BTW, how good is it at handling wash sales?
That's a very good question. Since I've never conducted a wash sale (re-purchasing shares in a security less than 30 days after selling shares in that very same security, thus negating any previously "claimable" losses I may have had against gains), I'm not sure how Quicken would "handle" such an event......if at all (such as warning you of an impending "wash" sale if you proceed with such a transaction).
One thing that Quicken does do well is "handle" tax lots. Every single purchase you record (including commissions) is a separate and distinct tax lot in Quicken, and Quicken keeps track of every single one of them. Then, when you want to sell some of a particular security, you can select which shares you want to sell from a list of tax lots on a very easily understood display screen. You can also select a "Minimum Gain", "Maximum Gain", "FIFO" and "LIFO" button and Quicken will select those shares that meet the criteria selected.
If you have all of your records plus the patience to do so, you can go back and load all of your transactions in Quicken no matter how old they are because Quicken doesn't care! At the very least, you should load every single security (including commissions) or mutual fund purchase PLUS any re-invested dividends or capital gains distributions from mutual funds. This will enable Quicken to precisely calculate your cost basis for each tax lot or for all shares of a particular security and your gains (losses) whenever some or all of those shares are sold.
After your transactions have been loaded......you can, for example, create a ST vs. LT gain report and Quicken will segregate ST, LT and SUPER LT transactions (for shares held more than 5 years) and show the security name, number of shares, purchase date, sale date, cost basis, and gain (loss) for each "set" of shares sold in a very easily understood format.
Another thing Quicken does very well is handle dividends, interest, and capital gains distributions (both short and long term) from mutual funds. All such transactions are recorded vs. the source of the income (such as a $94.00 dividend from General Electric.......or an interest payment on a money market from your local bank). There is even a separate category for "treasury" interest on Series EE U.S. Savings bonds vs. ordinary interest from, say, a money market. You can even link certain types of transactions to "tax categories" (such as Schedule B dividend income or Schedule D capital gains (losses)) within Quicken for later use in conjunction with TurboTax.
Speaking of TurboTax....... let's say that you incur $86,000 in investment losses in CY 2001 vs. short term or long term (capital) gains of only $36,000. When you transfer this information to TurboTax, TurboTax is smart enough to know that you can only use the $86,000 loss to the extent of offsetting the $36,000 gain with $36,000 in losses plus another $3,000 reduction against your adjusted gross income. What happens to the other $47,000? TurboTax will automatically create a $47,000 capital loss carry forward for you on the correct federal form which you can then use as a "baseline" for next year's filing when TurboTax looks at this year's file for next year's return.
Besides investments, I've faithfully loaded every single cent I've earned and spent (by easy user-created category) since December of 1992 and can instantly determine income and expenses (by category) for any time frame I want (years or days) since Dec. 1992. Some are not nearly as interested in such detail as I but it's not really that difficult to keep up with, requiring only a few minutes per day with no inputs required on many days. I simply like knowing the details of my investments as well as knowing exactly where my money is going. Once again, for those that itemize their deductions, you can link any category you create with a "tax category" in Quicken (such as Schedule A doctor fees, or Schedule A real estate taxes or Schedule A personal property taxes).
I could go on and on...can you tell that I like Quicken? LOL!
Dave |
