51

General Discussion / Re: Mareket Value of Treasury Bills

« Last post by Peter Willms on November 27, 2018, 11:14:40 AM »

Hi Rich,

If you are tracking them as cash like, then yes. 

Record the purchase at the discounted price, when redeemed record the interest (difference between purchase price and maturity).

Hope this helps.

Peter Willms

52

General Discussion / Re: Mareket Value of Treasury Bills

« Last post by RichSen on November 21, 2018, 06:04:38 AM »

Hi Matt, do all treasury bills show under $1.00 maturity value without falt?

53

Support / IAM Program won't display after loading

« Last post by jlalli on November 14, 2018, 01:53:23 PM »

When opening the IAM3 program it demonstrates loading the accounts but won't finish to  open program on the screen. The screen goes right back to the desktop every time I try to open the program.

54

Transactions / Re: Downloading transactions from a .csv file

« Last post by Matt Willms on October 15, 2018, 02:05:34 PM »

Roy, wanted to followup on this question.  Our latest update of Investment Account Manager (now v3.1.4) includes the ability to import transaction data in a csv file. Users can now import a transaction file in csv format when creating a new portfolio, or for appending newer activity to an existing portfolio.

If you have add'l questions, please contact our technical support team directly: techsupport@investmentaccountmanager.com

Matt

55

General Discussion / Useful Websites for Investors

« Last post by Peter Willms on October 03, 2018, 09:44:57 AM »

Useful Websites for Investors

General Investor Information

American Association of Individual Investors – (www.aaii.com) AAII is a nonprofit organization that arms individual investors with the education and tools they need to build wealth. From stock investing to financial planning and retirement funding, AAII covers all your needs.

Chicago Board of Options Exchange (CBOE) – (www.cboe.com/default.aspx) The definitive source for options trading information and education.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – (www.sec.gov/investor.shtml) The mission of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) – (http://www.finra.org/Investors/ProtectYourself/index.htm) The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), is the largest non-governmental regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. All told, FINRA oversees nearly 5,000 brokerage firms, about 173,000 branch offices and approximately 659,000 registered securities representatives. Created in July 2007 through the consolidation of NASD and the member regulation, enforcement and arbitration functions of the New York Stock Exchange, FINRA is dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation and complementary compliance and technology-based services.

Securities and Exchange Commission Company Lookup (EDGAR) – (https://www.sec.gov/edgar/) provided by SEC which includes the EDGAR of disclosure documents that public companies are required to file with the Commission.

NYSE Euronext – (http://www.nyse.com/attachment/amex_landing.htm) NYSE Euronext (NYX), the world's leading and most diverse exchange group, completed its acquisition of the American Stock Exchange® (Amex®), becoming the third-largest U.S. options marketplace and enhancing the company's leadership in ETFs, cash equities, closed-end funds and structured products.

Yahoo! Finance – (http://finance.yahoo.com) Favorite website providing full-featured investment education and valuable investor resources.

Google Finance – (https://www.google.com/finance) Favorite website providing full-featured investment education and valuable investor resources.

Investopedia – (https://www.investopedia.com/) Investopedia helps you understand complex financial concepts, improve your investing skills, and learn how to manage your money. Whether you’re in a classroom, a boardroom or your living room, our editors and network of financial advisors and experts have answered your questions and proudly earned your trust since 1999.

Three useful website for bond investors: www.investinginbonds.com, www.bondsonline.com, and  www.emma.msrb.org.

The White House - (http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/) The White House of the United States of America.

Leading Economic Indicators

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED) – (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/) This site offers a wealth of economic data and information to promote economic education and enhance economic research. The widely used database FRED is updated regularly and allows 24/7 access to regional and national financial and economic data.

Economic events calendar – (http://www.census.gov/epcd/econ/www/indijun.htm) U.S. Census Bureau calendar of economic indicator statistics release dates.

Consumer confidence – (www.conferenceboard.org) measures how consumers feel about their personal economic situation, and their expectations for the future.

Consumer price index – (www.bls.gov) Department of Labor – Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Consumer Price Indexes (CPI) program produces monthly data on changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services.

Crude oil prices – (www.bloomberg.com/energy) Changes in crude oil prices affects consumer spending.  Higher prices in effect add an “oil tax” on consumer budgets.

Currency – (http://finance.yahoo.com/currency-investing) A rising or falling U.S. dollar impacts exports. As the dollar declines, it is cheaper for foreigners to buy U.S. goods and services, helping multinational companies.  A falling dollar may lower foreign demand for U.S. securities.   

Durable Goods – (http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/briefroom/BriefRm) Orders for hard goods (self-life of at least 3 years). 

Employment report – (www.dol.gov) The United States Department of Labor’s official website.

Interest rates – (www.federalreserve.gov)  When the Fed cutes rates, it is attempting to stimulate the economy.  When it raises rates, it is applying the “breaks”.  Bond prices usually fall when interest rates rise.

Housing starts – (www.commerce.gov) The U.S. Department of Commerce.

Producer price index – (www.bls.gov) The Producer Price Index (PPI) program measures the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their output. The prices included in the PPI are from the first commercial transaction for many products and some services.

Retail sales – (www.census.gov/retail) Retail sales data are an excellent gauge of consumer confidence. Hint: When analyzing leading economic indicators, it is import to look beyond the immediate number and evaluate the change since the previous report as well as the direction of the change of the past several reports.  In other words, analyze the trend of the data.

Taxation

Internal Revenue Service – (http://www.irs.gov/) U.S. Department of the Treasury providing access to taxes forms, publications, and tax topics.

The Joint Committee on Taxation – (http://www.house.gov/jct/) The Joint Committee on Taxation is a nonpartisan committee of the United States Congress, originally established under the Revenue Act of 1926. The Joint Committee operates with an experienced professional staff of economists, attorneys, and accountants who assist Members of the majority and minority parties in both houses of Congress on tax legislation.

56

General Discussion / Tax Planning with Investment Account Manager

« Last post by Peter Willms on August 31, 2018, 08:46:08 AM »

One of the many benefits of using Investment Account Manager is its ability to utilize investment record keeping in a manner to be able to access the information to improve decision making. This ability is particularly useful when making tax conscience decisions. An example of this ability can be found in IAM's many useful tax planning and monitoring tools and reports.

Investors will find their portfolios consist of many different asset types, purchased over time, and therefore having different capital gain or losses sale consequences. Since capital gains are taxed in non-deferred accounts, albeit at a lower rate, the investor musts weigh the tax consequences of sales. If capital gains can be minimized, by offsetting realized gains with losses, then the capital gains tax is deferred, allowing the principal amount to grow.

Consider the following example. Investor A sells a stock with an original cost basis of $1000 for $2000, realizing a substantial gain. If the investor pays a federal tax rate of 15% on capital gains, the after-tax investable amount is $1,850. What growth rate is needed for the 1850 to grow to $3700 over 7 years? 10.4%. What growth rate is needed for $2000 to grow $3700 over 7 years? 9.2%. The point is that paying the tax any sooner than necessary reduces the amount of principal working for the investor. By smartly using lot-by-lot accounting when selling securities, investors attempt to offset gains and losses thereby deferring the capital gains tax.

Investment Account Manager provides lot assignment when making partial sales — either FIFO (First In First Out, Specific ID, Average Cost Method (for mutual funds and Canadian citizens), and Minimum or Maximum Gain.

Prior to selling a partial amount of a security, review IAM's Security Basis Report. This report will list, showing in a lot-by-lot view, each purchase you have made in the portfolio. With this information in hand, you can effectively specifically identify which lots to use in a partial sale.

Specific identification allows you to manage the amount of capital gains that will be recognized, thereby managing the capital gains tax that will be due: i.e., if trying to minimize realized gains, then select those lots having the highest cost basis. Note: you must notify the financial institution executing the trade as to which purchase lots to use if you choose the IRS Specific Identification Method.

As part of effective portfolio construction — taxable vs. tax deferred accounts, decisions are needed to choose which securities belong in which portfolios?

Since IAM provides for multiple portfolio management, it is the ideal tool for segregating your various accounts, while still allowing for the combination of any or all of your portfolios on the various reports. This is particularly useful when managing portfolios and planning to hold investments in the most tax preferred account.

For instance, it may be wise to hold stocks providing qualified dividends in your currently taxable account, while holding stocks that do not provide qualified dividends (many Real Estate Investment Trusts) inside your tax deferred retirement accounts.

IAM's lot-by-lot cost basis accounting provides an essential element for optimizing gift and estate planning strategies. For instance, after checking with your financial advisor, you may determine that you wish to donate a security(s) to a charity. Since investors often have multiple purchase lots of the same security (IAM summarizes your lot-by-lot accounting on the Security Basis Report), you may find it advantageous to donate those purchases with the lowest cost. Why? When gifting to a qualified charity, the value of the gift is usually based on the market value at the time of the gift, including the unrealized capital gain, and not the cost of the gift. In other words, you will be giving away a larger capital gain that otherwise would have been taxed if you sold the securities and then gifted the proceeds.

Likewise, when gifting to individuals, it may be useful to gift securities with the lowest cost basis, particularly if the recipient is in a lower tax bracket than the donor. The recipient may not only be able to defer the gain for a longer time, ultimate tax will be might also be lower.

Throughout the course of each year, investors should take sufficient time to review their investment portfolios. Monitoring progress is essential to identify what changes may be necessary to reach long-term goals. In doing so, investors should focus on rebalancing portfolios consistent with their risk profile and return goals, while considering and managing the tax consequences of their investment activity.  Using Investment Account Manager will help you accomplish this important portfolio management task by following these guidelines. Update your portfolios for all year-to-date investment activity, including all purchase, sale and investment income activity.

Understanding your investment taxes is an essential part of portfolio management. Investment Account Manager provides many reports and tools to help:

• Sold Securities Report filtered for the appropriate time period - this report summarizes the sales of securities for the portfolio. Sales activity is separated based on short term holding period activity and long term holding period activity. This is another of IAM's useful tax planning and preparation reports.

• Income Received filtered for the appropriate time period - this report provides a summary of dividends, interest and capital gain distributions recorded in your portfolio. It is segregated by security, by type and by tax category. This is one of the tax preparation reports you will use from the Investment Account Manager.

• Capital Gains Distribution Report for the time period - this IAM audit report is a useful tax-planning tool, summarizing the gain distributions received by securities in your portfolio. This report includes details on gains as the result of merger transactions involving cash and stock distributions.

• Qualified Dividends Report filtered for the appropriate time period (if needed).

• Transactions Activity Report filtered for the appropriate time period.

• Security Basis Report, identifying each of the specific purchase lots - this report lists the lot-by-lot purchase transaction details for portfolio holdings, and is an important source of information for making wise tax decisions. By carefully selecting which purchase lots to be allocated to a sale, other previously realized gains and losses can be offset.

• Fees and Expenses Report tracks the investment fees, expenses, foreign tax withheld, and other charges for securities in your portfolio.

• Short-term to Long-term Report which identifies securities soon to gain long term capital gains treatment.

57

Fundamental Analysis Tools / Using QuoteMedia Data Feed With IAM

« Last post by Peter Willms on August 17, 2018, 10:16:23 AM »

(Asset Library Menu | Update Data | QuoteMedia Data Feed)

QuoteMedia data feed (included with initial purchase and available for an annual low cost subscription renewal price) provides automatic fundamental analysis and fund composition data download into Investment Account Manager. The QuoteMedia™ data feed is particularly helpful at month end, so with just a few simple clicks, your investments reflect updated fundamental and descriptive data. Note: The QuoteMedia data feed is included with Investment Account Manager Professional version.

QuoteMedia™ offers users the ability to automatically populate and update the fundamental and descriptive data for common stocks. This data, when incorporated into Investment Account Manager, provides the information for powerful fundamental ratio analysis, screening, and asset allocation analysis. Fundamental ratio analysis offers a "snap shot" of a company's value, where the analysis is a review of a firm's financial report.

When Updating IAM's Current Asset Library using QuoteMedia, users have three options:

    Update market prices to current asset library: this choice will update the IAM3 current asset library with recent market pricing.

    Update stock fundamental data including sector and size (typically month end): this choice will update for all common stocks in the IAM3 current asset library fundamental data such as earnings per share, dividends per share, beta, book value per share, cash flow per share, stock sector, and stock size.  This choice is typically selected at month end.

    Update exchange traded and mutual fund composition details (typically quarter end): this choice will update for all exchange traded and mutual funds in the IAM3 current asset library fund composition details such as asset allocation, sector allocation, and size allocation, and also other data such as past performance results.   
 
The QuoteMedia data feed also provides the ability to automatically populate the fund allocation analysis (breakdown by allocation percentages for asset type, sector and size compositions) for mutual funds and exchange traded funds.  These allocation percentages are used in allocation reports to include the portfolio compositions of any funds (mutual funds and exchange traded funds) held in your portfolio when Investment Account Manager derives asset allocation percentages. This means each fund's proportional impact (amount invested in cash, bonds and stocks, by sector, by size) will be included along with any individual holdings of each asset type held outside of your funds, providing a total allocation analysis of your portfolio.

58

Frequently Asked Questions / IAM's User Preference Settings

« Last post by Peter Willms on August 17, 2018, 09:49:11 AM »

 
Investment Account Manager’s User Preferences

Preferences Backup Data Settings:

    Allows user to set Prompt for Backup Reminder: after every session, after every other session, or after every five sessions.

    Automatic Backup: use this setting to run the backup process as you exit Investment Account Manager. The backup process will be performed to your desired destination folder. If you have set the destination to a removable media source, be certain the required media is in place for the backup process.

    Tax Lot Settings: when creating Investment Account Manager backups, individual tax lots for each portfolio are also saved as unique files under the directory you create your IAM backup files.  These tax lot files will be located under the backup folder \ IAM_TaxLots_date.  Users can set a preference for these files: Save Tax Lots to CSV files,
Save Tax Lots to Excel files or Do not save tax lots during backup

Preferences Data Provider Settings:

    Investment Account Manager includes an optional data feed to access QuoteMedia®. This optional service helps to complete descriptive information for stocks as they are added to Investment Account Manager. This includes access to fundamental stock data such as dividends per share, earnings per share, stock sector, stock size, etc. for common stocks.

Preferences Home Page Settings:

    Update market prices each time the home page is refreshed.

    Prompt before updating prices from home page.

    Check for updates when Investment Account Manager starts.

    Performance Index to show on the Home Page.

    Bypass Price Alerts on Startup.

    Prompt to update current prices with more recent historic prices.

    Prompt to create historical prices when updating current prices.

    Disable Portfolio 'Year to Date' Performance Calculation.

    Automatically update current prices with prices from broker files.

    Run IAM in maximized screen view: this option will start Investment Account Manager in full screen mode.  The default startup screen size is 80%.

Preferences Report Settings:

    Report Disclaimer: use this setting to enter a report disclaimer to be used globally for all reports. The disclaimer serves the important purpose of reminding users of the practical limitations of the program and we recommend you include a disclaimer. Note: if you are using the noncommercial-user version of Investment Account Manager, this disclaimer is inactive and can't be changed.

    Report Heading: use this setting to enter a report heading to be used as a global default for all reports. Note: You can override the global setting prior to printing any individual report.

    Preview Magnification: use this setting to set a global page preview magnification level. Settings range from whole page up to 150%. Note: You can adjust the magnification setting each time you preview any individual report.

    Report Margin Setup: use this setting to globally set the report margins for report printing. The following margin settings are used as defaults:
Top: 0.50 Bottom: 0.25 Left: 0.25 Right: 0.25

    Sort Default: The sort feature enables you to quickly arrange the list of assets currently in the system. You can set the default sort order globally to: most recent use, symbol, name, or type.

    Fiscal Year Ends in the Month: use this setting to globally set the reporting periods for a fiscal year-end other than December.

    Set Session Date: use this setting to change the session date. This date will be the date defaulted into date entry screens, and printed on all reports.

    Include printer Setup: use this option to be prompted with the printer setup dialogue form prior to printing reports. You'll be able to select a specific printer, quality preferences, and other printer options.

    Show negative values in red: select this option to show negative values, such as losses, in red on reports.

    Appraisal Report Quantity: select a default for how many decimals to show for quantity on Investment Account Manager's Appraisal Report either whole numbers, 3 decimal places or 5 decimal places.

    Basis Report Quantity: select a default for how many decimals to show for quantity on Investment Account Manager's Security Basis either whole numbers, 3 decimal places or 5 decimal places.

    Maximum rate to check for high IRR's: use this option to set the maximum rate for the Internal Rate of Return iteration process.  The default rate is typically good for most investment activity, but in some cases, lowering this maximum rate can improve the speed of the IRR calculation.

59

Transactions / IAM's Global Transaction functions - stock split, spin off, merger, etc.

« Last post by Peter Willms on August 17, 2018, 09:05:23 AM »

Global Transactions - Investment Account Manager allows for easy and accurate posting of global transactions. These include:

Global Transactions:
    Global Income - Apply a declared cash dividend to all portfolios holding the stock
    Global Spin-off - Company ABC issues shares in Company EFG
    Global Stock Dividend Distributions - 10% stock dividend is declared resulting in   additional shares
    Global Stock Split - 2:1 stock split
    Global Merger- Company 123 is taken-over by Company 456

IAM’s global transactions adjusts any or all portfolios within the program to reflect the global activity.  For instance, if you hold XYZ stock in several portfolios, and XYZ declares a 2:1 stock split, Investment Account Manager will automatically adjust each portfolio to reflect the stock split. Specifically, each lot of the security will be adjusted appropriately, maintaining tax-lot integrity.

To access IAM’s Global Transactions function, select Transactions Menu Global | Transactions Activities.

When completing the various windows, it is required to complete each of the yellow shaded dialogue boxes.  If you do not have the required information at hand, it will be available on the issuing company’s website under Investors Information.

60

Transactions / Copy or Transfer securities to another Portfolio

« Last post by Peter Willms on August 16, 2018, 02:10:14 PM »

Moving Securities - IAM's Edit Menu

The Copy a Security to another Portfolio choice is used to copy all the transaction records (purchases, sales, income, etc.) of one security in a portfolio, to another portfolio being monitored within Investment Account Manager. This choice copies the entire transaction history from the original portfolio to the destination portfolio. It allows you to remove the security from the original or not.

The Transfer a Security to another Portfolio choice is used to transfer either a portion of a security holding, or an entire position, to another portfolio being monitored within Investment Account Manager. It can also be used to deliver holdings out of Investment Account Manager (i.e. to a charity).

The transfer feature can also be used to step up the basis for inherited shares from one portfolio to another portfolio. The feature allows the user to select the basis to assign to the transferred securities.