Don't have a position in the Destination Account

Things seem to be much easier before upgrading to Quicken 2008. I think I like my 2006 version better. Anyway, I've created a new account which is a Single Mutual Fund. It will have a monthly deposit done and set up to transfer the amount from our checking account. So I'm doing the first transaction and getting the following error:

"Cannot record transfer. You do not have a position in the destination account."

What does this mean? It should be no different from the other MF Accounts that are set up the same way. Thanks for your help.

Reply to
JCO
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Sorry to tell you this, but a Single Mutual Fund account in Quicken is very much different than any "other MF Accounts". [If you have previously established Quicken SMF accounts, it is likely you forgot how you set them up.]

You must tell Quicken what security you intend to own in that SMF account before you can transfer funds to the account. A "transfer" of funds to an SMF account will not create cash in the account; it will (is intended to) create a "BuyX" in the SMF account. That BuyX can not occur until Quicken knows what specific security to "buy".

You can tell Quicken what security to hold in the SMF account when you establish it, even if you tell Quicken you own no shares in the security. Or you can enter a BuyX in the SMF account before you ever attempt to enter a transfer into the SMF account. Your choice.

Reply to
John Pollard

I sent a reply to this yesterday, but it does not seem to have gotten there: I'll try again.

A Single Mutual Fund account in Quicken is very much different than any "other MF Accounts". [If you have previously established Quicken SMF accounts, it is likely you forgot how you set them up.]

You must tell Quicken what security you intend to own in that SMF account before you can transfer funds to the account. A "transfer" of funds to an SMF account will not create cash in the account; it will (is intended to) create a "BuyX" in the SMF account. That BuyX can not occur until Quicken knows what specific security to "buy".

You must tell Quicken what security to hold in the SMF account when you establish it, but Quicken will allow you to say you own no shares of that security in the account ... and if you do that, you will have "no position" in the account.

Assuming you created the account with zero shares of the single security, just make your first transaction a BuyX in the SMF account: that will establish a position in the account. From that point on, you can intiate the "transfers" from any Quicken account.

Reply to
John Pollard

So I must of created the wrong type of account.... right? I own this mutual fund and want to transfer money to this Mutual fund once every month. I thought that is what a SMF is. I must be wrong?

Reply to
JCO

Read my other reply ... carefully.

You didn't necessarily create the wrong type of account (personally, I have never found a use for SMF accounts, but that's me); you just (apparently) didn't understand all the requirements that needed to be met before you could transfer money to the account.

Reply to
John Pollard

Then what, in your opinion, is the account that you would of used for my situation. I opened a Mutual fund already. This is a Mutual Fund that I will make monthly deposit into as an investment. It will be set up for automatic draft.

I opened an account with T.Rowe Price and the fund name is Health & Science (ticker is PRSHX). The only thing I will be doing is monthly deposits until .... one day ... . the fund is cashed out (hopefully a long time).

Reply to
JCO

Reply to
JCO

As far as the Quicken mechanics of it, I would have created an account in Quicken called "T.Rowe Price Brokerage". I would then have deposited cash into the account, as your automatic draft is doing, and bought shares of PRSHX within that account. That would leave flexibility for when you decide to have some other mutual funds within that brokerage account.

That is how I did it with our Wachovia Brokerage account. We have several mutual funds in that account, along with stocks, Money Market, and CD's. It is also how I did it with my Vanguard IRA Account which now holds shares in 10 different mutual funds. Together, they provide a great deal of diversity. That protects against a major downturn in any one sector or geography.

I don't know anything about PRSHX, but one sector specific mutual fund is probably not going to provide an appropriate asset allocation for all of your investing for a lifetime. You might want to look at

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. They discuss long term investment planning and asset allocation. There are some very knowledgeable people there, and they are willing to give advice on asset allocation, and general investing.

-- Jim

Reply to
JimH

I don't see why that would matter; you don't need to do that, and you probably shouldn't. There are a couple of features that want to know when a security is really a mutual fund (like Morningstar ratings).

If you enter one BuyX in the investment account for the mutual fund, you should be able to transfer into the account from a non-investment account after that.

The way I would do it is the way that JimH suggested.

Reply to
John Pollard

Are you saying... to create two accounts 1. Cash Account ... this is where my monthly automatic monthly drafts go too. 2. Create the Mutual Fund Account Then each month, do a BuyX into the Mutual Fund from the Cash Account. Also, this Cash Account can be used for multiple Mutual Fund Investments or other Investments.

If this is correct, I'm not sure what the advantages are of having the Cash Account vs the transferees coming straight out of my Checking Account (which I consider to be a cash account).

I might not be understanding the process correctly. Forgive me for being such a pest.

Reply to
JCO

No. The mutual fund is NOT an account. It is an investment held in your T. Rowe Price investment account. Think of it this way... You open an account at a brokerage. You buy and sell investments. When you sell off an investment, you still have the account, and you can buy other investments in that account. A mutual fund isn't like an account at all. It is one investment within an account. You can't buy and sell an account, only an investment.

Create one investment account "T. Rowe Price Brokerage". That can hold cash, mutual funds, individual stocks, or any other investments. Transfer cash into the T. Row Price account. The cash should come from some other account, perhaps your checking account or your pay check. It should reflect what is really happening. That transfer will create a cash balance within the brokerage account. Use buy transactions within the account to buy the shares of your mutual fund. That will reduce the cash in the account.

That is how it works in the real world. When you set up Quicken to mirror real world activity, it works much better, and provides the flexibility that is inevitably needed in investing.

The way you are doing it is exactly how I did it at first. Then, I owned the same mutual fund in two different accounts. That was when I had to figure out how it really worked. Believe me, once you get this part straightened out in your mind, it all becomes much easier.

-- Jim

Reply to
JimH

JimH wrote in news:3wBYj.4364$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe09.phx:

I don't like the single mutual fund acct either, but in the case of T Rowe Price, you can only download transactions from a single mutual fund, tied to the account number which is different for each fund you own at TRP. So I use my TRP Prime Reserve since it pays a div every month (reinvested). The other ones generally only pay semi-annually or anually, and I don't do that much in the way of buy / sells. That way even though they are all accounted for in a single TRP Quicken acct it works, except that Quicken complains that my account balances are wrong.

scott s. .

Reply to
scott s.

Even if a user needs a single Quicken account for each mutual fund owned at certain financial institutions; there is still no need to use a Single Mutual Fund account for the purpose. A regular Quicken brokerage account can hold only one security, if necessary: you can have as many Quicken brokerage accounts as you have mutual funds, one account for each fund. Without the restrictions of the SMF account.

Reply to
John Pollard

I guess my problem that started many years ago.... I create a new account for each new investment (mutual funds and so forth). I can't clean that mess up. All I can do is try not to make it worse. I will study these comments and see If I can the correct concept to work. I don't know why I find this stuff confusing but it is. To make it worse.... My family is 100% on Quickens. I don't just monitor stocks. I'm talking several Savings and Several Checking accounts along with Mortgage accounts that go back 3- homes ago (since you should never delete an account). So everything is on Quicken... all grocery and gas expenses. Seems like I was doing the right thing but obviously my investments into 10-15 Mutual funds are done wrong. So investments have been cashed out but like I said... I don't delete accounts once they have been created.

Thanks... and I will let you know how it goes. May be a few weeks before I really get into it.

Reply to
JCO

Okay, I played with Quicken and understand. All that you said makes perfect sense now. It also makes sense after realizing that the previous versions of Quicken had a bug in the software which is why I was able to do some of the things that I've done. In-fact, all of my Accounts prior to switching to 2008 work the old way while only the new account works the new way. I have an American Century Account that holds my Ultra. My transactions each month go directly from checking to the account with a "BoughtX". It does not transfer into cash, and force you to make a separate transaction with a BoughtX.

But that is okay. The 2008 versi>> Are you saying... to create two accounts

Reply to
JCO

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