Accounting for pre-tax deductions from our paychecks

DaveJ_Oban

My wife and I are both salaried employees. Taxes, Soc. Sec., Health Insurance, Flex. Spending Account, and retirement deductions are subtracted from our paychecks pre-tax. When I set up Quicken, I linked it to our bank accounts and it recognizes the deposits made every two weeks (split into multiple accounts).
How can I account for those pre-tax deductions? I want to have a "full picture". Also, I am considering increasing contributions into one of the retirement plans and would like to see the impact.

markus1957

There is a paycheck function that allows any number of payroll deductions, both pre-tax and after tax. Look for a Paycheck Wizard link in Tools>Bill & Income Reminders>Income Reminder. Regular splits can't handle payroll tax implications, the wizard can.

The Lifetime Planner module will allow you to make some retirement plan contribution what if projections.

Bill & Income reminders can help manage cash flow projections in your account(s).  For example, Lifetime Planner will show the impact of making the higher retirement plan contribution long-term whereas the Projected Balances module will show if you can afford to make the increased contribution and still pay the bills short-term.

If your Bill & Income reminders are comprehensive enough, the Tax Planner module will provide a pretty good estimate of your end of year federal tax obligation.

DaveJ_Oban

Thank you very much markus1957! This makes sense to me. I will try later this week. Although with a quick look, I was unable to find the Paycheck Wizard tool. Using Quicken Premier.

Nice to to have it written out. And the situation understood.

I had not found anything written or videos on this. Called Tech Support yesterday and they really did not seem to grasp the question. Sent me two basic articles on splitting income.

volvogirl

Boy it took me a long time to find it.  I have Premier 2013.  Only found it here.  Yeah go to 
Tools>Bill & Income Reminders>Income Reminder Then under Create New....

Then at the bottom of this screen

Chris_QPW

@volvogirl they haven't made it any easier to find in newer versions of Quicken, it is the same as you describe with the only variation that you can get to the reminder in a couple of places in Quicken and have to understand that this is a "manual reminder" not an online one.

markus1957

You can also find a button link to the Paycheck Wizard under the Planning tab, Tax Center section, Taxable Income YTD window at the bottom.

DaveJ_Oban

Found it.
Many thanks!