Vanguard Account Transition Issue.

Jnic

Vanguard required me to transition an IRA funds account into their Brokerage system. In the process they created a new IRA account and transferred the funds from my old account (that downloads transactions) to the new account. I have a couple of other accounts that just transitioned without creating a new account and are downloading properly.

My latest download from the old IRA account shows that the funds were removed and now has a zero balance. However, One Step Download doesn’t download the newly created account.

What is the best way to get the new account to start downloading without losing the many years’ worth of transactions from my old account?

Jim_Harman

I'm not sure what happened with your other accounts, but there are a couple of ways to handle the Vanguard transition.

I would use the method below because it mimics what happened in real life. This will enter one Removed transaction for each security currently held in the old account(s) and an Added transaction in the new account for each tax lot of each security. It preserves the cost basis and acquisition dates of the securities transferred. The original cash and security transactions will remain in the old accounts.

1. Make sure the holdings in your old account(s) prior to the transfer are up to date and accurate. 
2. Back up your data file in case something goes wrong.
3. In the old account(s), click on the gear, pick Edit account details, and on the Online Services tab, click on Deactivate.
4. If there are transactions in the old account(s) that remove the holdings for the transfer, delete them.
5. Set up the new account in Quicken if you have not already. If there are already transactions that transfer the holdings into the account or transactions that duplicate ones that are already recorded in the old account, delete them.
6. In the old account(s), click on Enter Transactions and pick Shares transferred between accounts.
7. Select All securities and click on Enter/Done.
8. If there is any cash in the old account(s), enter a Cash Transferred out of account to move it to the new account.

When reporting on performance over a period that includes the transfer, include both the old and new accounts in the analysis. 

The alternate method redirects your existing account so that the current holdings remain there and new transactions are downloaded from the new financial institution (FI). Follow steps 1-4 above, then re-activate the account for downloading, using the new account information. When it finds your new account, be sure to choose the option to link it to the current account, not add a new account. If transactions are downloaded to add the current holdings, delete them.

Jnic

Hi Jim,

Thank you. You addressed the issue that I was most worried about… preserving the cost basis of many very old transactions. One other question. Am I right to assume that if something goes wrong I can restore my old data file and start over.

Jim_Harman

That's right, the purpose of the backup is so that you can revert to your previous data file in case something goes wrong or you do not like the result.

Jnic

Jim,

Thanks again for the help.