Earmarked / free to allocate
Allocated and unallocatedEarmarked money is the part of an account's balance assigned to a purpose, such as a savings goal, without being moved anywhere. Free to allocate is the rest: money in the account that no purpose has claimed yet.
What is the earmarked and free-to-allocate split?
To earmark money is to set it aside for one use while it stays where it is. An account can hold money for a roof and a trip at once; the institution still reports one balance.
Free-to-allocate money is the balance minus the earmarks. It is not the same as money free to spend: free-to-allocate money is the part no earmark has claimed.
When the earmarks add up to more than the balance, the account is over-allocated, and the amount over is the difference.
How the earmarked and free-to-allocate split works, with numbers
A savings account holds $12,000. Three funds claim part of it: $6,000 for a roof, $2,500 for a trip and $3,000 for a car. Together they earmark $11,500, and $500 is free to allocate.
If the car fund's claim is raised to $3,600, the earmarks total $12,100 against a $12,000 balance, and the account is over-allocated by $100.
- Account balance
- $12,000
- Roof fund
- − $6,000
- Trip fund
- − $2,500
- Car fund
- − $3,000
- Free to allocate
- $500
Why the earmarked and free-to-allocate split matters
Free-to-allocate money can go to a new goal, or to an existing one, without taking from another. Allocating the $500 to the trip fund brings the trip to $3,000 and leaves $0 unclaimed.
In general, an over-allocated account has earmarks counting on more money than it holds.
Earmarked / free to allocate in Taiga Finance
On Savings, Taiga Finance keeps a card in the right rail for each fund account: its balance, how many funds it holds, a bar split between earmarked and free, and the two figures, such as “$11,500 earmarked” and “$500 free”. An over-allocated account reads “over $100” instead. The fund count and the earmarked figure cover the funds the viewer can see.
Under “Across accounts”, the rail shows “Earmarked” and “Free to allocate” across every fund account. When the accounts together are over-allocated, the second row reads “Over-allocated” instead.
A fund's claim is set by its basis: “Fixed” holds a dollar amount, “Percentage” takes a share of the account's live balance, and “Whole account” takes what the other funds leave.
In a shared household, when a partner's private fund sits in the same account, the rail adds the line “Some accounts hold funds you can’t see — actual free may be lower.”
Savings funds, in the help center →Key takeaways: Earmarked / free to allocate
- Earmarked money is assigned to a purpose while it stays where it is.
- Free-to-allocate money is the balance minus the earmarks.
- Earmarks above the balance make the account over-allocated, by the difference.
- In Taiga Finance, the Savings rail shows an earmarked and a free figure for each fund account, and for all of them together.
Questions about Earmarked / free to allocate
What does earmarked mean in Taiga Finance?
The part of a fund account's balance that the funds on it have claimed, shown on the account's card as “$X earmarked”. The figure covers the funds the viewer can see.
What is free to allocate?
In general, the part of an account's balance no goal has claimed. A $12,000 account with $11,500 earmarked has $500 free to allocate. Taiga Finance shows it on each fund account's card and, under Across accounts, across every fund account.
What does the Savings rail's free figure show?
On each fund account's card, the part of the balance no fund has claimed, as “$X free”; under Across accounts, the same across every fund account. An over-allocated account's card reads “over $X” instead.
Is free to allocate the same as free to spend?
In general, no. An earmark is a record, not a transfer: the money stays in the account. Free-to-allocate money is the part of the balance no earmark has claimed.