Smart Retirement Savings

Quicken vs. Microsoft Money

I prefer Microsoft Money and have been using the software since 1999. However, to me, both Quicken and MS Money are far from perfect tools. I look forward to more integration of online banking and stronger reporting capabilities.

Kiplinger has a good review on both software's 2006 version, and I am glad Quicken recommends Microsoft Money, at least for financial newbies.

For the second year in a row, Quicken's developers hit the road to meet with thousands of users and implemented more than 100 changes to its 2006 software. Unfortunately the new version of Quicken offers only a handful of "gee whiz" upgrades. The remaining changes can be categorized as functionality tweaks.

The most notable improvements are creating electronic attachments and more streamlined, easier to read income and spending reports.

Q06's coolest function is one-click mini reports. Want to know how much you spend on dining out every month? Click on the "category" block of one of your registry's restaurant entries. You'll see a snapshot of how much you've spent in the past 30 days to three years (set to the time period you prefer). Want to get even more specific? Click on the payee for a similar report -- to see how those trips to your favorite burger shack add up, for example.

New banking regulations allow checks to be processed and delivered electronically. Many banks now deliver only copies of checks with your paper statements and provide electronic versions online. With Quicken '06, you can download those e-copies and attach the images to items in your registry. You can also scan and save warranty information, receipts, or save electronic statements with their corresponding credit, investment or bank accounts. (This feature is not included in the Basic edition.)

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st-time financial software buyers should also keep walking. For this group we recommend Microsoft Money 2006. Money's Web-based design is much more familiar and easier to navigate. Money also enables users to pay bills from multiple accounts in one place. One drawback: You have to upgrade to new Money versions every two years to maintain this and other .Net Passport-based features. After two years, though, you may be ready to check out Quicken's more advanced features. Both companies make it very easy to convert data from one program to the other.

Quicken '06 also offers an all-in-one bill-pay service, but you must pay $9.95 per month to use it. And it too requires an upgrade about every three years.

But there is no question Quicken remains a step ahead. During their demonstration, Quicken's spokespeople picked off Microsoft Money 2006's new features and explained how Quicken had come up with the same functions years or decades earlier. For example, despite few new upgrades this year, Quicken's investment tools remain superior to Money's.