401K Handling
I created a 401K investment acct. I am not interested in detailed security level reporting, just keeping an accurate quarterly view based on statements received. My bi-monthly paycheck contributions are going into the account properly.
First, how do I add quarterly changes in value (up or down)? If I go into the Register View, I see a New Transaction button top right. After selecting, I'm trying to change the Action from Xfr to Dividend (figuring I can use that to up / down aggregate account value), but it will not let me do the change. So what do I do?
Second, MoneyDance seems to force the "other side" of a T-account to always be named. What is the "Other side" of an investment up/down move? I don't want it coming from / going to any other account in the software as the other side is really outside of my T-account picture. So how do I handle that?
Thx.
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1 Posted by ljb on Jun 09, 2010 @ 10:02 PM
I think even if you do not want to track individual securities, you are going to have to create a single security and add it to the account. Then, you show quarterly changes ("unrealized gains and losses") by changing the current price of the security. When you add funds, you have to 'buy' more of the security. The account's cash balance would always be zero.
That also answers your second point. Yes the other side of a transaction has to be a named account or category, but a change in a security's value is not a transaction.
2 Posted by FatRaiderFan on Jun 11, 2010 @ 10:57 AM
nealtax,
You are correctly recording the contributions into your 401(k) from your paycheck. The balance in your 401(k) will reflect the sum of all the contributions, but cannot possibly match your quarterly statement because the security values are changing every business day. You will need to create securities in MD along with the correct ticker symbols and record the periodic purchases. Most 401(k)s use mutual funds that have 5 letter symbols that end in an X. i.e. AGTHX. Regrettably, many 401(k) providers DO NOT allow transaction downloads, but if yours does all the better.
I am very particular about values in my MD, so I manually enter the investment transactions in my 401(k) every month or two. When I start, the register reflects the last couple of cash contributions and a cash balance. As I enter the transactions, the cash balance goes to 0.00 before the next monthly payroll contribution.
I use the Stock/Forex Quote Synchronizer at each MD startup and the values do match my quarterly statements.
3 Posted by Tom Freeman on Jul 06, 2010 @ 07:57 PM
Neal,
My recommendation is do as the above posters suggest. And keep a limited track of your securities.
But if you have no real interest in using Moneydance's investment tracking features and want to treat your 401k as one lump sum, there is a workaround.
Create an asset account called 401k. Create a income account called 401k increase and an expense account called 401k decrease. You can put you initial value in here as you would in an investment account. You can continue to use your current contribution transaction, then quarterly adjust the value based on the increase and decrease from you statement using the 401k income or expense accounts you created.
This would hold the value of your account but offer no real useful information other than the lump sum value of your 401k.
Tom
Angie Rauscher closed this discussion on Jul 24, 2011 @ 07:58 PM.