Why would I want to "see" or Include my transfers in the Spending Plan?

Max1223

I know that QS defaults transfers to "Excluded in Spending Plan" which makes sense to me. This results in this line being zero dollars.

When it is checked, I guess a benefit is being able to see the grayed out Transfer transactions in once place. But since the amount is always zero, I never really expand that arrow/section.

So, what is the benefit of unchecking the Exclude box? Just trying to understand the Feature. Thanks in advance for any insight on this.

https://support.simplifi.quicken.com/en/articles/5142302-how-credit-card-payments-and-transfers-are-handled-in-the-spending-plan

RobWilk

Sometimes, people like me may make a financed transaction (like say, a mattress, financed for 12 months at 0% financing, or a car radio, about $950 also 12-18 months at 0% financing), and I might, for spending plan purposes, prefer to HIDE (exclude) the original transaction from the spending plan (because it would be a big hit to one month's plan) and instead UNHIDE the payment side of each payment transfer. So if i transferred $100 payment to my best buy card, I might want to count that as spending on the spending plan instead of the original purchase - so it still counts as having been spent, but over time.

There are other reasons too, but this was a simple example.

Max1223

Great example @RobWilk

In that example, then do I need to "unhide" the $100 each month since QS defaults as "hide"?

RobWilk

@Max1223 Yes, but if it were a recurring transaction, you could set it in the recurring transaction settings.

You kind of have to scroll down within the recurring transaction window to see the option, as in here on bottom right:

You only see the money in/money out options if the recurring transaction is set up as a linked transfer (category is account to transfer to).

RobWilk

I want to throw in, since this example is a recurring reminder, for those of us who like to enter transactions before they download, it would be helpful if this was there:

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/1894/ability-to-create-a-transaction-from-a-reminder-edited

This way all the recurring settings, like hide money out, would be preserved when it was entered.

DannyB

Another way to determine if you want a transfer to be included in the Spending Plan is how that transaction affects your net worth.

Transfers to savings, investment accounts or paying off a credit card payment don't affect your net worth whereas incurring and paying off a debt does affect net worth.

In Robs example, he incurred a debt with the purchase of the mattress on his credit card impacted his net worth. He could offset the net worth issue somewhat by adding an asset account for the mattress that reflects the value of the mattress which will put him back to the net worth he had before the purchase shifting some of the net worth from cash to property. However, as he pays down the debt his net worth will increase as the value of the asset remains (not taking into account depreciation of the asset in this case) but the debt decreases.

Another example are the transfers I make to my grandchildren's custodial accounts. I include these transfers in my Spending Plan since once made, my net worth decreases, and my grandchildren's net worth increase. One the other hand, the transfer to my personal "mirror" account doesn't affect my net worth since that money remains in my ownership and is merely a shift of assets form a cash account to an investment account.