Account Buckets & Contribution Limits
How Forbidden Finance sorts your retirement money into taxable, tax-deferred, tax-free, and HSA buckets, and tracks this year's contributions against the annual limits.
Overview
Money in a 401(k), a Roth IRA, an HSA, and a brokerage account is taxed differently. Account buckets sort your retirement money by tax treatment, so the withdrawal plan draws from the right place, and show how much you have contributed this year against each account's annual limit.
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The Four Buckets
| Bucket | Typical accounts |
|---|---|
| Taxable | Brokerage accounts |
| Tax-deferred | 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), traditional IRA, SIMPLE IRA, SEP IRA |
| Tax-free | Roth IRA, and Roth workplace accounts once you classify them |
| HSA | Health savings accounts |
Each bucket row shows its balance, the account family it contributes against (for example 401(k) or IRA), and a short note about access rules, such as the early-withdrawal penalty on tax-deferred money before age 59½.
How Accounts Are Placed
The plan places each account using, in order:
- Your classification, if you set one.
- The account's retirement type, from your linked account or the holdings you entered.
- Taxable, when neither is known.
Accounts holding retirement money with no known tax treatment are marked Unclassified and counted as taxable until you classify them.
Classify an account
Open Classify accounts
In the Account buckets section, tap Classify accounts.
Choose a bucket and a limit family
Pick the tax bucket, and the contribution-limit family if the account has one (for example 401(k), IRA, or HSA family). A Roth 401(k) goes in Tax-free with the 401(k) family. An HSA needs its self-only or family coverage set here before a limit can show.
Save
The plan reruns with the account in its new bucket. To undo it, open the account again and tap Clear classification.
Classifying an account only moves its balance between buckets. Your totals and your FI progress stay the same.
Contribution Limits
For each limit family, the bucket row shows what you have contributed so far this year against the annual limit, for example $9,500 of $24,500 contributed in 2026.
- What counts as contributed: the net money that moved into those accounts since January 1. If more moved out than in, the row shows zero and says so.
- Shared limits: accounts that share one limit are counted together. A traditional IRA and a Roth IRA share the IRA limit.
- Catch-up contributions: the limit includes the catch-up that applies at your age, such as the age 50 catch-up, the higher age 60 to 63 catch-up for workplace plans and SIMPLE IRAs, and the age 55 HSA catch-up.
- Employer match: if you enter an employer match in your assumptions, the tax-deferred row shows the match so far this year. It does not count against your own contribution limit.
Limits currently cover the United States for the 2026 tax year, using the figures the IRS published.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is one of my accounts counted as taxable?
The plan could not tell its tax treatment, so it uses taxable until you classify it. Open Classify accounts to set it.
Can I classify an investment account that has no holdings yet?
Yes. The classify sheet lists your own investment accounts, including ones without holdings.
Does classifying an account change my bank or brokerage data?
No. It only changes how the retirement plan treats that account.
Related Articles
Withdrawal Planning
How buckets decide the order money is drawn.Retirement Plan
The projection these buckets feed.Supported Account Types
Which account types you can add.Need more help? Email us at [email protected] and we will get back to you.