401(k) account balance shows 2x actual balance - why?

gregbare

Just added my 401(k) with Fidelity to my investment register. It found all the mutual funds with correct balances but then added a 'cash' entry that was the total of all my investments and then included that cash entry in the account balance. The result is that the balance shown is 2x the actual balance. There is no cash in this portfolio, how do I get rid of it and why is there in the first place?

NotACPA

How are the funds recorded in your 401(k) account?  What action was used?

It SHOULD be a BUY, which will use up that cash.

I suspect that it's a "Shares Added"

MrsHungryAsian

I have my 401(k) set up in Quicken, when I download transactions they show up with a Type "Buy" which seems to decrease the Market Value of my account. If I change the Type to "Add Shares" it increases the Market Value of my account. What is the difference and which one should I be using?

Quicken Francisco

Hello @MrsHungryAsian

Thanks for letting us know more details about the issue. I'm wondering here if we might be able to manually change the amount inside of the account bar. I would try see if you're able to click on the account under the account bar. From there in the bottom right see if you're able to click on the cash balance amount in the bottom left. If you are you should be able to adjust the amount of cash down to 0 and will adjust the account.

Once you get the chance let us know if this helps with the issue. If not we'll see what we can try next.

Thanks,
Quicken Francisco

cwdeuel

I had the same issue. I clicked on the gear in the upper right corner. There was an option to adjust cash balance so I made it zero. Now the balance is correct

Jim_Harman

Adjusting the cash balance to zero will correct the problem temporarily, but it does not address the underlying problem.

In a 401(k) account, there should be periodic cash deposits that correspond to your paycheck deductions and the company matching contributions, if any. You can set these up using Quicken's Paycheck Wizard, which is hidden away at Planning > Tax Center > Add Paycheck.

The Bought transactions that purchase securities in the account will use up the cash balance.