Financial Planning & Tracking

[msdixies]

Hi,
I am new to the site. My cousin recommended I join, and I always listen to cousins!

I am looking for a new financial planning and tracking software package. I converted to a Mac, and find that Quicken for Mac is not nearly as robust as the Windows version.

I'd love follow a discussion that addresses pros & cons of apps such as Moneydance, iBank, See Finance, etc.

Can anyone help?

 

[ImThinkin2019]

Regarding tracking, I find Mint to be the easiest. I see every spending transaction and deposit into our checking accounts on my smart phone. Plus it provides downloadable transactions and comparisons to budget.

Regarding planning, Fidelity and Vanguard both have very good planners on their websites, if you are a client. I suggest those in the beginning. We are near the trigger pull date and are going to do Roth rollovers, so more precise tax calculation is needed for us. The best we've found is ESPlanner Plus, which we bought. Well worth it.

 

[H2ODude]

About Q for Mac....

I've been using Q for Windows for decades and besides being familiar with it, it has all those records (that admittedly are no longer important other than looking up to see..."when did we go to ___ or buy ____?" I used Mac for 7 years and have been using VM Fusion to run Windows and Q. Use W for nothing else, and don't like that Fusion/W hogs a lot of resources, especially if doing photo work. Anyway....

They had a sale in Dec and reviews said that finally Q for M would translate the old Q files for W. Cool. Bought it thinking I'd get out of running the VM/W that means updates every few years. Bear in mind I no longer use it for financial, only book keeping of checking and charge accounts.

Got the DVD, and spent 6 hours trying to get it to take my Q/W files. Said my Q/W no longer supported, needed to get updated export patch to do it (really? its 2011 Q/W!!!). After 6 hours I gave up and sent back for refund. Thought about just starting over with Q/M and forgetting the history....it just was too much of a hassle. So any of you wanting to try what I did be aware it is not likely to be a fun pleasant experience, although some of you IT geeks may enjoy it and succeed!

 

[SteveNU]

I've been a Mint user for quite some time but just tried Personal Capital and I really like it. Each has its shortcomings but seems that the Personal Capital has more of what I'm looking for. Right now I use both as they compliment each other.

 

[RonBoyd]

I use Moneydance, Personal Capital, and CNNMoney Portfolio but there an abundance of alternatives:


Personal Finance Software Review 2015 | Best Personal Accounting Software | Personal Finances - TopTenREVIEWS


Or perhaps this will help:


A Comparison of Ace Money and Quicken - Finance.Answers.com

 

[braumeister]

I'd love follow a discussion that addresses pros & cons of apps such as Moneydance, iBank, See Finance, etc.

I believe all of those have free trial versions you can download and try out.

Personally, I like and use Moneydance, but iBank has gotten much better than it used to be. Not familiar with See Finance, so I can't comment on it.

 

[msdixies]

Thanks for all the input! I'll look into a couple of the new-to-me applications (such as Mint, etc), and definitely investigate the recommended sites for comparisons. As a retired "systems guy" I'm loathe to download a bunch of free stuff and clutter things up. I'll certainly try before I buy when I've made a [tentative] decision -- and I'll report back on the results.

Thanks again!

 

[Katsmeow]

For budgeting and tracking expenses I use You Need a New Budget. For that purpose, I far prefer this to Quicken.

 

[BBQ-Nut]

Custom excel spreadsheet/multitabs that I created that tracks expenses, assets, tax planning and what if parameters for mixes of asset class drawdowns and Roth conversions, age, ss benefits, automatic RMD calculations via lookup tables.


(former engineer....)

 

[Golden sunsets]

Custom excel spreadsheet/multitabs that I created that tracks expenses, assets, tax planning and what if parameters for mixes of asset class drawdowns and Roth conversions, age, ss benefits, automatic RMD calculations via lookup tables. (former engineer....)

+1. My approach as well

 

[Gotadimple]

About Moneydance.

It was somewhat great before it got bought out.

Then: A great checkbook manager, mediocre budget manager, marginal reports, with an active Community base allowing interchange between users and support staff.

Now: A great checkbook manager, mediocre to poor budget manager, marginal reports, with a limited community - you write in with your problem, you get an answer from support staff, no user commentary. Absolutely unacceptable implementation of new versions.

MoneyDance is currently releasing it's 2015 version. Users who bought the 2014 version can get the upgrade without charge. The issue is the newest version is not fully functioning and should have been left in testing until the major features were working. It's not a bad program, just not well supported. If you need strong budget management and flexible reporting, I'd suggest a spreadsheet to get accurate results.

And wait until mid-year before downloading!

Disappointed,

Rita

 

[nash031]

Personal Capital. I just ignore the FA who calls me once a quarter, and I really like the software and expense tracking. Like Mint, only with better investment functionality IMO. (I've used both).

 

[Choices]

We've used Quicken ever since MYM was no longer supported. We have had it on the Mac, then a PC and back onto the Mac. Converting all the old stuff falls to DH, he likes to do all that stuff. I just ask if we are poor and go over the MONTHLY net worth statements and budget sheets I am provided. May not be the best but the old dog isn't willing to use anything else.

 

[RonBoyd]

About Moneydance.

What she said... every word.

 

[Rdub]

+1. My approach as well

+2


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[Cobra9777]

Custom excel spreadsheet/multitabs that I created that tracks expenses, assets, tax planning and what if parameters for mixes of asset class drawdowns and Roth conversions, age, ss benefits, automatic RMD calculations via lookup tables.

+1. My approach as well

+2

+3. I also use Personal Capital to automate the collection of balances and analyze the portfolio at a level of detail that I can't do efficiently with Excel (AA, sectors, efficient frontier). I also use it to categorize and analyze spending at the transaction level, with only a monthly summary by category going to Excel.