Newly Retired > Quicken Investments > Seek Advice Regarding Placeholders & More?

lopat08865

Quicken user since DOS. Currently "Quicken Classic, Premier, Windows 10 Enterprise, Version R59.6, Build 27.1.59.6"

Program helped me successfully manage my Banking (Checking/Savings/Credit Cards) all those years. Still does.

Had also used it to track my 401k at work. Never had a problem with OSU always properly reflecting my 401k balance & Net Worth. Throughout the years I never thought twice about using Placeholders in the 401k to give me those accurate balances.

Upon retirement I executed a Trustee-to-Trustee Transfer of the 401k to Vanguard, who now manages these account[s] for me:

3 IRAs (me, my wife, & an inherited IRA)
2 ROTHs (me & my wife)

I also have a 6th account with Vanguard, a self-managed Broker Account. I do not trade in that account, just reinvest its dividends.

So that's me. Still happy with Quicken for the Banking side of the program, but still wholly ignorant with the complexities (for me) of working the Investment side of Quicken.

So, now that I'm encountering problems, I'm torn between trying to seek help with the problems, or simply asking the bottom line question:

Given that I don't ask much from Quicken, other than a proper reflection of Vanguard balances and holdings (I don't run reports; I don't actively invest), I THINK I can safely allow for Placeholders to just continue to provide me with that?

Even insofar as taxable and capital gains, again, I THINK the taxable nature of the Vanguard Accounts are properly isolated to not present a problem?

I've spent considerable time trying to research how to fix the problems I'm encountering [exampled screen shot(s) shown below], but I guess my opening foray into seeking solutions should simply be to explain my needs and usage, and let the Users/SuperUsers here chime in on whether an "allow placeholder approach" would work for my particular situation? Whether that, or more, is called for in fixing the problems I'm encountering? And if more, what's the easiest way to resolve them, given that the Investment Registers and the various tools in Quicken are WAY, WAY beyond my competency.

Thanks!

PS: Most of my current problems shown below likely worsened from attempting corrective actions using tools I THOUGHT would fix them. But here I am :-(

Jim_Harman

It appears that in IRA 2970, there is a mixup between the 3 Total Bond Market securities. It appears that the ETF and the Investor class shares were consolidated into the Admiral shares.

In IRA 6501 and the Roth IRA, you have two different securities for Quicken for the Total Bond Market ETF. Perhaps one of them is hidden so it does not appear in your Security List.

You could attempt to fix these discrepancies by correcting your transactions in Quicken to match what happened in real life and entering any missing transactions, but if you don't care about Quicken's tax reporting or tracking of historical performance, you could simply accept the Placeholders and your accounts should be accurate going forward.

lopat08865

Thanks Jim. So it seems like, for my limited purposes — "don't care about Quicken's tax reporting or tracking of historical performance" — the first thing I should do is allow Quicken to "Create a placeholder transaction" for all differences? See what that does & then report back the result?

I can't stress enough how confusing the whole "Investment Side of Quicken" is to me. Auto creation of Placeholders is something I can do. But beyond that, things you & other users here may take for granted, I'm just lost. I may even have introduced some of these discrepancies myself by trying to fix things!

lopat08865

I have unhidden from the "Security List" any Accounts that are or might be relevant:

Jim_Harman

Allowing the Placeholders should be OK to get you started. Always back up your file before making changes like this, in case the result is not what you expected.

As you get more familiar with Quicken's investing features, you can always go back and "resolve" the Placeholders.

Also you will probably find it useful to click on the Holdings button when viewing an investing account. That will show the securities Quicken thinks you hold. It will default to today's date but you can change the "As of" date to see you holdings on earlier dates.

You should also go to Edit > Preferences > Investing and check the Show hidden transactions box if it is not already checked, so you can see the Placeholders.

Q97

You might also see whether Simple Investing, which tracks only positions and balances, suits your needs.

lopat08865

Thanks Q97. I'm still interested in alternative means and additional opinions. I've yet to take action on Jim's advice. Hoping this "question" thread remains open (maybe I should have posted as a "discussion?").