Updating an account without transaction details

Question

My wife has a couple of retirement accounts with her firm that are similar to 401k accounts. It is easy to go to the firm's website and see the current balance, but individual transactions (contributions, dividends, re-investments, gains/losses) are not easy to determine.

Is the a recommended way in Quicken to set-up an investment account where all you know is the value and number of units a given point in time?

Thanks!

Nicholas

John_in_NC · Accepted Answer

Hi, Nicholas:

You can (manually) setup an investment account, and then use the Add Shares transaction type to set the current amount of each Security held. (You may/may not have to setup the security for price history as most will automatically go out and get this data.) This give you the present value of your holdings as the markets rise/fall. Adjust the amount of the security held as time goes on (either via Add or Remove shares, or simply editing the initial transaction.)

You won't have cost basis information, but that might not matter to you. Plus, you don't have to worry about how cash got into the account to cover what would be buys/dividends/reinvests. Moreover, since this is a retirement account, you likely aren't as worried about tax implications.