Different tax-advantaged savings accounts have different tax characteristics. Investment growth in tax-advantaged accounts is usually tax free, as shown with “+” in the middle column. For retirement accounts (pre-tax and Roth, top two rows), money may go in or come out tax free, depending on the account type and if the deposits and withdrawals are qualified. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), which must be paired with a qualified high-deductible health plan, offer triple tax benefits – if the funds are used for qualified health care expenses, the funds may be entirely tax free on contributions, investment growth and withdrawals. Leaving money in HSAs to grow tax free and be taken out tax free for qualified health care expenses in retirement can help optimize HSAs’ preferential tax treatment. Non-deductible or after-tax contributions are less tax advantaged and should be considered after exhausting opportunities to save in the other tax-advantaged accounts. All of these accounts are designed for long-term saving, so generally there are penalties on early or non-qualified withdrawals.