Subtract Recurring Investment Transfers from my Spending Plan amount (edited)

davecave

I have several recurring transfers each month from my checking account into investment accounts, like Roth IRA and 529. I can't figure out how to subtract these transactions from my available spending amount in my spending plan. My spending plan is actually incorrect and is inflated by several hundred dollars because the transactions are not accounted for.

Coach Nicole

Hi @davecave -- Based on your description, the best options would be to either create a recurring transaction for the monthly transfers so they are included in the Spending Plan's Bills and Income or by manually adjusting the Bills and Income amount in the Spending Plan.

If you'd like to create a recurring transaction, you can do so by following these steps:

1. Hover over the menu on the left and click Settings.
2. Select Recurring.
3. Click the + Add button.
4. Select the transaction you wish to make Recurring.
5. Click Create.

If you'd like to manually update the Spending Plan's Bill and Income total, you can do so by following these steps:

1. Hover over the menu on the left and click Spending Plan.
2. Click the three dots to the right of the Bills and Income amount.
3. Select Set custom bills and subscriptions amount.

I hope this helps! Thanks--Coach Nicole

bcrossman

@davecave this has long been a source of frustration for me too -- see these posts:
https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/246/recurring-transfers-to-investment-accounts#latest
https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/426/spending-plan-should-include-recurring-savings-transfers#latest

Simplifi does not allow transactions to be set as recurring transfers to specific investment accounts. Interestingly, in the app, I can change the the transfer details to select the investment account to which the money is being transferred, but the web version does not give me that option. But if I make that change in the app, it creates an unnecessary matched transaction. Deleting the match transaction reverts the original transfer to "Unategorized." For the first time today, I've noted that the web version no longer lets me edit the details of a recurring transfer to an investment account (like the date) because the "transaction contains a transfer to an account that does not support transactions." ¯_(ツ)_/¯

It's all very clunky and I'm not sure why it's so complicated, but it has been a problem for months.

mjodotcom

@Coach Nicole Re-occuring transactions seem to be broken though - after I try to set them up it moves over to "bills".

I would like something similar, but for a different reason. There are plenty of bills that come in at a low frequency such as credit card annual fees, car insurance, etc. I save $X a month and set it aside to cover these expenses, and would like it reflected in the spending plan as money that isn't available (since the bill will be coming due at some point). Doesn't seem like there is a slick way to do this besides setting up a manual bill and re-marking the transaction against that bill. Then, once the bills do come I just delete them from the spending report. Seems clunkier than it should be.

bcrossman

@bcrossman said:
Interestingly, in the app, I can change the the transfer details to select the investment account to which the money is being transferred, but the web version does not give me that option.

I just noticed this no longer works in the app, either. My investment accounts do not appear as accounts to which I can categorize a transfer like they did as recently as last month.

I like the first suggestion from @Coach Nicole, above, but as @mjodotcom points out, recurring transfers don't work properly. The "Advanced" options for a recurring transaction only allow bills and subscriptions, not transfers. A recurring transaction can be categorized as a "Transfer" but not as a transfer to a specific investment account, which is really what seems to be missing.

Perhaps with the updates to investments and hopefully the inclusion of investment transactions, this will be fixed. In the meantime, I'd love to hear any ideas other have.

SimplyB33

I still have the same frustrations as above. Any other workarounds? 
Update: Found a more recent thread. Looks like this is in the works - https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/246/recurring-transfers-to-investment-accounts

TCrimm

The link above from SimplyB33 is now a closed thread, even though the last entry, from a "retired coach," says they would keep it updated, after these ideas are shared from Dev. The explanation there makes sense, as Simplifi currently only uses Web connect (one-way sync from accounts to Simplifi). Seems like both transfers out of banking accounts, and the deposits into the brokerage accounts (like 529 plans) will have to both be categorized as "Transfers" for now.

Coach Natalie

Hello All,

Great news — you can now include Recurring Transfers to your Investment Accounts in the Spending Plan with the addition of the "Transfers" bucket!

-Coach Natalie