I am lucky enough to have a small Roth IRA. I set it up because I have a Roth component in my 401k with a small employer match and I will leave no money on the table and will, in the next few years, need a Roth IRA to roll it into.
But now, as always, I marvel at what possible legitimate purpose it was meant to serve.
It’s like my HSA. I keep a low balance in it and pay my doctor and prescription bills with a regular credit card (for the points). I periodically make a deposit from checking to the HSA and reimburse myself for the healthcare expenses I paid on my credit card, magically turning a non-deductible health care expense into a deductible healthcare expense. All perfectly legal but it feels like money laundering.
This is, of course, only feasible if you have enough money to not miss the money while it goes from checking to the HSA and then back to the checking account. And thus the effect is to enable the affluent to deduct their co-pays and out-of-pocket expenses, but not the working poor with bronze level plans who most need for their co-pays and OOP’s to be deductible.