Can I delete and Restore all of my Broker Data

Question

Ever since I moved to Schwab my broker data has never been correct — I have issues with Govt Money and the way quicken has handled that — Now I have a Risk of Overdraft that is VERY Large and unexplained and one of the Cash Accounts is correct in the portfolio but very wrong in the account column. I have tried all of the resets and investigations into hidden accounts to no avail. So what I am planning is 1 of two options — 1) Just delete all the Schwab Accounts and manage my portfolio from the Schwab Web Site or 2) Delete all of the Schwab Accounts and then re-add them from scratch thereby loosing some significant historical data.

My Question is has anyone tried my option 2 and have any suggestions on how to make that as less painful as possible.

As I said I have tried all of the resets for Schwab multiple times to no avail. Also if I try to run a repair on my account other accounts get wacked out of shape. So there is something/many things wrong in my data file but as of now all of the credit cards and banking info is correct — It is just the Schwab stuff that is out of whack.  This has been a sore spot since the transition from USAA to Schwab some time ago.

Any suggestions for the best way to move forward??

Regards ….. Jim

Tom Young · Answer

At this point you would be unlikely to get a full history with a deletion of the Accounts and then establishing them again.  But I urge you to call Schwab and ask the question.  I know they used to provide a pretty long look back, I know they shorted that look back around the time of the of the dropping of DC in favor of EWC+, but there's a chance that they've re-extended the history that's available.  But without understanding the problem with the government money funds there's a good chance that history will repeat itself with the same problems cropping up again.

Without actually seeing what's going on in your Quicken Accounts - transactions as they are recorded in Quicken and balance changes as a result of those transactions - it's really impossible to make specific suggestions.  My understanding - which might be incorrect - of the government money market funds at Schwab is that the operate as sweep funds.  And IF that's correct then I don't understand the statement "but (Govt Money) does not always get used properly on purchases."  A properly structured Buy transaction reduces cash in an Account.  If there's sweep activity going on then the Govt Money should be converted to cash - reducing the Govt Money in the Account - with the resulting cash then removed from the Account to pay Schwab.

Before doing the delete/re-add thing I'd suggest first contacting Official Quicken Support, allowing for screen sharing so they can look at the affected Accounts and understand what the problem really is.  It may be a fairly easy fix.  That won't go back and fix the 1 year+ of problems, but it should avoid those problems going forward.  Some balance adjustments in the Accounts as of the date of the fix to get all positions properly stated as of that date would get you started with "known good" positions and hopefully the fix means the problem won't crop up again.

Jim Wetzel · Answer

Tom,

Thanks for the reply — To your questions

* The USAA Account Transition was over a year ago - So I am pretty sure I won't get those details back and probably only limited history from Schwab. I can live with that. Schwab can provide me the basis for sales and I'll just loose my profit / loses over the full ownership period.
* The problem is exclusively with the Govt Money — I also have some Schwab Value Advantage Money Mkt which after one of my resets started coming thru and recording correctly.
* I cannot explain the Govt Money exactly but it appears that it is recorded against the Cash Account coming in (Dividends and things) but does not always get used properly on purchases. The net is I have to periodically make adjustments to the Cash Account. This has morphed into a bigger problem in the when I look at the portfolio view the cash account is correct but in at least in one case the same cash account showing on the side account bar is vastly different (100's of K off)

So my thought is to completely delete the SCHWAB Accounts(5) and all of their history and re-add them again in hopes they will all sync properly and correctly. I'm hoping that if they are deleted I can just add them back and there will not be a name conflict.

Regards …. Jim

Tom Young · Answer

The direct answer to your headline question is: "Maybe, maybe not."

The broker (supposedly) controls how "far back in time" transaction information can be downloaded into Quicken, and 90 days is a common window of opportunity.  I believe Schwab used to make that window very large but might have made it smaller due to teething problems with their decision to move from the Direct Connect downloading method to Express Web Connect+.  So if the move to Schwab was fairly recent then you do have a chance to be able to download all transactions from the account's creation until "today."  You might call Schwab and ask how large that window of time actually is.

If the crux of your problem resides entirely in your Quicken/Schwab Investment Accounts and issues with SNVXX or SGUXX,then that problem might come down to how Schwab is treating this product - as a sweep product of readily available cash - versus how Quicken might be viewing the product - as a "security" that is transacted in Buys and Sells.  And if this is indeed the case (I assume your actual security positions are properly stated?) then your option #2 simply wouldn't work as downloads of future transactions would continue to be in error.

Some details here would be helpful.  Exactly how long ago is that "transition from USAA to Schwab some time ago"?  Are all the Schwab Accounts in your file Investment Accounts?  Is the problem exclusively with "Govt Money" (which I'm assuming is SNVXX or SGUXX) or does the problem extend itself to other securities in those Accounts?  Can you fully explain how transactions involving "Govt Money" are being recorded in Quicken and how those transactions are resulting in divergence from "real world" (Schwab) balances?