How can I set up an RRSP account in USD

Does Canada have any account types where the account is tax free?

In the case of a US account for a Roth IRA the deal is you fund it with after tax dollars and then no withdraws are taxed (including any gains). So, in reality this is a "tax free" account, but the developers "took the easy way out".

Instead of creating another setting like tax free they left it at tax deferred, and then what they have to do is in places that deal with taxes like the Lifetime Planner they have to look at the account type to decide what to do.

But other than grouping different account types like Spending, Savings, Investments, this is about the only case I can think of that the account type is actually used for anything special. The magic is in the "tax deferred" setting, and that isn't even that special, what it mostly does is tell Quicken not to include tax deferred accounts in the tax reporting reports/views and such by default.

The reason for posting is because in another thread someone was using a regular category report and expecting the securities in an IRA not to be counted as taxable dividends.

And it is sort of reminded me of this thread. There are a lot of things like this where people think that some setting or such is more powerful than it really is. In truth understanding the fundamentals of what Quicken is really doing points out that most of these are more "convenience" features, but nothing that they user couldn't have done for themselves with the real fundamental features.

Thanks @Arctic Hare .

For the TFSA, how is that handled in Quicken?

Is it just like a regular savings account and when you get interest you just categorize it using one that doesn't have a tax line?

Do you mark it tax deferred to keep it out of the tax reports?

For reference, one of the reasons the US HSA (Health Saving Accounts) are such a pain to implement in Quicken and I think people are expecting "miracles" where they can just set a given type and it will work, is because they can in fact be like a regular savings account or a brokerage account, and maybe even mix the two.

If you are using tax deferred to keep it out of the tax reports it sounds like if the Canadian version ever got the Lifeplanner they would have to do the same as the US Roth accounts.

The more I think about it, the more I think Quicken should have a "tax free" setting. You have these different "account types" TFSAs, Roth, HSA, and in reality, the major feature to them is that they are tax free.

Everyone seems to be caught up in the account types being lined up exactly with what the world calls them instead of what their fundamental differences are.

For a case where the type really does matter, that would be a US 401K account.

Look at all this extra information that is needed:

And to top it off they use a hidden "tax impact" account to record amount contributed to the right category.

This is a real need for a new account type unlike the other "lipstick" account types.

It is ironic that there is a Tax deferred setting because there isn't such a thing as a 401K account that isn't tax deferred.

401K (and 403b, which are for government) are basically the same as IRA accounts. There are even "Traditional" and Roth ones just like IRAs. The main differences are 401K are "employer" sponsored. The contributions come right out of the paycheck. And it is possible for the employer to kick in some more (this is the "matching" in the dialog I posted).

For "Traditional" both 401K and IRA the contributions from the employee are before tax. So, their tax advantage is that you are reducing your taxes for that year and its gains aren't taxed until you withdraw it. It is taxed at your current tax rate at that time. Whatever the employer kicks in isn't counted for taxes (going in), but like everything else is when it comes out.

The Roth ones are after tax contributions (except for employer matched which is never taxed), but not taxed after that, even the gains.

There is a rare thing where people can actually put after tax money into a Traditional IRA, but the main reason it is rare is because you have to somehow keep track of these amounts going in and subtract them from the cost basis when sold. Very complicated and I never really look much into it, and I know Quicken can't handle it correctly.

401K accounts an IRAs are so close in nature, that when a person leaves a given job, they can rollover the 401K into an IRA account with basically not changes except what securities they might be able to invest in. Oh, that is another difference 401Ks are typically very restrictive in what securities you can invest in. The employer along with the broker they pick to handle choose what securities are available.

It is also possible to rollover 401K accounts from your past employer to your new one.

@Arctic Hare

I don't need to adjust the tax settings in Quicken because I don't use Quicken for tax information other than for tracking my wife's professional fees and expenses (which are, obviously, not investments). I let TurboTax download everything else from CRA. I use Quicken to guide management of the investments, but not to account for tax related information.

Agreed, I too don't use Quicken for tax information. I use it solely to guide management of the investments, but not to account for tax related information.

@Arctic Hare

@JoelC The difference is @smayer97 is using Quicken Mac 2007, which is both USA and CND. It will have different account types from the Quicken Canadian Business & Personal that you and I are using. In our case, choosing "TFSA" account type ultimately creates an "IRA" account. Whereas @smayer97 simply picks the "IRA" account type from the start.

Appreciated, as i) I missed that subtle point about using QMac 2007 and ii) I did not realize that QMac 2007 was for both CAD and US.

Thank you.

@smayer97 appreciated and much thanks!

I learnt something new today.