Herbert Thoma wrote:
> I don't use Quicken, so I'm not sure what a savings goal account is.
> If I understand right, you want to have a certain amount of money
> by a certain date, and Quicken tells you how much is still missing.
>
> So the solution for GnuCash would be a savings account for each
> savings goal (easy, already existing) and a report that tells you
> how much is missing (yet to be done).
>
> Herbert.
The idea of savings goals in Quicken is that they are 'virtual' accounts, in that
they are money that you are setting aside in your mind for a purpose, but there is
no 'real' transaction happening. ie, I want to save $5000 for tuition for the
next year. Each month when I recieve my pay cheque of $1000 I deposit it to a
bank account and set aside $500 of it in my mind as savings for the next school
year. So, while my bank account may have $2600 in it, $1500 may already be set
aside so really only $600 is 'available' to me to spend.
The reporting/reminding part is a secondary bonus - could be helpful, but not
necessary for the underlying idea.
Scott Haug wrote:
> My account structure looks something like this:
>
> + Cash On Hand
> + Bank Accounts
> - Checking
> - Savings
> - Certificate of Deposit
> + Savings Goals
> - Honeymoon
> - European Vacation
> + ...
> + ...
>
> I'm not sure why you would treat it as a liability, but to be honest I have no
> accounting background so maybe that is the best way. I just treat my savings
> goals as bank accounts. They're merely logical accounts used to meet a certain
> monetary goal, and since the money in a savings goal doesn't actually leave the
> physical account it was transferred from, I still consider it an asset and
> "Cash On Hand." I basically treat a savings goal as a logical holding account
> so that I don't try to spend those funds.
How do you transfer money into the savings goal though? Would that be with
transactions from each of your bank accounts? What I was thinking was that if you
use a:
+ Cash On Hand
+ Bank Accounts
+Checking
- Savings Goals
+ ...
...
+ Savings Goals
- Honeymoon
...
Then the Checking account could match your bank statements line by line without
savings goal transactions in the way, and then transactions to allocate amounts of
money from Checking towards a goal could be made from the Checking:Savings Goals
to the appropriate goal. Savings Goals will have a negative balance reducing the
Checking balance shown on the main screen to the balance in the Checking register
minus the Savings Goals.
>
> What is your reasonng for making them liabilities? Maybe I'm not thinking of a
> savings goal in the same way you are. Plus, it's been awhile since I actually
> used one in quicken, so I might not remember correctly how they worked there.
> Perhaps you could refresh me?
The idea of making them liabilities was that that is money that you 'owe yourself'
or 'owe' to a specific goal. Since there really isn't any transaction taking
place when you allocate money to a goal it seems wrong to me to enter one in a
real asset or bank account.
Lauren.
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