Victor, Dave, Thanks for your help. At this point my file is not very large and my new RRSP file will be quite small, so I think I will give this approach a try.
Larry On 01/02/18 06:08 PM, "R. Victor Klassen" <rvklas...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > I kind of like your approach - thus far I’ve tracked my retirement accounts > outside of GnuCash, which is similar. The only pitfall I can see is if your > gnucash file gets at all large, the time it takes to open a file gets long. > And having multiple files means the file-open delay whenever you switch. > > > > > You don’t get a true calculation of Net Worth - but you can take the result > of Net Worth as calculated in each of the two files and sum them (by hand if > need be). > > > > > > > > > On Jan 2, 2018, at 8:49 PM, lejohnston <lejohns...@dccnet.com> wrote: > > > > > > Hi, > > > > > > > > Last year I treated the RRSP as an asset and contributions as transfers > > from a Savings Account to the RRSP account. I think this is in line with > > what Dave is saying. > > > > > > > > > > Although as you say contributions are tax deductible, earnings are > > tax-deferred; withdrawals are taxable I am not especially concerned about > > tracking that (my finances are fairly simple and I am not in any danger of > > exceeding any limits). My main concern is related to my budgeting > > especially when I start to draw down on the RRSP. If I merely transfer > > money from my RRSP to my checking account then I don't see how it becomes > > available in my Budget. That is why I was thinking it would be advantageous > > to treat contributions as an expense, similar to a pension contribution and > > to track it in a separate GNUCash file and then when I draw it down it > > would be an expense in the RRSP file and Income in my Main file. That seems > > simpler to me but I wanted to make sure I was not making creating other > > problems. > > > > > > > > > > Thanks for any further insights. > > > > > > > > > > Larry > > > > > > On 01/02/18 05:08 PM, "R. Victor Klassen" <rvklas...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > The remaining unanswered question, which I think is part of the original > > > question, is what to do about withdrawals being treated as taxable income? > > > For those in the US, an RRSP is roughly equivalent to an (non-Roth) IRA. > > > Contributions are tax deductible, earnings are tax-deferred; withdrawals > > > are taxable. > > > > > > So I think the question is, how to account for contributions to a > > > tax-deferred account - not really expenses, but they do change current > > > taxes owed - and distributions: while it is truly a transfer from one > > > asset account to another, the distribution is treated as income by the > > > taxing authorities. > > > > > > > On Jan 2, 2018, at 6:36 PM, DaveC49 <davidcous...@bigpond.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > Larry, > > > > > > > > I'm not familiar with the details of RRSP accounts in Canada so any > > > > comments > > > > here are general in nature and not taken as accounting advice per se. > > > > > > > > If it is a retirement savings account you would treat it as an Asset. > > > > Depending upon the conditions associated with withdrawal of funds from > > > > the > > > > RRSP you would most likely classify it as either a long term fixed > > > > asset or > > > > a current asset. For personal accounting this distinction is not as > > > > important as in business accounting, but can be still useful. (You could > > > > simply record eveything just under Assets if you wished and this met > > > > your > > > > requirements). > > > > > > > > If you can withdraw funds at any time at your discretion, then you would > > > > normally classify it as a current asset otherwise as a fixed asset. If > > > > there > > > > are rules about how much you can withdraw and how often in the future, > > > > you > > > > could continue to classify it as a fixed asset when you gain ready > > > > access to > > > > the funds at some future time. If the funds become freely available (on > > > > retirement for example), you could reclassify it as a current asset at > > > > this > > > > point in time. This simply requires having placeholder subaccounts for > > > > Fixed Assets and Current Assets under your Assets top level account and > > > > changing the parent account for your RRSP from Fixed Assets to Current > > > > Assets for example. It will just change what heading it appears under > > > > on the > > > > Balance Sheet > > > > > > > > If you are paying into the RRSP yourself, you are not creating an > > > > expense > > > > when you transfer the money even though it may actually go to whoever > > > > holds > > > > and maintains the RRSP account (it may be your bank for example) as you > > > > still retain ownership and the right to access the funds in the future. > > > > > > > > You are in this case exchanging one asset (cash in your bank account) > > > > for > > > > another asset (the increase in the balance of the RRSP), so there is no > > > > expense component of the transaction. The basic transaction will be: > > > > > > > > Debit > > > > Credit > > > > Asset:Bank:CheckAccount > > > > xxxx > > > > Asset:RRSP xxxx > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > If you select double line mode (Menu->View->Double Line) when you click > > > > on a > > > > transactionof this type in an account register e.g. your RRSP account > > > > Register you should lines corresponding to both of the above components. > > > > > > > > Interest should be recorded as: > > > > Debit > > > > Credit > > > > Asset:RRSP yyy > > > > Income:InterestRRSP > > > > yyy > > > > > > > > Whether that interest is taxable or not under your local legislation > > > > will > > > > determine whether you classify it under TaxableIncome or > > > > NonTaxableIncome. > > > > > > > > When you withdraw funds from the RRSP to your bank account, the > > > > transaction > > > > will be the same as the deposit above with a reversal of the debit and > > > > credit entries,i.e.: > > > > > > > > Debit > > > > Credit > > > > Asset:Bank:CheckAccount xxxx > > > > Asset:RRSP > > > > xxxx > > > > > > > > Hope this helps with the recording of your RRSP. If your records are in > > > > anyway critical (e.g. tax and legal implications) it would be advisable > > > > to > > > > seek professional advice locally. > > > > > > > > David Cousens > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ----- > > > > David Cousens > > > > -- > > > > Sent from: > > > > http://gnucash.1415818.n4.nabble.com/GnuCash-User-f1415819.html > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > gnucash-user mailing list > > > > gnucash-user@gnucash.org > > > > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user > > > > ----- > > > > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. > > > > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > gnucash-user mailing list > > > gnucash-user@gnucash.org > > > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user > > > ----- > > > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. > > > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user ----- Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. 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