It seems like Hussman got the formula right with HSAFX after years of HSGFX losing money in the post-2008 bull market. Unlike HSGFX, HSAFX has managed to produce small gains even during strong rallies, but it still has virtually no assets. I imagine there’s a legitimate trust question here.

Thank you all for the excellent information.
I reside in Washington state which has strong creditor protections for "employee benefit plans."
Here's a snippet from the corresponding state law:
"The right of a person to a pension, annuity, or retirement allowance or disability allowance, or death benefits, or any optional benefit, or any other right accrued or accruing to any citizen of the state of Washington under any employee benefit plan, and any fund created by such a plan or arrangement, shall be exempt from execution, attachment, garnishment, or seizure by or under any legal process whatever."
This law specifically states that employee benefit plans include: IRAs, Roth IRAs, HSAs, 403(b) accounts, etc.
Link

@sma3, could not agree with you more! You have articulated what I have failed to state in the past. I would say that many of these states are depending/banking on a left leaning federal bailout...what happens if that is not so? Who knows but maybe a good topic of where to move to avoid these types of potential situations or is that too extreme?
@LewisBraham...you bring up Carly HP...reminds me of Bernie ranting about the billionaire's...pointing to the outliers to make your point...although would agree that it is almost inconceivable that we don't have national health coverate in this day and age...and like my very left leaning neighbor states, "does anyone really need to be a billionaire?" Truth. But, where does that stop, how about a millionaire? Who decides?
Back to the origianal question...if things start to look real wonky with the debt limit, I would pour my monies into something like HSAFX who might actually gain monies from the prior and after 3 months? Also would consider pair trade something like 55% HSGFX/45% VELIX...dunno, your mileage might vary?
Good points you all make, good luck and good health to everyone!
Baseball Fan

Yes, additional money was added to the 401(k), Roth IRA, and HSA accounts in 2022.

@Derf,
The 2022 rates of return listed above were obtained directly from Vanguard/Fidelity for each account.
I calculated total portfolio values after the last trading days of 2021 and 2022.
My overall portfolio value decreased 8.18% when 401(k), Roth IRA, and HSA contributions were included.
If these contributions were excluded, the decrease in value would have been greater (didn't calculate this result).
The 401(k) account comprised 42.23% of the total portfolio.
I hope this answers your question...

What changes (if any) do you plan on making to your portfolio in 2023?
Why are you making (or not making) a change in 2023?
I'll start...
Overall, I'm relatively pleased with my current portfolio positioning.
My stable value fund was exchanged for DOXIX on 12/30/2022 since bond yields have increased significantly.
Dollar-cost averaging into my 401(k) and HSA accounts will continue for MIEIX "clone" and PRILX respectively.
I plan to purchase additional shares of VPCCX and VPMCX (up to annual purchase limits) later in the year.
Some of the cash remaining in money market funds/T-Bills will be redeployed.
There are no concrete plans for this cash but I'm considering TIPS, munis, and small-cap/mid-cap foreign equity.
My portfolio doesn't have any dedicated exposure to these three investment categories.

Best portfolio performance enhancer: exchanging DODIX for stable value fund in late 2021.
Worst portfolio performance detractor: holding VWILX in 2022 (-30.79% return).
My portfolio consisted of ~70% stocks and ~30% bonds/cash at the start of 2022.
Here are the 2022 Personal Rates of Return according to Vanguard and Fidelity.
Accounts are listed in descending order based on their total value.
401k
-8.02%
Taxable account #1
-8.50%
Roth IRA
-17.10%
Taxable account #2
-13.11%
HSA
Rate of Return info not available
My overall portfolio value (includes 401(k), Roth IRA, HSA contributions) declined 8.18% in 2022.

https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1418191/000141304222001076/fp0081188-1_497ixbrl.htm
Excerpt:
At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Walthausen Funds (the “Trust”) on December 8, 2022, the Trustees of the Trust approved an interim investment advisory agreement with North Star Investment Management Corporation (“North Star”) under which North Star will assume responsibility as adviser to of the Walthausen Small Cap Value Fund (the “Fund”) on December 15, 2022. Therefore, all references to Walthausen & Co., LLC in the Fund’s prospectus are replaced with North Star. There is no change to the Fund’s investment strategy.
SAI:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418191/000141304222001078/walthsains.htm
North Star Funds:
https://nsinvestfunds.com/

Hussman funds https://www.hussmanfunds.com/ paid their dividends on 12/2/22 for HSAFX but no announcement about other funds.

MAGI calculation for IRMAA includes only the taxable portion of Social Security. The entire amount of SS is included in other MAGI calculations, e.g. for Medicaid. Below is the major part (but not all) of a table from a Congressional Research Report showing MAGI calculations for IRMAA and other health related programs.

https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R43861.pdf
Reducing income to just what one needs is letting the tail wag the dog. If I have $1M in cash, which is better:
- Buying 3 month T-bills generating $30K (annualized) in taxable income and increasing my Medicare Part B premium by less than $1K, or
- reducing this unneeded income to zero (and saving with lower income taxes and lower Medicare premiums) by keeping that cash in a non-interest-bearing checking account?
Note that I've taken risk out of the equation by using short term Treasuries.
Just as one optimizes taxes by smoothing income before retirement (e.g. by shifting deductions such as contributions and property taxes from one year to the subsequent or previous year), the idea in retirement is to smooth income in retirement, rather than reduce it. That's where incremental Roth conversions help.
Optimal in many circumstances can be putting money, to the extent allowed, into HSAs. Unlike Roth contributions, HSA contributions are not taxable. With the exception of a few states, earnings while in HSA accounts are not taxed.
SS income is included for IRMMA calc. So, if a surviving spouse claims SS based on higher benefits earned by deceased spouse, that could increase Part B premiums.
The effect is the same regardless of whether the higher benefits come from the deceased spouse or from the surviving spouse. Pre-death, the taxes don't depend on which spouse had the higher benefits (assuming MFJ - income is combined). Post death, the surviving spouse receives the higher benefit regardless of whether that comes from the deceased spouse or the surviving spouse.
Moving from a higher State income tax to a no to low State income tax State in retirement is another good way to keep more of what you worked so hard for during your working life.
Often not. There's much more to the calculation than state income tax rates. An excellent, very long piece on the Kitces site (I've read much but not all of it) discusses several different factors and how the situation depends not only on income tax rates, but on the mix of income sources, on the level of income, etc.
https://www.kitces.com/blog/state-income-tax-retirees-top-marginal-rates-social-security-pension-income-age-exemptions/
One example from that page to illustrate this:

Example 4: James and Dolly Madison anticipate that they will each receive $18,000 of Social Security income and $19,500 of qualified-plan income during retirement, for a combined total income of $75,000 each year.
With their retirement income mix, the Madisons would have an estimated $0 state tax bill in 24 states! Notably, this list includes Illinois, New Jersey, and New York, states commonly thought of as high-tax states.

M* classifies HSGFX as long-short equity, which from the portfolio, it is. He's basically short the broad market and long his specific picks. If his picks do better than the indices, like this year, it works: up ~ 15% ytd. HSAFX is for sure less volatile, but it's gone nowhere this year, and it's also not available at some brokerages, e.g., Fidelity.
But the redemption fee on top of a transaction fee limits the attractiveness of HSGFX, even in the rare year it works. IMHO, trend-following managed futures funds and inverse funds are a better deal in wipeouts like this year, and there are plenty of options in those categories (OEFs and ETFs) these days.

Are PSTIX and PQTIX similar funds to HSGFX?

M* classifies HSGFX as long-short equity, which from the portfolio, it is. He's basically short the broad market and long his specific picks. If his picks do better than the indices, like this year, it works: up ~ 15% ytd. HSAFX is for sure less volatile, but it's gone nowhere this year, and it's also not available at some brokerages, e.g., Fidelity.
But the redemption fee on top of a transaction fee limits the attractiveness of HSGFX, even in the rare year it works. IMHO, trend-following managed futures funds and inverse funds are a better deal in wipeouts like this year, and there are plenty of options in those categories (OEFs and ETFs) these days.

Regarding AKREX, I do think funds that are highly concentrated in a few stocks even when they manage risk reasonably well can be suspect in general simply because it's always a question whether the magic can be repeated once the top picks have run their course. With 100 stocks if one drops off and has to be sold, there are still 99 ones left that can drive returns, and you know managers managed to find more than a few good ones instead of perhaps "The One" that makes the manager famous. That said, it does take courage to stick with one's convictions when there are just a handful of names.
Regarding HSGFX, I think the better option is HSAFX--a much smoother ride.

@MrRuffles,
My Insurance plan is a government subsidized (due to my low income) HDHP ($6500 deduction) plan and is an HSA qualified Plan. Not all HSA owners are upper income.
My question is pertinent to low income, young, healthy individuals who have an HSA as an option. The Saver's Credit is directed at the low income.

But the ability to invest an HSA for the long-term as an investment vehicle for retirement only works if either: (1) you have little need for healthcare throughout your adult life or (2) you have enough disposable income to pay for your healthcare expenses out-of-pocket and don’t need to tap your HSA.
HSA’s were sold as a means to lower the cost of health insurance through HDHP’s but give a tax break for medical expenses for people who couldn’t afford higher premiums. Of course, like everything else in our assbackwards US healthcare system, it turned into a case of the tail wagging the dog.

I often refer questions to Ed Slott's discussion board for IRA questions.
https://irahelp.com/phpBB
A login is required to ask questions. They are very responsive and helpful.
Received this from their forum today:

No. HSAs are not defined as retirement savings. HSAs are established under section 223 of the tax code which is not one of the sections included in the section 25B definition of a qualified retirement savings contribution.
HSAs and IRAs are never treated as one. An HSA is not an IRA despite some of the rules for HSAs referencing IRA rules.

I have a primer on HSA. I will update it once we have a firm confirmation of this.
https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/thread/258/hsa-health-savings-accounts

@yogibearbull,
Thanks for chiming in. Interestingly too, one does not need earned income to make an HSA contribution which also makes it a different duck.

Form 8880 is used to claim Saver's Credit. On this form or instructions, I don't see any mention of HSA, but only T-IRA, R-IRA, ABLE, 401k/403b/TSP.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8880.pdf
I have also searched the web and articles on HSA don't mention Saver's Credit, and articles on Saver's Credit don't mention HSA.
My guess is that one cannot claim Saver's Credit for HSA.

@MrRuffles,
My Insurance plan is a government subsidized (due to my low income) HDHP ($6500 deduction) plan and is an HSA qualified Plan. Not all HSA owners are upper income.
My question is pertinent to low income, young, healthy individuals who have an HSA as an option. The Saver's Credit is directed at the low income.

@Orage
-Contributions are tax deductible much like a IRA,
-Has yearly contribution limits much like an IRA,
-Non-HSA withdrawals are treated like tax deferred withdrawal after age 65 much like a TIRA
-Oftened mentioned together with other retirement accounts:

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are very interesting from a tax perspective. Compared to well-known retirement account types (for example – 401k, IRA, Roth IRA, etc.)

can-hsa-retirement-account
Quacks like a duck..walks like a duck...