Q - I have generated an Action Items report, which shows what the software considers to be future action items in my plan.
Can items be tagged for inclusion in this report?
What sort of items does the software consider to be action items when compiling this report?
A - There is no mechanism for tagging items for inclusion in the Action Items report. The software is coded to include only certain types of account related actions in this report.
Action items are recorded for accounts, which include savings, investments, retirement accounts, and in our US and Canadian releases, college savings plans. Action items are not currently recorded for other items such as expenses, incomes (employment or other income), properties, debts, insurance, windfalls, taxes or estate plans.
The following account related actions are tracked and recorded as action items.
1. Planned future contributions, as entered in the contribution fields. Personal contributions are recorded in the report on an annual basis. Employer contributions to retirement plans and transfers between accounts are not tracked in this report.
2. Initial asset allocation, provided that the account is set to be grown using asset allocation. The checkbox “Use asset allocation for account growth” must be ticked for asset allocation to be tracked as an action item. Otherwise, an assumed fixed growth rate is being applied to the account.
3. Any future steps/changes (steps) in contributions or asset allocations.
If the accounts in a plan do not have planned contributions or are not set to be grown using asset allocations, then no action items will be shown. At least this is how it is coded to work today.
If you find otherwise, please let me know the name of the client and the plan/scenario you are viewing when generating the Action Plans report. I would be happy to investigate.