $946. All six figures now read from the reference registry rather than sitting in the prose, so the next IRS update moves them without an edit.

Why it was wrong and how it was caught: The lesson also cited the wrong document. Its sources listed Revenue Procedure 2025-32, which is the general 2026 inflation-adjustment procedure, but carried Revenue Procedure 2025-19's publication date; someone swapped the number. The HSA and HDHP amounts live in 2025-19. The link resolved, so nothing looked broken, but a reader who clicked it to check the figures would not have found them. Caught in the full-site audit on July 17, 2026. Two disclosures are owed here. First, the correction shipped earlier that day and went live without an errata entry; this entry closes that gap rather than pretending it did not happen. Second, the registry always held the right values. The lesson had hardcoded its own copies, which is why the two drifted apart without any gate noticing.

Primary source: IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-19: HSA and HDHP inflation-adjusted amounts for 2026 (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-19.pdf)