sarrel@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Marc Sarrel) (12/10/88)
I missed the most recent discussion of this, so pardon me for wasting
net bandwidth. I am looking for a package that will keep track of my
checking and savings accounts, as well as my investments in stocks,
mutual funds, etc. I'm not looking for a program to give me
investment advice, but one that knows how to calculate return on
investments, etc. Ideally, the program should be able to help me fill
out my tax returns. Recently, I've been filling out the 1040 long
form with several additional schedules as well as paying estimated
tax, so the ability to fill out a 1040-EZ is not sufficient.
As far as I can find out, there are several packages that might do the
job. They are: Dollars & Sense, MacinTax, MacMoney, MarketPro (might
be too {much,specialized}), and Quicken(?). Are there any others that
I should consider? What do people think of the above programs? Any
thoughts, experiences and/or recomendations would be appreciated.
--marcjackd@copper.SDP.TEK.COM (Jack Decker) (12/12/88)
In article <SARREL.88Dec9120009@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> sarrel@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Marc Sarrel) writes: > >As far as I can find out, there are several packages that might do the >job. They are: Dollars & Sense, MacinTax, MacMoney, MarketPro (might >be too {much,specialized}), and Quicken(?). Are there any others that >I should consider? What do people think of the above programs? Any >thoughts, experiences and/or recomendations would be appreciated. As far as personal finance packages that manage portfolios go, Managing Your Money is the one to beat. MacMoney, the one I use, is OK for accounting but they seem to be falling behind the power curve in adding new features such as portfolio and tax handling. One can work around some of these limitations by exporting to Excel and MacinTax, but if there was a conversion utility from MacMoney to MYM, I'd change in a minute . . . MYM, on the other hand, has all of this now and they seem committed to improving the product. (2.0 just came out.) The only drawback is price: MYM is about twice as expensive as MacMoney.
flowers@lanai.cs.ucla.edu (Margot Flowers) (12/13/88)
In article <2669@copper.SDP.TEK.COM> jackd@copper.SDP.TEK.COM (Jack Decker) writes: >MacMoney, the one I use, is >OK for accounting but they seem to be falling behind the power curve >in adding new features such as portfolio and tax handling. For tax handling, the MacMoney people have a conversion utility written in hypercard which will extract data from MacMoney files and produce a MacInTax file (if I understand their description correctly). The way it finds out which data of yours belongs on the tax schedule is by asking you for what category names you have used for various pieces of information. They are waiting until this year's release of MacInTax to test and make sure it the file formats are still compatible (eta Dec 19), and then they will ship it out to MacMoney users at a cost of $7.50. [This info all from talking to them on the phone, I haven't seen it myself so hopefully these details are not inaccurate.] The MacInTax people have told me they've also send file format specs to the Quicken people, so I presume there is something similar in the works for Quicken. >As far as personal finance packages that manage portfolios go, >Managing Your Money is the one to beat. ... >MYM, on the other hand, has all of this now and they seem >committed to improving the product. (2.0 just came out.) They told me there would be a new version of MacMoney this summer. They were very responsive to some suggestions I made ("you're the first one who has mentioned this, but it seems like a good idea...") so it might be worth giving them some feedback on desired features. On the subject of picking personal finance packages: What kinds of improvements are there in MYM compared to MacMoney for portfolio management? From various messages, I've gotten the impression that the significant differences between Quicken & MacMoney are that MacMoney does crossposting, can handle multiple accounts, and has ID codes as an second dimension to the transaction categories; Quicken can print custon designed checks with a laserwriter onto numberless check stock and has more flexible reporting (some people have mentioned exporting MacMoney to Excel for improved reporting). Is this correct? Are there any other significant differences? What improved personal finance packages can convert or accept MacMoney data files, if one wanted to convert? Margot Flowers Flowers@CS.UCLA.EDU ...!(uunet,rutgers,ucbvax,randvax)!cs.ucla.edu!flowers
siegman@sierra.Stanford.EDU (Anthony E. Siegman) (12/14/88)
I bought Quicken, and if I've understood the manual correctly, you can export various sorts of reports with summary data in them in Excel or text format; but there is NO way to export OR import the complete check register for use or manipulation by other programs. I would never adopt any program which traps all my primary data in some format which is unknown (or too arcane to use) and which does not provide for export of the COMPLETE data file in text or some other standard format. It would be appreciated if users of MacMoney or MYM could post a note on
jackd@copper.SDP.TEK.COM (Jack Decker) (12/17/88)
In article <18833@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> flowers@cs.ucla.edu (Margot Flowers) writes: > >On the subject of picking personal finance packages: What kinds of >improvements are there in MYM compared to MacMoney for portfolio >management? > MacMoney does not have ANY portfolio management support as such because you can only enter new data into it in the form of a transaction. As a workaround, they suggest treating a move in a security as an accounting event; for example, if your Adobe shares go up $3.00 you enter that as a transaction under STOCK INCOME or some such category. This strategy is unusable for several reasons, so you end up only updating your portfolio when you buy, sell, or receive dividends. In addition, MacMoney has no facility for combining catagories such as STOCK INCOME and BROKERAGE COSTS to figure out your profits. Finally, there is no easy way to calculate annualized returns on your investments. MYM, on the other hand, was written from an investor mindset. You can easily update your portfolio as well as track a hypothetical group of stocks or other investments. Unlike MacMoney, you can determine annualized returns and your actual profits. >They told me there would be a new version of MacMoney this summer. Glad to hear it, but for anyone wanting investment features it's too little, too late. jack decker
wgd@flan.UUCP (Walter G. Dixon) (12/19/88)
In article <24@sierra.stanford.edu> siegman@sierra.UUCP (Anthony E. Siegman) writes: >It would be appreciated if users of MacMoney or MYM could post a note on I just purchased MYM (very expensive), and it does most, if not all, and more, of the things I need. I'm not sure if it handles escrow in a mortgage payment yet, though I think I read there is a way to do it. MYM is a bit slow in screen updates, they seem update things that don't need redrawing on the screen, which adds to the update time. Calculation time is also slow, though I'm sure there's really a lot going on back there. One other criticism is that when calculating total outlay of mortgage payments, they go through an obviously iterative algorithm to calculate it. I'm sure there is a better way. On the positive side, MYM is quite complete, even though the manual claims there are things the IBM version does that the Mac version doesn't do yet, and vice versa. I'm not sure what's missing. MYM does insurance planning, investments in stocks, bonds, etc. All you have to do is enter the current price directly from the morning paper and your net worth is instantly updated. It also does check writing, recurrin expenses is handled nicely, as is paycheck allocation (fed, state tax, etc.). The manual is thick, with many helpful hints about managing your financial life, and how to use features of MYM for more arcane functions. All in all, I'd say its got everything (almost) you'd ever want, IF you're willing to pay between $185-220. I myself would like to hear other opinions. Wally Dixon Broadband Technologies, Inc. RTP, NC {...}!mcnc!rti!bbt!wgd
josip@eneevax.UUCP (Josip Loncaric) (12/20/88)
In article <465@flan.UUCP> wgd@flan.UUCP (Walter G. Dixon) writes: >...[MYM has] got everything (almost) you'd ever want, IF you're willing to >pay between $185-220. > But, if you buy it mail order you can get it for about $130. This is still more than Dollars & Sense (about $85), MacMoney ($65), or Quicken ($40), but if you need the additional flexibility, MYM is worth it. Version 2.0 which was released recently is a significant imprevement over earlier versions because it adds the ability to export reports (eg. to Excel via tab delimited text files), improves "ergonomics" of transaction entry, etc. Josip Loncaric / josip@space.src.umd.edu
jackd@copper.SDP.TEK.COM (Jack Decker) (12/21/88)
In article <465@flan.UUCP> wgd@flan.UUCP (Walter G. Dixon) writes about Managing Your Money: > All in all, >I'd say its got everything (almost) you'd ever want, IF you're willing to >pay between $185-220. > Isn't there also a $50/yr support fee? If so, is it fluff or does a typical user really need it? MacMoney's most recent upgrade (3.02) was mailed out free to registered users and everyone receives a quarterly newsletter. Of course, if you have to have investment management and tax help, MYM is cheaper than buying MacMoney, Excel, and MacInTax. jack decker
carlson@hpindda.HP.COM (Bob Carlson) (12/22/88)
Does MYM actually do Tax return preparation? Is the support fee mentioned by someone intended to pay for updates which include the yearly changes in the tax code? Cheers, Bob
jallred@bbn.com (John Allred) (12/22/88)
In article <40260001@hpindda.HP.COM> carlson@hpindda.HP.COM (Bob Carlson) writes: >Does MYM actually do Tax return preparation? Is the support fee >mentioned by someone intended to pay for updates which include >the yearly changes in the tax code? MYM has a "tax estimation" function -- it takes your income and expense data, and comes up with an estimated tax. It claims the ability to export data to MacInTax by using tab delimited text format. I'll try that out in January. The support fee includes telephone support and one upgrade. This year, the MYM people held up their upgrade until the tax code was frozen (or as frozen as it ever gets.) Speaking only as a satisfied MYM user, John ____ John Allred BBN Systems and Technologies Corp. (jallred@bbn.com) A truly wise man (or woman) never plays leapfrog with a unicorn.
schapman@gouda.uucp (Scott Chapman {x6088}) (12/19/89)
I currently have a copy of Quicken which I am doing SOME of my financing. However I am somewhat dissappointed with the REAL power of the program. For example I have 2 checking accounts a savings account and a credit card. Quicken does nothing to help me manage my credit card account. It doesn't know how to transfer money from one account to another (when I write a check to pay off my credit card bill) I must manually make the appropriate transactions for BOTH accounts. Also, It doesn't have a very useful method of using periodic transactions. The user must enter the date when the NEXT scheduled date for the transaction(s) is due. Then select them based on that date. Quicken doesn't know how to notify you that you must pay a bill (in case you forget)... Anyway, I was wondering if people (excuse me if this is a request for old news) have used Dollars & Sense or Managing Your Money (or MacMoney) to handle their personal accounts. Please mail TO ME (NOT to the News) I would just like to see if I can do what I want to be able to do on a package other than Quicken... Please send mail to me at schapman@prime.com Thanks in advance!