I have a Merrill Lynch account and several B of A accounts. (If you do too, and haven't gotten the forced reauthorization yet, check whether your ML account is downloading through B of A. If it is, deactivate the ML account(s), do steps 2 to 6 below and avoid the problem later.)
Today B of A demanded reauthorization, so I did that, linking all B of A accounts to the existing ones. The ML account wasn't in the "Link to" list, so I left it alone.
This caused the ML account to switch to Simple Tracking Method. The buttons were grayed out, and when I tried to click one it said:
Don't panic. B of A might not support Complete Investing, but Merril Lynch does. You just need to get the ML account to go through Merril Lynch Investing.
Here's what worked for me:
- Back out to yesterday's version of qdata.qdf, or whatever recent backup you have. (If you don't have a usable backup, try Deactivating transaction download in all your B of A and ML accounts.)
- Edit the ML account(s). In the General tab clear the financial institution, account number and customer ID.
- Activate transaction download in an ML account.
- Select Merrill Lynch Investments as the financial institution.
- When B of A/ML offers the list of accounts, ONLY select the ML account(s).
- Go through the rest of the activation process. The ML account(s) should be reactivated.
- Continue using Quicken. When B of A demands reauthorization, go through the process but uncheck the ML account(s).
It might seem that just unlinking the ML account and reauthorizing it through Merrill Lynch Investments would work, but when I tried that, it remained in Simplified.
