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A yearly amount that can be paid into ISAs, inside which there is no tax on interest, dividends or gains. It runs per tax year and does not carry over: whatever is unused on the fifth of April stops existing, and a fresh allowance starts the next day.

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An ISA that attracts a government bonus on contributions, for a first home or for retirement. The withdrawal charge for any other purpose is set at a level that can return less than was paid in, which is the part that surprises people.

A separate allowance per child, on top of an adult's own ISA. At eighteen the money belongs to the child and parents cannot take it back. That is how the product is built.

The amount that can go into pensions each year with tax relief. It is the largest single allowance most people have, and it is also the one that reduces adjusted net income, which is why it appears in the Keep subject as well.

Allowance unused in the previous three tax years can be added to this year's, which is what makes a single large contribution possible after a good year. It is the only allowance on this map with meaningful carry-forward.

The annual allowance reduces where both threshold income and adjusted income pass their limits, down to a floor. It affects exactly the people for whom a pension contribution is otherwise the most powerful lever available.

Once a defined contribution pension has been flexibly accessed, the amount that can go back in falls sharply and permanently. Taking a small amount early can therefore close off a much larger contribution later.

Many workplace schemes increase the employer's contribution when the employee's rises, up to a stated limit. Where a match is available and unused, the contribution rate is the only variable that changes what the employer pays in.

A band of gains taxed at nothing each tax year. It has been cut sharply in recent years. It applies when you realise a gain, not to paper profits, and it does not carry over.

Selling a holding outside a wrapper and repurchasing it inside one realises a gain at that moment, which may fall within the annual exempt amount, and leaves the holding sheltered from then on. The repurchase uses ISA allowance.

Assets pass between spouses and civil partners with no capital gains tax on the transfer, which puts the eventual gain in the hands of whichever of them has allowance or a lower rate available. It effectively doubles the annual exempt amount across a couple.

Hitting a round number in cash and hitting the same goal in today's money can be decades apart at ordinary contribution levels. Many calculators show only the cash date; ours shows both.

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The full new State Pension requires a number of qualifying years of National Insurance. A director on a very low salary, or somebody with gaps from time abroad or out of work, can reach retirement with fewer than they assumed, and gaps can sometimes be filled for earlier years.