Empower

crescere
crescere Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭

I have four separate Empower accounts, and I can't get them to download information into each of them separately like Fidelity and later Prudential did. Has anyone had positive results from them? Thanks

Comments

  • Quicken Jasmine
    Quicken Jasmine Quicken Mac Subscription Moderator mod

    Hello @crescere,

    What exactly occurs when attempting to download transactions? Are you able to add the 4 accounts separately? Do you receive any error codes or messages? When did this issue begin to occur?

    Let me know!

    -Quicken Jasmine

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  • Quicken Jasmine
    Quicken Jasmine Quicken Mac Subscription Moderator mod

    Hello @crescere,

    Are you still requiring assistance?

    Let me know!

    -Quicken Jasmine

    Make sure to sign up for the email digest to see a round-up of your top posts.

  • crescere
    crescere Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭

    Yes, I still can't make my Empower accounts work. I was thinking that I could take my four seperate accounts out of the totals, and then create one 401 account that holds all my Empower investments. Since Empower is useless is there an independent way to have Quicken update my accounts with current prices independently of Empower?

  • crescere
    crescere Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭

    Nothing happens. Empower simply does not work in Quicken.

  • Boatnmaniac
    Boatnmaniac Quicken Windows Subscription SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

    @crescere - Empower has been a problem for Quicken downloads for a long time. It does not appear that they support Quicken at this time. Here is what the FIDIR list shows for them. It does not include critical information like type of connection method (DC, EWC, or WC) and it does not show the type of account(s) that they support.:

    69265 69265 69265 Empower Retirement https://www.massmutual.com/ 1-800-767-1000 https://accounts.massmutual.com/login?client=Momwi9VjwihM4TKFn3XWaoH2xAQd3Z6T&protocol=samlp&tenant=accounts-auth0#bookmark ACTIVE NOT_QBP NA

    Add Account also shows only this and I don't think any of these 3 financial institutions are the Empower investment company that you are wanting to download from.

    What kinds of manual download formats does Empower offer? Post that information here and we can take see what your options might be.

    Quicken Classic Premier (US) Subscription: R60.15 on Windows 11 Home

  • Steve Sexson
    Steve Sexson Member ✭✭

    I found my empower account by typing in empower-retirement.com

    my log on credentials seemed to work fine, but ended up getting error cc-501

  • crescere
    crescere Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭
  • Steve Sexson
    Steve Sexson Member ✭✭

    nope…error cc-501

  • Steve Sexson
    Steve Sexson Member ✭✭

    Now it is error cc-502

  • mistertheplague
    mistertheplague Member ✭✭✭

    One cynical take is that since Empower bought Personal Capital they have no interest in you managing your investments in Quicken; they want you to manage them in PC so they can hound you to hire one of their $$$$ asset managers.

    Quicken Premier Mac and Windows
  • Quicken Jasmine
    Quicken Jasmine Quicken Mac Subscription Moderator mod

    Hello @Steve Sexson,

    Are you still requiring assistance? If so, which error are you currently receiving?

    Let me know!

    -Quicken Jasmine

    Make sure to sign up for the email digest to see a round-up of your top posts.

  • Steve Sexson
    Steve Sexson Member ✭✭

    still getting error cc-501

  • Boatnmaniac
    Boatnmaniac Quicken Windows Subscription SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

    As mentioned above, the Empowerment Retirement Financial Institution shown in the FIDIR List does not support any kind of downloading for any accounts at this time. This is why it is not listed in Add Account. Either Empowerment and Intuit have not yet completed the set up for being able to download into Quicken or the FIDIR listing is terribly broken.

    If it is broken, Quicken will need to ask Intuit to get it fixed since only Intuit can fix this in the FIDIR List.

    You can also report it via Help > Report a Problem.

    There are also 5 different empower-retirement.com listings in Add Account. It looks like each of these is unique to specific retirement plans so one must have an account with those specific retirement plans in order to download data from them.

    Following is a summary (per the FIDIR List) of what kinds of downloads each of these Financial Institutions in Add Account supports.

    Only Intuit 401K and Great-West Financial support downloads from 401K plans and only via the Web Connect (WC) method. WC is manually downloading in QFX file format (also sometimes called "Quicken" or "Web Connect") and then manually importing that file into Quicken….it does not work with OSU.:

    Intuit 401k:

    • Supports 401K accounts download via Web Connect (WC) only. Does not support OSU.
    • Supports Investment accounts (not 401K accounts) via Express Web Connect+ (EWC+) only. (It is assumed this is EWC+ since EWC does not support Investment accounts but EWC+ does.) This method supports download via OSU.

    Great-West Financial:

    • Supports downloading of 401K accounts via WC only. Does not support OSU.
    • Does not support downloading of any other types of accounts.

    These other Financial Institutions do not support downloading of 401K accounts at all.:

    ACECRT - Amer Council of Eng Comps:

    • Supports downloading of Banking accounts (i.e., Checking, Savings) via EWC or EWC+ only.
    • Does not support downloading of Investment nor 401K accounts.

    MUFG Plans Employee Login:

    • Supports downloading of Investment accounts via EWC+. (It is assumed it is EWC+ since EWC does not support Investment accounts.)
    • Does not support downloading of 401K accounts.

    Wells Fargo - Co 401K Active:

    • Supports downloading of Banking accounts (i.e., Checking, Savings) and Credit Card/Loan accounts via EWC or EWC+ only.
    • Does not support downloading of Investment accounts nor 401K accounts.

    Your options for downloading any 401K accounts data are very limited….and only with just 2 of the Financial Institutions. Since none of the Financial Institutions support 401K downloads via EWC/EWC+, trying to set up such a download connection will generate a CC-501 error code and there is no way to get around that other than to manually download and import via the WC connection method.

    If your account is not with either or those 2 Financial Institution options you will not be able to download directly into Quicken at all. If they do allow downloading in QIF, Excel, CSV or OFX formats then perhaps there is an indirect method of doing so using a file conversion program ( https://www.quicknperlwiz.com/ ) which might be able to convert the file into something that can then be imported into Quicken.

    Quicken Classic Premier (US) Subscription: R60.15 on Windows 11 Home

  • Steve Sexson
    Steve Sexson Member ✭✭

    Thank you Boatnmaniac

  • crescere
    crescere Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭

    So is there any way to manually enter my stocks ticker, quantity, etc, and have Quicken update the stock price without using useless Empower?

  • jfclague
    jfclague Member ✭✭✭✭

    I upload from the Empower website (with the Quicken option) whenever I have transactions. The individual funds in the account get valued by the date share value.

  • crescere
    crescere Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭

    According to Empower they do not work with Q. How are you doing that?

  • Boatnmaniac
    Boatnmaniac Quicken Windows Subscription SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

    Yes, you can manually enter your securities via Tools > Security List > Add Security. During this process Quicken will try to link it to the publicly traded security so prices can be downloaded when you run OSU even without the Empower connection via a 3rd party provider.

    Note:

    1. If Quicken cannot match the security you entered to a publicly traded security, then it is a private security and share prices will need to be manually entered.
    2. 401K plans sometimes have their own proprietary funds that are not publicly traded but they use the same tickers as publicly traded funds. When this happens it is very common that the proprietary fund prices and the publicly traded fund prices will be different from each other. If you can connect with Empower then the share prices should download properly. But since you can't connect with Empower you will need to carefully watch your securities share prices and total values to confirm that they match what is shown in your online Empower account. If they are the same, then no problem. But if they are not the same then you will want disconnect the securities from downloading and instead manually enter the prices at Security List > click on the security > More > Edit Price History > New > verify the date > enter the price > OK.

    Once the security is added you can go to the Account Register and click on Enter Transactions to add new transactions to the Account Register. If you have a lot of securities and a lot of transactions being done on a regular basis, this can get to be a rather cumbersome task.

    There is one other options that might work. If Empower supports downloads of transactions in QIF, OFX, CSV or Excel file formats, then you could try to download and install ImportQIF, a freeware file conversion program developed and maintained by a long-time Quicken user and very active participant in this Community. It can convert these types of files into something that can then perhaps be imported into Quicken. I have not used it but others have posted that it works well for them. You can read up on and download it from https://www.quicknperlwiz.com/ .

    Quicken Classic Premier (US) Subscription: R60.15 on Windows 11 Home

  • Boatnmaniac
    Boatnmaniac Quicken Windows Subscription SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

    According to the FIDIR information I posted above, it all depends on which Empower link you can be set up with. When people just say "Empower" it says nothing about which Empower plan they are talking about.

    Since @jfclague said they can download the "Quicken" option (I am assuming they mean "via Web Connect") it means their account is with one of the two Empower connection links listed in my post above. Unless one of those two links works with your 401K plan, you cannot download directly into Quicken.

    Quicken Classic Premier (US) Subscription: R60.15 on Windows 11 Home

  • jfclague
    jfclague Member ✭✭✭✭

    I am on the Empower Retirement website now (I was converted over from Prudential Retirement a year or two ago). I go to the Account tab and select the Transaction History (under Account Information). You will see all your transaction history and at the top right there is a Quicken QFX icon/link, select this and it will download the data into Quicken. Unfortunately, you will have to do this each time you have new transactions.

    I really miss when I was on Prudential's website and didn't have to go to the website and manually download transactions but this is all Empower is offering at the present time.

  • kayak
    kayak Member ✭✭✭

    Ever since the Enron scandal of 2001, companies must outsource their 401 management to 3rd party providers. Lately it seems to me that there is a consolidation push going on within these 401k 3rd party management companies. In my experience, these 3rd party providers put up almost useless web sites full of fluff and nonsense and a lot of them don't seem to want to spend the money necessary to fully engage Quicken software. The results of my experiences with these thinly staffed, less-than-professional companies who don't seem to give a rat's **** about their land-locked 'clients' varies from:

    -full download capability (transactions, current market prices, etc.) from within Q via One-Step Update;

    -partial coexistence whereby you must use a web browser, log onto the site, 'package and push' your latest transactions and prices into a downloaded, Q compatible file (.QIF), and then find the file on your computer, click on it and Q will import it;

    -or zero compatibility whereby your best bet might be to explore the provider's website to see if you can at least get it to package an Excel file for download. From there, you can try to import it into Q or massage it with the utility mentioned previously in this thread. If that fails, your only option is to manually enter the transactions yourself.

    My 401k was recently transferred (sold) to another management company and things went from barely tolerable to totally aggravating! First of all, the initial management company was an insurance company and their symbol for the stocks, bonds, etc. in their plan were not the same as the public stock market. The stocks were held by them in an annuity and they assign their own internal 'ticker symbol' to each security. The pricing of the shares is their little secret, with no direct correlation to the price trading on the public stock market. This arrangement was also mentioned above in this thread…..

    The first insurance company was very aggravating and their listed per share prices were very different from the publicly listed prices. The acquiring company is also an insurance company so the pricing of the shares is also their little secret, with no direct correlation to the price trading on the stock market. At least with the initial insurance company, I could 'package and push' the transactions and current pricing down to Q and I would do this download about every two weeks after my paycheck deductions resulted in purchases. THEN this company sold to another (Securian to The Standard) and these new folks are HORRIBLE! ZERO COMPATIBILITY WITH QUICKEN; it is another insurance company so the stocks are again held in an annuity and prices don't correlate, they don't even hint at being compatible with One-Step Update and they don't even offer the option to 'package and push' transactions to Q! What a joke! What Financial Management Company would choose not to cooperate with the world's two most widely used financial management software packages (Q and QBooks) is beyond me. The best I could do was download an Excel sheet and manually input all buy/sell transactions.

    One shortcut I found useful in this scenario was during the process of updating their bizarre stock pricing into my Quicken Portfolio. If you have the Quote/Price column revealed in your Portfolio View, simply highlight the price for each security and correct it to whatever their website lists for the day, if you can find it on their crappy, confusing website! Good Luck!

  • crescere
    crescere Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭

    Okay, I have FOUR accounts. There is a 401, 457, and each has a brokerage account with stocks. I guess the easiest way is to combine all these into one account. How do I do this?

  • crescere
    crescere Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭
    edited June 28

    I called Empower and was told they are "aware of the problem with Quicken and working to correct it". They have been "aware" of this for several years, but nothing has changed. If you want to switch to another financial institution they will have to sell your current positions, and this may take over seven business days. [Removed - Language/Speculation]!

  • crescere
    crescere Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭
    edited June 28

    So apparently I have been censored. The point I am trying to make is that Empower will only let you switch to another company if you sell all your holdings and wait up to seven business days (note to Q censor this is from my conversation with Empower I am not speculating) to have your holdings converted to cash. They then cut you a check, and you have to reinvest with a new company. This could all take more than two weeks! Who knows what will happen to your holdings during this time?

  • Boatnmaniac
    Boatnmaniac Quicken Windows Subscription SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

    Why not set up each account separately? That is the normal way to set up accounts. Then you enter the securities (stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, etc.) into Quicken. Then you can enter transactions to buy or add the securities into each account. A single security can be held in multiple accounts.

    If you don't know how to go about setting up investment accounts you might want to review this Help Article: https://help.quicken.com/display/WIN/Add+investment+accounts.

    Quicken Classic Premier (US) Subscription: R60.15 on Windows 11 Home

  • Boatnmaniac
    Boatnmaniac Quicken Windows Subscription SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

    Every investment company has different policies and protocols for how to manage transfers into and out of the plans they manage. And if they are managing employer retirement plans the requirements might not be dictated by Empower but rather by the employer's plan.

    Generally, if the investment company manages plans for employers they have their own unique plans that are not publicly traded on the open market. In this case the investment company must sell the securities first before they can transfer the cash out of the account. If they instead transferred the shares out to the new investment company they would become worthless to you since you because you would not be able to sell them to anyone.

    If the plan securities are publicly traded securities, the investment company will sometimes be able to transfer the shares to the new investment company….usually for a transfer fee.

    Regardless of which way they do it, there is a transit time involved so, no, you cannot get your hands on the shares or the money on demand. Investment companies are not banks and don't have that flexibility. Even in non-retirement plans, when liquidating security shares and distributing the cash to some other external account it can easily take up to 6-7 days to complete. In part this is because whoever buys your shares has, by law, 3 days to pay up without incurring a penalty. Then add one day to process the ACH transfer payment and up to 3 days to complete the ACH transfer. You can often speed the process up by 2-4 days by authorizing the investment company to wire the payment….for a fee of course.

    And, of course, if the account is part of a current employer's plan, then you usually cannot simply transfer the funds to any other account without getting dropped from the employer's plan so removing the money from an account like this might not be the move you want to make.

    If you are going to proceed with transferring your assets out of the plans at Empower because those are not your current employer's plans, then you might want to seriously consider moving them into a more public facing brokerage like Fidelity Investments, Schwab, Chase, etc.. They can roll those plans over (example, 401K plan could be rolled over into a rollover IRA). Then downloading into Quicken is made much easier.

    Quicken Classic Premier (US) Subscription: R60.15 on Windows 11 Home

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