401k transaction troubles

When I "Update Now" my 401k account, the new transactions are posted. Every
2 weeks when I am purchasing mutual funds, the transaction turns into a "buy"
in Money and reads it as a "Cash Transaction". This in turn subtracts the
total in my account in Money and so my account total is always incorrect
(undervalued). It appears what is is doing is reading the transaction as if
I took money out of my retirement account to buy funds instead of adding the
newly purchased shares to my running total. Is anyone else experiencing this
problem? Hopefully what I described makes sense! Thanx for any suggestions
or help!

But you did take money out of your retirement account to buy the
investments.

See http://umpmfaq.info/faqdb.php?q=14 and see if it sounds like it might
describe your condition.

"whitejojie" <whitejojie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:FC08A1EE-B758-4D6A-ACE3-EA95B9C7F7C3@microsoft.com...
> When I "Update Now" my 401k account, the new transactions are posted.
> Every
> 2 weeks when I am purchasing mutual funds, the transaction turns into a
> "buy"
> in Money and reads it as a "Cash Transaction". This in turn subtracts the
> total in my account in Money and so my account total is always incorrect
> (undervalued). It appears what is is doing is reading the transaction as
> if
> I took money out of my retirement account to buy funds instead of adding
> the
> newly purchased shares to my running total. Is anyone else experiencing
> this
> problem? Hopefully what I described makes sense! Thanx for any
> suggestions
> or help!

I'm sorry for the confusion--my employer took the money out of my paycheck
and it went into my 401k. From there it was used to buy mutual funds so I
technically didn't add money to my 401k but add mutual fund shares to it. I
think Money is reading this what your post is describing---that I am using
money from my 401k to buy shares. Thanx for your post and your
time--hopefully you can help me get to the bottom of this!

"Dick Watson" wrote:

> But you did take money out of your retirement account to buy the
> investments.
>
> See http://umpmfaq.info/faqdb.php?q=14 and see if it sounds like it might
> describe your condition.
>
> "whitejojie" <whitejojie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:FC08A1EE-B758-4D6A-ACE3-EA95B9C7F7C3@microsoft.com...
> > When I "Update Now" my 401k account, the new transactions are posted.
> > Every
> > 2 weeks when I am purchasing mutual funds, the transaction turns into a
> > "buy"
> > in Money and reads it as a "Cash Transaction". This in turn subtracts the
> > total in my account in Money and so my account total is always incorrect
> > (undervalued). It appears what is is doing is reading the transaction as
> > if
> > I took money out of my retirement account to buy funds instead of adding
> > the
> > newly purchased shares to my running total. Is anyone else experiencing
> > this
> > problem? Hopefully what I described makes sense! Thanx for any
> > suggestions
> > or help!
>
>
>

Yup. What is considered "best practice" is to account for the deduction from
your paycheck with a Transfer:[name of 401k account cash portion] from the
gross portion of your Paycheck entered using the Paycheck transaction type.
This accounts for the cash getting into the 401k that, then, is used to buy
the investments. See the aforementioned FAQ for more info.

Are you using Money 2004 or earlier or M05/6/7/Plus with Advanced Register
and not M07/Plus Essentials (MEss/M+Ess)?

"whitejojie" <whitejojie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:096B3822-ED4B-4CFB-8AA5-0CF328D79DD1@microsoft.com...
> I'm sorry for the confusion--my employer took the money out of my paycheck
> and it went into my 401k. From there it was used to buy mutual funds so I
> technically didn't add money to my 401k but add mutual fund shares to it.
> I
> think Money is reading this what your post is describing---that I am using
> money from my 401k to buy shares. Thanx for your post and your
> time--hopefully you can help me get to the bottom of this!
>
> "Dick Watson" wrote:
>
>> But you did take money out of your retirement account to buy the
>> investments.
>>
>> See http://umpmfaq.info/faqdb.php?q=14 and see if it sounds like it might
>> describe your condition.

"whitejojie" <whitejojie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:096B3822-ED4B-4CFB-8AA5-0CF328D79DD1@microsoft.com...
> I'm sorry for the confusion--my employer took the money out of my paycheck
> and it went into my 401k. From there it was used to buy mutual funds so I
> technically didn't add money to my 401k but add mutual fund shares to it.
> I
> think Money is reading this what your post is describing---that I am using
> money from my 401k to buy shares. Thanx for your post and your
> time--hopefully you can help me get to the bottom of this!
>
The way I do it is this:

At each paycheck, the gross pay is split into two portions. One portion is
the gross pay that I'm "using" right now and the other portion is the amount
going into 401K.

The amount going into 401K goes into the 401K "contributions" account.
Let's say the 401K is held at Merril Lynch. Then the paycheck 401K money
goes into "Mark's M-L 401K (contributions)". Also in my Bills and Deposit
is another regular entry, the amount my employer pots in to match. That is
another regular deposit into the "Mark's M-L 401K (contributions)".

Then when the investment shares are purchased, the money to do that
purchasing comes out of the "Mark's M-L 401K (contributions)" account and
the shares are held in the "Mark's M-L 401K" account.

So later, if I want to reblanace the portfolio, the shares of (for example)
mutual fund "A" are sold and the money goes into the "Mark's M-L 401K
(contributions)" account as a sell. The same day a buy is made for mutual
fund "B".

So you will always have that contributions account just as a place to hold
the money temporarily. In the case of the paycheck the money goes in on say
a Friday, but perhaps the employer matching amount does not go in until a
few days later (let's say the following Tuesday). But, the shares are
purchased when both contributions are then in the account.

Hope this helps.

Mark