How to track a dividend to match my brokerage?

System

This discussion was created from comments split from: Investing Dashboard Doesn't Recognize Money Market Account.

mfaron@

How can I get cash from a dividend to go into the money market fund in the account, as it does in Fidelity, but not in Quicken. I have to update cash and share balance whenever cash comes into the account.

Boatnmaniac

said:

How can I get cash from a dividend to go into the money market fund in the account, as it does in Fidelity, but not in Quicken. I have to update cash and share balance whenever cash comes into the account.

Your question is a different subject from the subject of this thread.  You might want to review another thread:  https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20116935#Comment_20116935.  It starts out about transactions from Fidelity not downloading but about 1/2 way down the discussion changes to how Fidelity downloads MMFs that are the designated Core Account.

Boatnmaniac

Now that this is a separate post thread: 

Fidelity (and some other investment companies) do not download Core Account holdings as security holdings.  Instead, they download it as Cash.  In Fidelity's perspective, Core Account = Cash and Cash = Core Account.  And actually this makes a lot of sense because essentially a MMF really is nothing more than a better paying savings account (it always has a $1/share price and pays interest in the form of dividends).

This perspective is exemplified in your online Fidelity account.  If you go to the Positions tab it will show you hold shares of the Core Account MMF (identified by ** after the ticker).  But if you go to the Balances tab it will show the Core Account value as Cash and the Core Account value is not included in the Securities market value...and Fidelity downloads it as such.

There is nothing you can do with your online account at Fidelity or in Quicken to change this.

If you really want your account in Quicken to show the Core Account MMF holdings, then you will need to continue doing what you are doing.  But note that what Fidelity downloads and what Quicken shows will not be in agreement.  You can verify this by clicking on the blue font Cash Balance at the bottom right corner of your account register screen.

I and others have found the easiest and least frustrating way to deal with this is to not "fight" what Fidelity is doing but to instead jump on board with that same "Core Account = Cash and Cash = Core Account" mindset.  It results in the value of the Core Account MMF being only included in the Cash Balance instead of showing up as a MMF security holding.  And it will result in the data downloaded by Fidelity and as shown in Quicken being in agreement with each other.  Let me know if you wish to head down this path and I can offer some suggestions as to what you can do to get you account in Quicken aligned with Fidelity.

NotACPA

I hold the cash, in my Fidelity accounts and my wife's, as simply CASH.  It's really much simpler than having all of those Buy/Sell MMF transactions in the account.