An account type that tax law treats differently from an ordinary one, usually to encourage saving toward something specific like retirement, medical costs or education. The advantage comes with conditions — what the money can be used for, when you can take it out, and what happens if you don't follow the rules.
The Deal Being Offered
The structure is always a trade. Tax law gives favorable treatment, and in exchange you accept restrictions on purpose and timing.
Understanding the restriction half is as important as understanding the benefit half. People sign up for the benefit and get caught by the condition.
Different Accounts, Different Purposes
There are several families of these aimed at different goals, and they don't work alike. Something intended for medical costs behaves differently from something intended for retirement, which behaves differently again from something for education.
Treating them as interchangeable is where mistakes happen.
What Applies to You Is a CPA Question
Eligibility, limits and rules are set by tax law, differ by account type, and change. Nothing on this page is going to tell you what you can use or how much.
Your CPA can lay out what's available in your situation. If you want help thinking about which goals to prioritise in the first place, that's a conversation.
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