Retirement tax basis

[johnkirin]

Mark,

Can you think of a good way to keep track of IRA tax bases (that is, after-tax IRA contributions)?

[Mark]

Hi johnkirin,

A couple of ideas:

1) Create separate investments in the sub-portfolio for pre/post tax contributions. Even if you buy the same fund/security, separate them by type of contribution.

or

2) Put a specific comment in the memo section of transactions so you can filter them out in an Investment Transaction report.

[johnkirin]

Also, when liquidating a position in one portfolio, and sending cash to another, what is the best sequence of transactions to record?

-Would it be to record a sale, resulting in cash, in the first portfolio, followed by a withdrawal, then recording a brand-new deposit in the default cash account of the second portfolio (followed by a purchase of any securities in the second account)?

-OR would some sort of transfer be involved (Transfer-In and Transfer-Out, or Transfer Between)?

And is there any difference between a Transfer-In with plus a Transfer-Out (on the one hand) and a Transfer-Between (on the other), at least , once the transactions have been recorded? Would the Transfer-Out/Transfer-In be somehow permanently linked. for example (as automatically-recorded default cash transactions are)?

In the "real world", I'm rolling over a small 401(k) into an existing IRA. That's what I'm trying to knit together.

[Mark]

Hi johnkirin,

-Would it be to record a sale, resulting in cash, in the first portfolio, followed by a withdrawal, then recording a brand-new deposit in the default cash account of the second portfolio (followed by a purchase of any securities in the second account)?

Yes, this is a good way to do it. Especially if you are really selling one thing, and buying something new. If you're just rolling over a 401K into an IRA and are keeping the same investments (not selling/buying), you can just move the investment files.