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From: dshanks@nyx.cs.du.edu (David Shanks)
Subject: Re: Quicken 6 vs. Tobias' Managing Your Money
Message-ID: <1993Apr20.173614.18004@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>
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References: <1993Apr20.040449.19649@twg.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Apr 93 17:36:14 GMT
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In article <1993Apr20.040449.19649@twg.com> q@twg.com (Michael Wiesenberg) writes:
>Anyway, is anyone aware of a comparitive study of the two programs?
>Or can someone just give me their own personal impressions?  Maybe

PC Magazine, January 12, 1993 had a review of several personal finance
management programe, as did PC-Computing, January 1993.  PC World,
December 1992 also had articles about Quicken and Managing Your Money.
I can email you copies of these articles if you can't find them at your
library.

I've been using Managing Your Money for several years, and I have
several friends who use Quicken, though I've not used it myself.  My
overall impression is that Quicken is a financial accounts manager
while Managing Your Money will help you more completely manage your
finances.

Here are some features that I believe Managing Your Money and Quicken share:

	The ability to keep records for each of your financial accounts:
	checking, savings, charge, cash, or brokerage.  You can reconcile
	your account statements with the records the program keeps.

	The ability to make a budget and track your spending against that
	budget.

	A Checkfree module which will allow you to use the Checkfree bill
	paying service to pay your bills via your modem.
	
	The ability to print checks on your printer.

	The ability to keep loan records and set up automatic loan payments.

	The ability to import stock quotations to keep your brokerage accounts
	up to date.  I know Managing Your Money can do this automatically
	via modem.  Quicken probably can as well, but I'm not sure about it.

	The ability to export tax information to popular tax preparation
	programs.


Here are some features that I believe Managing Your Money has that
Quicken does not:

	A tax prediction module.  This looks at your accounts and budget to
	predict your tax liability for the coming year.  It's usefull to fine
	tune your withholding so Uncle Sam doesn't get his due too early.

	An insurance and vital records module.  This is a place to keep
	records of your insurance policies as well as other vital records.
	It can also compute your life expectancy.

	A financial analysis module.  This computes compound interest, 
	effects of inflation, loan payments term or interest, yield to
	maturity for bonds, savings account yields, days between dates, and
	loan amortization schedules.  It also has functions to help you 
	decide whether to refinance your mortgage, whether you can afford
	a particular home, whether a particular rental property is a good
	investment, whether you should buy lease or rent, and whether
	a particular investment's cash flow is adequate for your situation.
	This module can also help you plan for retirement and for helping
	your kids with their tuition.  

	A net worth module.  This is a place to record all your assets
	and liabilities.  Your net worth can be computed from this 
	information.  Any assets or liabilities recorded in other modules
	are automatically included here.

	A "desk" module.  This includes a small word processor, a card file
	you can use to store names, addresses, phone numbers and other vital
	information about friends and associates, a perpetual calander, a
	rudimentary calculator, a to-do list, a reminder list, an appointment
	list, and a place to record your phone calls (for those who need to
	track such things).  Your appointments, reminders and to-do list
	can be made to display automatically when you start the program.

There are probably some things listed above that Quicken has, but I'm almost
sure that Quicken doesn't do everything I've listed.  If I'm wrong, I'm sure
hordes of Quicken devotees will flame me to a crisp.

One thing that Quicken has that Managing Your Money does not yet have is a 
Windows version.  MECA software is rumored to be working on a Windows version
of Managing Your Money for release late this year.

I hope this information is of use to you.  I've found Managing Your Money to
be a very usefull program for keeping my financial records.  On the other hand
I know many people who are equally as happy with Quicken.  If Quicken has all
the features you need or want, I'd go with it. If you find any of the Managing
Your Money features that Quicken doesn't have to be useful, I think it's well
worth the price.
