Wellness Wednesday Issue #162

🙆‍♀️  A quick upper back stretch for anyone glued to their laptop all day.

🧠 Reflect on your inner dialogue with this piece on self-talk and the stories we carry.

🤖 Gemini or Copilot? This chatbot showdown helps you pick the best AI sidekick.

🌱 Explore what authenticity really means and how to reclaim yours.

A Health Savings Account (HSA) is one of the best tax-advantaged accounts you can have, but most people either don’t know about them or don’t know how to set one up.

If you qualify for an HSA, you should absolutely have one. Here’s how to know if you’re eligible, why it’s worth it, and how to get started.

How to know if you qualify for an HSA

Not everyone can open an HSA. You need to meet specific requirements:

• You must be enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). For 2026, that means a plan with a minimum deductible of $1,650 for individuals or $3,300 for families.
• You cannot be enrolled in Medicare. Once you’re on Medicare, you’re no longer eligible to contribute to an HSA.
• You cannot be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return. If someone else claims you as a dependent, you can’t open an HSA.
• You cannot have other health coverage. This means no additional health insurance that isn’t an HDHP (with some exceptions like dental, vision, or specific injury insurance).

If you meet all these requirements, you’re eligible. Check with your employer or health insurance provider to confirm your plan qualifies as an HDHP.

Why you should get one

HSAs have a triple tax advantage that almost no other account offers:

• Tax-deductible contributions. The money you put into an HSA reduces your taxable income for the year.
• Tax-free growth. Any interest or investment gains in your HSA grow tax-free.
• Tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses. When you use the money for medical expenses, you don’t pay taxes on it.

Unlike a Flexible Spending Account (FSA), the money in your HSA rolls over year after year. You never lose it. You can invest it, let it grow, and use it whenever you need it, even in retirement.

Many people use their HSA as a stealth retirement account. They pay for medical expenses out of pocket, let their HSA grow tax-free for decades, and then use it for healthcare costs in retirement (which will likely be substantial).

How to sign up for one

Step 1: Check if your employer offers an HSA. Many employers with HDHPs offer HSAs and may even contribute to your account as a benefit. If your employer offers one, sign up through your benefits portal.

Step 2: If your employer doesn’t offer one, open your own. You can open an HSA through a bank or financial institution. Popular options include Fidelity, Lively, and HealthEquity. Compare fees, investment options, and account minimums before choosing.

Step 3: Fund your account. You can contribute through payroll deductions (if offered by your employer) or make contributions directly. Contributions made through payroll deductions also avoid FICA taxes (Social Security and Medicare taxes), which saves you even more.

Step 4: Invest your HSA (optional but recommended). Most HSA providers let you invest your funds in mutual funds or ETFs once you reach a minimum balance. If you’re not using the money immediately, investing it allows it to grow tax-free over time.

How to know how much you can put in

The IRS sets annual contribution limits for HSAs. For 2026, the limits are:

• $4,300 for individuals with self-only HDHP coverage
• $8,550 for individuals with family HDHP coverage
• If you’re 55 or older, you can contribute an additional $1,000 as a catch-up contribution.

These limits include any contributions your employer makes on your behalf. So if your employer contributes $500, you can contribute up to the limit minus that $500.

You can contribute to your HSA at any time during the year, and you can even make contributions for the previous tax year up until Tax Day (usually April 15).

Don’t leave this money on the table

If you qualify for an HSA, use it. It’s one of the best tax-advantaged accounts available, and it’s a powerful tool for both current healthcare costs and long-term savings.

Set it up, max it out if you can, and let it work for you.

ChatGPT is everywhere at work, but most people are still experimenting instead of using it with confidence.

That’s the gap HubSpot’s new free ChatGPT at Work guide is designed to close.

This isn’t a random prompt list or a shiny AI explainer. It’s a practical, up-to-date playbook for professionals who want to work faster, think clearer, and use AI responsibly without feeling behind or overwhelmed.

Inside the guide, you’ll get:

• 100+ ready-to-use prompts for real work like emails, analysis, project planning, and problem-solving
• Clear use cases across roles including marketing, ops, customer support, and project management
• Prompting techniques that actually improve output, not vague advice
• Best practices for using AI at work while staying ethical, secure, and compliant
• What’s new including multimodal inputs and personalized models

If ChatGPT still feels powerful but unpredictable, this gives you structure, clarity, and confidence.

👉 Download the free guide.

Listen, I won’t lie to you and say I’m thrilled to be writing about Black History Month right now.

I’m not reluctant because the celebration feels tired or because I don’t care. I’m reluctant because honoring leaders like MLK, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and Harriet Tubman feels disappointingly complicated, as the same fights they waged are playing out again on our phones and TV screens in 2026.

It’s hard to say “let’s celebrate these brave and remarkable pioneers” when the issues they fought against don’t feel like history.

They feel current.

Yes, I’m talking about ICE. No, this isn’t a political newsletter.

This is personal.

I refuse to live in an America where I feel like I need to carry my passport because I might “look too Latino” or “not American enough.”

That reality hits close to home for me, and I know it does for many of you too.

I refuse to normalize that kind of fear or hypocrisy.

The rebels who made me

Here’s what I keep coming back to: I’ve been reading about slavery, abolition, and the civil rights movement since I was a kid. I remember learning about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad and feeling completely awestruck. I was obsessed. That courage. That audacity. That refusal to comply with laws that were immoral and unjust.

The Enneagram 8 in me was hooked. Their fight. Their conviction. Their complete disregard for rules that harmed people.

Harriet Tubman made me a rebel. She showed me what it looks like to break unjust laws without apology. MLK showed me that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Malcolm X showed me that dignity isn’t up for negotiation and sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is refuse to play by rules designed to destroy you.

Different strategies. Same conviction. Same refusal to accept dehumanization as the status quo.

That’s what Black History Month celebrates. Not passive history. Active defiance that cost them everything.

I remember thinking, as a third grader, how unbelievable it was that people could be persecuted simply for the color of their skin. Enslaved. Dehumanized.

“How un-American,” I remember thinking. “That could never happen today.”

And now, as I look at the articles, book lists, and social posts we roll out every February, I can’t help but feel a deep sadness. It almost feels like the sacrifices of those heroes were for nothing.

Almost.

Because here’s where I refuse to stop the story.

It doesn’t have to be for nothing.

If you want to honor Black History Month this year, honor it by refusing to let history repeat itself in 2026. Honor it by remembering that these pioneers didn’t fight so we could perform rituals once a year.

They fought so we’d know exactly what to do when injustice showed up again.

As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

What we can do today

Put the heartbreak, anger, frustration, and disgust into motion.

Donate your time. Donate your money. Donate your voice.

Call your representatives. Vote in elections, especially the local ones. Read books that tell the real history of this country, not the sanitized or colonized version. Listen to people around you who are minorities and whose lived experiences differ from your own. Stay open to dialogue, even when it’s uncomfortable.

And if you’re white, let your guard down and lean in. Your allyship is powerful and deeply needed. You don’t have to have all the right words or get it perfect. What matters is showing up as a partner who believes a more just future is worth building together.

We have a choice right now.

We can treat Black History Month like a ritual we perform once a year, or we can treat it like what it really is: a collection of lessons paid for with real blood, real lives, and real sacrifice from people who refused to accept injustice as inevitable.

Let it motivate you. Let it empower you. Let it peacefully enrage you into action in whatever way aligns with your values.

Black History Month was never meant to be passive. It was meant to remind us what courage looks like when it costs something. And what defiance looks like when it changes everything.

Thania (TA Content Mgr)

And one last personal note: I’m deeply grateful to work for a newsletter that allows space for honesty, nuance, and real emotion. Your replies to my last editorial reminded me how powerful community dialogue can be. If this resonated with you, keep responding. It tells me—and my boss—that this kind of candor matters.

Most “self-improvement” goals feel loud. This one works in the background.

Learning a new language isn’t about becoming fluent overnight. It’s about confidence in small, real moments. Ordering without hesitation. Following a conversation. Feeling less lost and more capable.

Babbel is built for exactly that.

With 10 minutes a day, Babbel helps you start speaking, not memorizing. Lessons are short, practical, and designed by language experts to fit into real life. Think between meetings, during a commute, or while waiting for your coffee.

No streak pressure. No overwhelm. Just steady progress that adds up.

Right now, you can get 55% off Babbel, which makes this one of the easiest ways to invest in a skill that pays off personally and professionally over time.

If you’ve been craving a goal that feels calm, doable, and genuinely useful, this is it.

👉 Start learning with Babbel.

📆 Get the field-tested playbook on building an AI-first org. Free event on Feb 18. RSVP for Free.

👉 This harassment prevention training actually sticks, not just another box to check.

🍩 The DONUT brings you free daily news without the extra noise.

💇‍♀️ Thania uses this mini curling wand to get tight curls that actually work on a bob.

 Upcoming Events

• Wed 2/11 @ 11AM PT: Compliance Customized To You, By You: The Future of Training is Personalized & Scalable
• Thurs 2/12 @ 9AM PT: Dynamic Coaching (SGS Only* | Join the waitlist)
• Fri 2/20 @ 10AM PT: Automation Workshop (SGS Only* | Join the waitlist)

* Smart Girl Society is our private community for women who want deeper conversations, accountability, and tools that actually make life easier. Join the waitlist to get in the next round.

👩‍🍳 Recipe of the Week: The Best Meatloaf Recipe.

😋 Have a recipe you love? Share it here.

 Browse our job board here.

Have more feedback? 💌 Reply to this email and tell us.

✨ P.S. Want more inspiration and positivity to kick off your week? Sign up for our Motivational Monday texts (U.S. only).