New Capital Gains Estimator Feature - Possible bug?

Simonusa0

Quicken for Mac Classic Deluxe version 7.10.1 , MacOS 15.1.1

I'm using the new feature (under Investing tools menu) of the Capital Gains Estimator to search for securities that show a loss and could be sold to tax loss harvest before year end. Looks like a great feature.

However there seems to be a bug. It reports the identical long term loss of a lot of an investment in two separate accounts even though only one of the accounts hold this investment. (I do not have the 'include all investment accounts' checkbox selected which could produce the same result).

Anyone else seen this issue?

Jon

That's the way it works. The estimator window doesn't show individual accounts, it's one window for all your taxable investment accounts (or you can check the box to also include all tax-advantaged accounts). I don't think there's any way to restrict the estimator to showing just the assets in a single account.

jacobs

@Simonusa0 Ah, I see the source of your issue; thanks for posting the screenshots.

There is actually no bug in what you are seeing. The confusion is that the Capital Gains Estimator tool is not account-specific. That is, whether you start by clicking in the left sidebar on one account or the Brokerage or Investing headings, when you then open the Capital Gains Estimator, it opens in its own window and will be showing capital gains for all non-retirement accounts. (And if you check the "Include all investment accounts" checkbox, it will add retirement accounts as well.)

I wish the tool worked based on what accounts you are viewing when you open it, or that it had a way to filter the results to a specific account. This suggestion was made while it was being beta tested, but the developers either disagree or decided not to address it until sometime in the future. But I do think you'll soon see the addition of an Account column to at least make it clearer which account each investment lot belongs to. I hope they in the future make it account-specific or add a way to filter for one or more specific accounts.

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @Simonusa0,

I have reached out to my team for further information!

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @Simonusa0,

Would you mind providing screenshots of what you are seeing? If needed, please refer to this Community FAQ for instructions on how to attach a screenshot. Alternatively, you can also drag and drop screenshots to your response if you are not given the option to add attachments. Please remember to redact any personal information as needed. 

Also, could you please provide the exact steps that you are taking to receive these results?

Thanks!

Simonusa0

Jasmin,

Here you go, the steps are as follows:

1. I select the investment account that I want to analyze.
2. Then I go to the top right and select 'investing tools' and then from its dropdown, 'Capital Gains Estimator' (the only choice).
3. Then I use the Estimator filters to select 'long & short term' and 'Losers'. (Note I do NOT select the 'include all investment accounts' checkbox therefore only searching the one selected account).

The two screen shots show results of the capital gains (loss) estimator run for two different account numbers s xxx3912 xxx1287.

Results for account x1287 shows correctly a lot of investment FID FLEX MUNICIPAL INCOME FUND with a loss of $2,170. However the exact same results come up when if I run the estimator for multiple other investment and retirement accounts too which don't hold that investment. Example shown is for account x3912 and I also include a photo of the investments in that account proving it doesn't even hold Fidelity Flex Munic Inc Fund.

Jon

That's the way it works. The estimator window doesn't show individual accounts, it's one window for all your taxable investment accounts (or you can check the box to also include all tax-advantaged accounts). I don't think there's any way to restrict the estimator to showing just the assets in a single account.

jacobs

@Simonusa0 Ah, I see the source of your issue; thanks for posting the screenshots.

There is actually no bug in what you are seeing. The confusion is that the Capital Gains Estimator tool is not account-specific. That is, whether you start by clicking in the left sidebar on one account or the Brokerage or Investing headings, when you then open the Capital Gains Estimator, it opens in its own window and will be showing capital gains for all non-retirement accounts. (And if you check the "Include all investment accounts" checkbox, it will add retirement accounts as well.)

I wish the tool worked based on what accounts you are viewing when you open it, or that it had a way to filter the results to a specific account. This suggestion was made while it was being beta tested, but the developers either disagree or decided not to address it until sometime in the future. But I do think you'll soon see the addition of an Account column to at least make it clearer which account each investment lot belongs to. I hope they in the future make it account-specific or add a way to filter for one or more specific accounts.

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @Simonusa0,

@jacobs and @Jon are correct, this is an intended behavior and by design. We appreciate you providing more information and screenshots.

To request this feature to be added in the future, what you can do is create an idea post. This way other users who have the same or a similar request can vote on your idea. Our Development and Product teams frequently use our idea posts in order to improve Quicken and implement new features requested by customers. 

Thanks!

Simonusa0

Thanks Jasmine and Jon, Jacobs. That explains and answers my question.

If the filter checkbox on the Estimator was called 'Include all investment accounts' and instead was called 'Include Retirement Investment accounts' then everything would have avoided the confusion because as it stands it is misleading and suggests without the checkbox only the selected account is being considered. Maybe this could be an intermediate improvement?

Thanks.

jacobs

@Simonusa0 I agree that the checkbox should be labeled "Include Retirement Accounts". I think they didn't do that because, if you look at the little "i" pop-up next to that box they use the more accurate but longer terminology that it includes "tax-advantaged and retirement accounts". I guess the issue is that one of the account types one can enter is a 529 account, which comes up under a sub-heading of Education, as it is not a retirement account.

My suggestion would be to change the wording of the "Include all investment accounts" box to "Include retirement & tax- advantaged accounts." It's only slightly longer, but I think it's far clearer.

But ultimately, it would help if a user could select to have the Estimator window show just a selected account, or all taxable accounts, or all accounts. That suggestion has been made to the developers; we'll see if they decide to act on it. 😉