Fed up!

Yes - I have been playing around with a trial version of Money Plus Deluxe. I was cruising right along until I discovered something that impacted my record keeping. NOTE: The 'playing around' was with the stock features.

You enter a 'stock name' for a purchase. Then you enter the 'stock symbol'. Money Plus, (MP), it appears, uses the 'stock symbol', not the 'stock name' as the unique identifier for the stock record.

Example: I purchased on 1 Dec 07, 500 shares of XYZ company. The 'stock symbol' is 'XYZ' I entered a 'stock name' of "XYZ 1 Dec 07 (500)" - just my shorthand for quick info in a summary format. I entered the 'stock symbol' of "XYZ" and the other information into MP. All went well.

Next, on 1 Jan 08, I purchased 300 additional shares of XYZ company. The 'stock symbol' is "XYZ". I entered a 'stock name' of "XYZ 1 Jan 08 (300)" - that crazy shorthand, again. When trying to enter the 'stock symbol', it wouldn't let me - saying there was already a stock name using that symbol. OK, as I was testing this product, I followed what was suggested.

I changed both 'stock names' to XYZ company and entered the 'stock symbol'. Naturally, the purchase dates in the entry reflected the actual dates of purchase.

THIS IS KEY, the 1 Dec 07 (500 shares) qualified for a dividend as the stock went ex-dividend on 15 Dec 07. I entered the dividend transaction on 3 Jan 08. So far, so good.

I sold the 1 Dec 07 shares on 9 Jan 08. However, the dividend was being displayed as a 'gain' for the remaining 300 shares, purchased on

So, with this in mind, I'm not sure if Money Plus is right for me at this time. I would think the 'stock name' should be unique as it is the transaction, and the 'stock symbol' a subset of the 'stock name'. If that were the case, as you can do with Quicken, I would have continued my s/w testing.

Oh, one other item. I was unable to convert my Quicken data file to MP. I'm running Q2007 Deluxe.

It probably depends on what you're planning to use it for and how. At least you may test it for 60 days to determine if you want to purchase it. GOOD LUCK

I switched to Quicken after a dozen years of MS Money. MS Money is no better, just different.

snipped-for-privacy@juno.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@q77g2000hsh.googlegroups.co m:

Thanks for the input. From what you said it appears that MS has its own, unacceptable, faults. Can't anyone get it right after all these years? I guess there just isn't enough competion!