Schwab - Multi usernames, individual accounts, joint accounts, retirement accounts

TMMac

Quicken Classic Deluxe. Version R61.17. Windows 11 Home. I've read lots of the community commentary but have seen conflicting advice. Filed this under Q&A as well.

The issue. Spouse and I have multiple accounts at Schwab. She has her own username and password. I have my own username and password. Things have worked fine forever. Then we moved an account at individual brokerage account at Schwab into a Living Trust (so now a joint account that we both have access to) and auto-update went haywire.

#1. Made sure all old Schwab accounts that were closed had no online services setup

#2. All current accounts were deactivated within Account > Online Services

#3. Saved my data file and reopened my data file

#4. Using my wife's credentials I authenticated her accounts and the 1 account that is joint ( Quicken sends you to Schwab to approve account downloads - all accounts had checkmarks)

#5. Did the same for my individual account (caveat the joint account showed up in my account list with a checkmark)

#6. What I'm observing when I click "Update Now" in Home screen - all accounts get the blue arrow but 1 or 2 accounts do not download.

#7. When I go to a specific account that doesn't download - in this case my spouse's individual account I click on "Update Transactions".

#8. I observe multiple Schwab accounts with a blue arrow but the accounts are my spouses (correct) and mine (why would my individual accounts download with her credentials?).

#9. What other steps would you recommend I try to get Schwab downloading properly?

Quicken Kristina

Hello @TMMac,

Thank you for letting us know you're encountering this issue. If your accounts are downloading with her credentials, is there a chance you accidentally connected them under her credentials? If these are shared accounts, they may show up on the Add/Link screen even when you are connecting using her credentials rather than yours.

To troubleshoot this, please backup your Quicken file and deactivate all accounts with Schwab. Go to Tools>Add Account and follow the prompts. When you get to the Add/Link screen, carefully link the accounts to the correct nickname in Quicken. If there are any shared accounts that show up under both user IDs, please make sure that you are linking them only under the user ID of the primary account holder. If they show up under the other user ID, please make sure they are showing "Don't add to Quicken" in the Action column.

Follow this process for both user IDs, then test to see if the issue is resolved.

Please let me know how it goes!

TMMac

Coming back to this thread. It took multiple times to connect the various Schwab accounts to each username. There seems to be some sort of bug or glitch when Schwab provides the list of accounts to connect. The glitch being that Schwab doesn't show all the accounts and/or the account shows but the "Action" drop down doesn't allow the user to use the down arrow to pick an action such as, "link to exsisting account".

This creates multiple times a user needs to link their accounts

Another issue that causes problems is that a 401K account tries to use the Express Web Connect+ and that way of downloading from Schwab has not worked so far. Schwab's retirement services website suggest using Direct Connect.

Not sure why the 401K accounts are not updating - who would Express Web Connect+ not download transaction but Direct Connect would?

When should Schwab users use Direct Connect vs Web Connect+?

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for your reply,

If you have retirement accounts through Schwab that can connect using the Schwab Retirement Plan Services Connection option in Quicken, then you would want to use Direct Connect. If you have your 401K connected using Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., then you would want to backup your file, deactivate that account, then go to Tools>Add Account, and use the Schwab Retirement Plan Services option to reconnect the account. It looks like it defaults to Direct Connect, but if you want to make certain, click the Advanced Options link.

Click the Continue button on the information window, then make sure Direct Connect is selected and follow the prompts.

Once on the Add/Link screen, make sure to carefully link the account to the correct nickname in Quicken. If other Schwab accounts show up in that screen that you don't want to switch over, then make sure the Action shows Don't add to Quicken.

Performance differences between Express Web Connect+ and Direct Connect can be caused by multiple factors. Because of that, it's hard to say what specifically would cause the problem you are seeing without doing more troubleshooting. It is possible that it's due to the data quality sent by the financial institution, or due to the financial information making less information about retirement accounts available via Express Web Connect+. It may also be a file specific issue. If the issue is file specific, then the issue with transactions not downloading would likely persist after you change to Direct Connect.

Please let me know how it goes!

TMMac

Following up again with no luck. I used Schwab Retirement Services > Advance Options > Direct Connect. Schwab then shows me 2 accounts with account numbers but 401k accounts at Schwab do not have numbers - it's based on your social security number so I have no idea which accounts should be linked to existing Quicken accounts.

I currently have 2 401K accounts - one is my current employer and the other is from my prior employer. In addition both those 401Ks have PCRA accounts associated with the 401K. It's not clear to me what Schwab Retirement Services is showing me in terms of accounts.

I did try to add the 2 accounts that are coming up as new accounts but so far I just get the blue circle rotating with the message "adding your accounts at Schwab Retirement Plan Services".

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for the follow-up,

Does Schwab give you the option to assign nicknames to your accounts? If so, that may be a way to bypass the issue with not being able to tell which account is which on the Add/Link screen in Quicken.

How long did you wait for Quicken to add your accounts as new? Sometimes, it can take a while, especially if there is a lot of data. If you did end up terminating the program using a tool like Task Manager, were the accounts successfully connected once you re-opened the file?

Thank you!

TMMac

I waited at least 30 minutes. I tried again a few minutes ago to link my 2 401K accounts. The Quicken Add Account window still shows 2 accounts with account names of 401(k) xx####. I am not typing in the numbers but the 2 accounts have xx and then 4 random numbers. The account type for both accounts is Brokerage. The nickname is the same as the account. The Action says "Don't Add to Quicken". So now I can't even add the accounts unlike the other day when I had a blue rotating circle for 30 minutes+. Also noticed that Schwab says this about Quicken…. seems to be incorrect since I use special characters. How do I get Quicken to add an account vs "Don't Add to Quicken".

I'm doing all this on Schwab Retirement Plan Services and and using Direct Connect.

Notice for Quicken Users

When establishing or changing your password, keep in mind that Quicken supports passwords that include letters and numbers. Passwords that contain special characters are not currently supported by Quicken.

Quicken Anja

Hello @TMMac,

We appreciate you bringing this issue to our attention!

I have sent you a direct message, please navigate to the inbox in the top right-hand corner of the Community page and check your inbox.

Thank you!