Setting the level of priority for savings to investments, pensions, and savings accounts
Savings Order is a preference used to set which types of accounts receive priority when multiple contributions are set to occur in the same year. Accounts might compete for a finite amount of money that can be deposited. In such a case, should a planned deposit to a tax free account take precedence over planned contributions to taxable/registered accounts, for example?
The software has a default savings order, which can be changed. This is normally Tax Free first, then Tax Deferred and ending with Taxable assets for the UK and Ireland. For Canada, the default savings order is usually Tax Free, Registered, Non-Registered. For the US, the default savings order is usually Tax Free, Qualified, Tax Deferred, Taxable.
To change the high level Savings Order click on the category you want to move in the Current Savings Order column and use the arrows to move it up or down the list.
Note that contributions to some account types will be subject to contribution limits.
More information on each liquid asset category
In our UK release:
Taxable accounts include:
- Current and Savings Accounts
- Unwrapped Investments
- Enterprise Investment Schemes
- Other Trusts
- Offshore Taxable
Tax Deferred accounts include:
- Money purchase and drawdown pensions
- Onshore and Offshore bonds
Tax Free accounts include:
- ISAs
- National Savings Certificates
In our release for Ireland:
Taxable accounts include:
- Current and Savings/Deposit Accounts
- Portfolio Accounts
- Offshore Taxable*
Tax Free accounts include:
- Offshore Taxable (can be used as a tax-free option). Otherwise, there are no specifically tax-free accounts, at present.
Tax Deferred accounts include:
- ARF/AMRF Accounts (i.e. crystallised DC pension benefits)
- Unit-Linked Investment Accounts (Bonds)