Very Computer

The surplus funds in my account at Fidelity are invested in Fidelity Muni Mm
Trust, a mutual fund that pays tax-exempt dividends (oops,
OtherIncome:Tax-ExemptDividends, since tax-exempt dividends are impossible).

Actually, whether they are taxable or not, I've got the same problem.

Fidelity's online system seems to consider that I own "shares" in the
Fidelity Muni Mm Trust, and I do, except that I thought it would be more
convenient to treat these as Cash Transactions, just like I do in my other
investment account.  That is, rather than treating them like Investments
with Dividends, I just have a monthly "InvestmentIncome:Dividends"
transaction to add my earnings for the month.

How do people represent the funds they have in cash mutual funds?  As cash,
or mutual funds?  If you treat them as Cash, does this mean that you always
have to "correct" downloaded transactions so that they are Cash transactions
instead of Investment transactions?

Thanks!

--
Charles Gust
// To abolish HUNGER and POVERTY, email me - and vice versa.

Quote:>How do people represent the funds they have in cash mutual funds?  As cash,
>or mutual funds?  If you treat them as Cash, does this mean that you always
>have to "correct" downloaded transactions so that they are Cash transactions
>instead of Investment transactions?

Quote:> How do people represent the funds they have in cash mutual funds?  As
cash,
> or mutual funds?  If you treat them as Cash, does this mean that you
always
> have to "correct" downloaded transactions so that they are Cash
transactions
> instead of Investment transactions?

However, since you're downloading Fidelity transactions, they treat it as a
regular fund, as they should.  So you'll get buys and sells just like any
other fund, which will put the current value of your cash holdings in the
investment side of the account, rather than the cash side.  That means the
cash side of the Money account value will usually be zero, except for the
brief time as cash moves in and out of the cash fund.

To me it sounds easier to just do it the way Fidelity does, rather than
having to perpetually change all the downloaded transactions.  I'd stick
with treating the cash fund as just another investment.

Bruce.

Thanks for the advice, Cal!

I should have added that the reason that this came up is that the Lifetime
Planner "Improving Your Plan" says "Fill in missing information" and that
this investment has zero cost basis.  If you treat these as they were
downloaded - as an investment with dividend investment transactions - how do
you keep the cost basis up to date in the Lifetime Planner?  The downloaded
dividends go to the Cash account, and they don't download "buys" of the
mutual fund for each dividend, even though conceptually that sweep is
occuring.

In fact, a "buy" transaction has never been downloaded in their statement,
even when I transfer money into this account.

--
Charles Gust
// To abolish HUNGER and POVERTY, email me - and vice versa.

I think the problem is that Fidelity treats it MOSTLY like a regular fund.
They download a single dividend transaction when they pay, and not the
corresponding "buy" that's really there behind the curtain to accomplish the
sweep.  Also, when I transfer money into the account, I'm pretty sure it
gets downloaded as a Cash transaction, without the buy that really there.

I'm beginning to believe I'm simply going to have to do some "correction" of
the download, regardless of which particular way I decide to do it.  I wish
I knew the consequences - down the road - of my selection.  Does anybody
know the difference?

My experience with Money to date is that some day I'll wish I did it the
other way when I make an arbitrary choice, or choose something close but not
exact.  So, I guess I'll hold onto my programmable keyboard...

--
Charles Gust
// To abolish HUNGER and POVERTY, email me - and vice versa.

Quote:

>Thanks for the advice, Cal!

>I should have added that the reason that this came up is that the Lifetime
>Planner "Improving Your Plan" says "Fill in missing information" and that
>this investment has zero cost basis.  If you treat these as they were
>downloaded - as an investment with dividend investment transactions - how do
>you keep the cost basis up to date in the Lifetime Planner?  The downloaded
>dividends go to the Cash account, and they don't download "buys" of the
>mutual fund for each dividend, even though conceptually that sweep is
>occuring.

>In fact, a "buy" transaction has never been downloaded in their statement,
>even when I transfer money into this account.

Every month, my dividend is downloaded as:

Date: <whatever>
Investment: Fidelity Muni Mm Trust
Activity: Dividend
Transfer To: Fidelity (Cash)
Memo: DIVIDEND RECEIVED
Total: <whatever>

It's an investment transaction in my Fidelity account.  Because it has a
"Transfer To", the amount also shows up in Fidelity (Cash).

Just a side note, every month I do have to alter the Activity to change it
from "Dividend" to "OtherIncome:Tax-ExemptDividends" because Money does not
support tax-exempt dividends.  So, right now the transaction really is an
OtherIncome activity, but that's only because I changed it.

Hope this helps,

--
Charles Gust
// To abolish HUNGER and POVERTY, email me - and vice versa.

Quote:

>Every month, my dividend is downloaded as:

>Date: <whatever>
>Investment: Fidelity Muni Mm Trust
>Activity: Dividend
>Transfer To: Fidelity (Cash)
>Memo: DIVIDEND RECEIVED
>Total: <whatever>

>It's an investment transaction in my Fidelity account.  Because it has a
>"Transfer To", the amount also shows up in Fidelity (Cash).

>Just a side note, every month I do have to alter the Activity to change it
>from "Dividend" to "OtherIncome:Tax-ExemptDividends" because Money does not
>support tax-exempt dividends.  So, right now the transaction really is an
>OtherIncome activity, but that's only because I changed it.

I also wonder if M01 will allow tax-exempt dividends. Those fund
dividends are probably not totally tax exempt. If they include
private activity bonds, as they often do, you could pay AMT if you
are having a good year. Even if not, they cause you to be required
to fill in the AMT form even tho you would not have had to
otherwise. It should not increase your taxes, but it's not a
particularly easy form.

Quote:> I think the problem is that Fidelity treats it MOSTLY like a regular fund.
> They download a single dividend transaction when they pay, and not the
> corresponding "buy" that's really there behind the curtain to accomplish
the
> sweep.  Also, when I transfer money into the account, I'm pretty sure it
> gets downloaded as a Cash transaction, without the buy that really there.

Quote:> I'm beginning to believe I'm simply going to have to do some "correction"
of
> the download, regardless of which particular way I decide to do it.  I
wish
> I knew the consequences - down the road - of my selection.  Does anybody
> know the difference?

And then send Fidelity an email.  It helps to pass the time. :-(

Bruce.