Can I default my imported transactions to "Add Shares"?

My wife's 401(k) is with a company that doesn't support direct connection, so I have to download a QFX file, then import it into Quicken.

As people have mentioned on other threads, the import marks all the transactions as "Buy", and Quicken adds a massive negative cash balance to the total to offset the added shares, so the displayed 401(k) balance is off by thousands.

All I want to do is set all imported transactions to "Add Shares" to avoid the negative cash total, because never again do I want to have to do this manually for 217 individual transactions (which I just finished).

So, is there any way to achieve this?

Best Answer

Answers

  • UKR
    UKR SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    No, I'm sorry, I don't think you can do that.
    If you're worried about the "massive negative cash balance" ... think about where the money for your 401(k) purchases comes from: your paycheck.
    To offset the cost of the Buy transactions, you need to set up the retirement deduction of your paychecks as a transfer into the 401(k). If all your paycheck deductions are properly transferred into the 401(k) and all your Buy transactions are correctly recorded, the cash balance in your 401(k) should zero out.
  • joegood666
    joegood666 Member ✭✭
    So, what you say is true, but...
    ...I find no way to tell Quicken, "Oh, by the way, when you notice my wife's paycheck coming in, there's actually an additional $xxxx from her 401(k) contribution, so add it and transfer it to her 401(k)," so it would be another manual process on a per-paycheck basis.

    Your method is definitely an improvement, but still involves manual adjustments on every paycheck. I'm hoping to find something to automate to the process beyond, "Tell your wife's 401(k) firm to get on the ball and integrate with Quicken."

    My web-based downloads with my investment firm have no such issues.
  • joegood666
    joegood666 Member ✭✭
    edited September 2019
    I'll give it a shot.
  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    Sure, you need to edit the recurring transaction when there’s any change to your pay, but that takes just a few seconds.

    Even if you had no 401(k), this is how you’d record your pay in Quicken, and you’d likely have something change in your deductions over the course of the year that you’d need to edit.
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
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