What's the recommended way to transfer money from a checking or savings account into an IRA?

BobOD

I'm trying to clean up a large balance adjustment in an IRA account that I think is related to the fact that some purchases were made with funds that show up as a ContribX instead of just a Deposit, but I'm not sure a) what method I should use to consistently fix my older transactions and b) how to get stock purchases actually have a cash amount (currently shows an N/A and I believe that's the source of the balance mismatch. Any suggestions?

Sherlock

Generally, cash transfers to an IRA account from a taxable account are contributions and should be entered as ContribX action transactions.  Stock purchases should entered as Bought action transactions.

Chris_QPW

I notice that one of the main differences between Deposit and ContribX is that ContribX lets you specify what year the contribution is for.

BobOD

OK, thanks. That's what I thought. Unfortunately, in one of my IRA accounts has three stock purchases that don't have a cash amount associated with them (they show N/A) and that led to a huge balance adjustment to align things. How do I change those transactions (FYI, they show up as Bought) so that they do have a cash impact?

Sherlock

BobOD said:

OK, thanks. That's what I thought. Unfortunately, in one of my IRA accounts has three stock purchases that don't have a cash amount associated with them (they show N/A) and that led to a huge balance adjustment to align things. How do I change those transactions (FYI, they show up as Bought) so that they do have a cash impact?

To correct the cost basis, I suggest you manually edit or replace the transactions.

Note: Always save a backup of your Quicken file before making any significant changes: press Ctrl + B

Chris_QPW

Sherlock said:

BobOD said:

OK, thanks. That's what I thought. Unfortunately, in one of my IRA accounts has three stock purchases that don't have a cash amount associated with them (they show N/A) and that led to a huge balance adjustment to align things. How do I change those transactions (FYI, they show up as Bought) so that they do have a cash impact?

To correct the cost basis, I suggest you manually edit or replace the transactions.

Note: Always save a backup of your Quicken file before making any significant changes: press Ctrl + B

I don't think he is talking about cost basis.  As I understand it the cash amounts for the transaction are coming up as N/A (and causing the need for balance adjustment during reconcile).  I don't know what is causing this though.  Maybe placeholders?

BobOD

Thanks all. Yes, it was placeholders...after hours of futzing and researching, I think I have it figured out....but man, what a horrifically confusing process (and I all did on this account was download transactions...no manual entry!!)

q_lurker

I’ve often said you can’t trust the brokerage to send the transactions you need for how you want to keep your records. 

Jim_Harman

For future reference, whenever a transaction has an N/A in the Cash amount, it means there is a Placeholder for that security at a later date.

To make placeholders visible, go to Edit > Preferences > Investment Transactions and make sure the Show hidden transactions box is checked. Placeholders will have a gray background in the account’s transaction list (register) even if they are not selected, and will have “Entry” in the Action column.

 Placeholders compensate for missing or incorrect investing transactions by forcing Quicken’s share balance for a security to match a specified value. This is usually the share count downloaded from your financial institution (FI).

 Placeholders also prevent new transactions like Bought and Sold prior to the Placeholder date from affecting the account’s cash balance. This shows up as N/A in the Cash Amt column of the transaction list.

 For information on resolving placeholders, please see this FAQ: https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7267839/quicken-faq-managing-placeholder-entries-in-quicken-for-windows