What is Quicken used for?

If people have that mind set, then its like talking to a brick wall. If they can't see how it helps them control their spending, and are not interested in doing so, then might as well give up. I have a whole office full of people who are tight with their money but still think it takes too much time. I of course think it saves time and helps one to recognize, reconcile, and control one's spending.

In another time when I was in debt up to my eyeballs in credit card debt, it helped me manage it to get out of that mess. I can't imagine anyone who likes living that way. Cay you?

Ever notice how some people are habitually poor? It's because they don't manage their money. Quicken is a tool that helps you manage your finances so that you can learn how to manage what little you have in an effort to maximize its usefulness and get you on the tract where your spending is under control and your savings are maximized. The people you are speaking to are just bad money managers. They either believe that money is not important (fine - give me some of yours) or that deep down they believe that they do not deserve to have a lot of money. And they will never have much of it. If they were to come into a lot of money they would squander it away in no time.

BTW they seem like the type of people who hate the rich, think that money is truly the root of all evil - yet spend a regular amount of their weekly earnings buying lottery tickets in an attempt to get rich quick. Where's the logic in that? And if they did win it they would be broke in under a year because they then become the exact person they say they hate - a rich person! (Never mind that I've always thought that the lottery was simply a tax on people who are bad at math and statistics and that I probably have more chance of them sending me the money by accident! :-) ).

Don't worry about such people. They'll never get it and it's really not your job to explain it to them.

"P Streicher" wrote

You can't change the world; it's like telling people to recycle or spay/neuter their pets. Many people have a mindset that is difficult or impossible to change.

In the years I have been in business I have employed hundreds of people. I pay my employees and independent subs every Friday; most are broke by Monday. They know better than to ask me for an "advance"; I have no pity for them. They cash their checks on Friday and walk around all weekend with several hundred dollars in their pockets. Sometimes I run into them at the mall and observe them purchasing snakeskin boots and luxury items that they can't afford. I preach to them about opening bank accounts and putting some $ away, but, like Bruce said, "It's like talking to a brick wall". Twice per year I have a 1-hour+ lecture for my independent subs on the importance of recordkeeping and tax implications. Everyone who works for me has a standing offer: Purchase Quicken and TurboTax and I will get them started and prepare their tax return. In over 18 years, I have had only a few people take me up on my offer to help with recordkeeping and tax preparation.

Most of my tenants and employees rent furniture and appliances for exorbitant prices. They falsely believe that they are budgeting wisely since they make such payments weekly, and "the payments are so small". It's difficult to tell them that they could have purchased some of these items free and clear after 3-6 months of weekly payments. Quicken could help show them how unwise (in general) was their decision to rent.

IMHO your question "What is Quicken used for?" is not as important as the question "Who should use Quicken?".

So, my answer to the latter question is: "By those who desire to analyze their cash flow and financial portfolio. Analyzing past financial performance can help predict future financial performance and status. Good recordkeeping assists with income tax preparation."

I use Quicken for the reasons you so clearly laid out. Before he retired, my dad worked in int'l corporate banking. So he was a "numbers" guy. Anyway, he kept "spikes" and a giant ledger pad on his desk. He used the spikes for bills due, bills paid (before filing) and the ledger pad to keep track of spending, account balances, etc. He never explained his system to me, nor did I ask, so this is just my observation. But I always figured I'd be doing the same some day. When I finally left home and went to college (I worked my way through), I used what I call the "shoe box and envelope" system. It wasn't long after I got my first computer, that I bought Quicken. And it wasn't too long before I realized Quicken was my version of my dad's "spikes and ledger pad" system. Today, my dad, my brother and I are all Quicken addicts. I've been using it since v3.0 for DOS, and I can't imagine not knowing all I do about my finances. And like Bruce, I used Quicken to help me manage my way out of debt. Today, my only debt is my mortgage. I have a nice emergency fund stashed away, and my 403(b) and Roth IRA are doing well. I work for a major state university and live a modest lifestyle. But Quicken's retirement planner tells me that I still must work till I'm 61 if I plan to live till I'm 84! (That's using very conservative figures just to be safe.)

Anyway, none of my friends use any sort of financial management software. They're not the least bit interested, and they also insist using such software will suck up all their free time. (Maybe the initial setup is somewhat time consuming, but after that, it's minutes a week.) All they know is what they've got in savings, retirement, and not much else. I have a couple friends who pay financial & tax people big bucks to do things for them including taking care of refinancing their house! And of course, these friends live way above their means, which is why they're refinancing. Then I have another friend who's got more money than she knows what to do with, will inherit millions from her mother before long, and she's so scared of money, that she actually doesn't want to know what she's got. And on top of it all, she's afraid she won't have enough!

To each, his or her own, live and let live, whatever. But I can't imagine life without my Quicken! :-)

Anyway, I don't mean to disparage my friends who live above their means. I did that for a while, which is how I got all that debt that Quicken helped me to pay off. I guess I've just finally realized that if I get off that "spend so I have to earn more treadmill" -- and spend less -- life's a whole lot simpler and more enjoyable.

Regards,

Margaret

"P Streicher" wrote in message news:_fGMe.8362$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...

For me, the short answer is "Knowledge is power".

You can't control your finances if you don't understand them. Perhaps that's the reason your friends are maxed out on their cards. You might try asking them "How much money did you spend on credit card finance charges last year?", or "What percentage of your take-home pay goes to interest payments?" If they can't answer those questions they might begin to see how an application like Quicken might be useful to them.

Not really my place to say this, but you should, before you marry, stop and have a really serious chat with your fiance about finances after marriage. Many married couples end up fighting over money and spending and quite a lot may even break up over that. You both have to know what you let yourselves in for if you are marrying someone that are not compatible with you in how you run your financial life.

If you manage and document every cent you spend with Quicken and your finace justs spends, the first argument will probably be over the expenses she incur and you can't document in Quicken.

On Wed 17 Aug 2005 07:41:30a, P Streicher wrote in news:_fGMe.8362$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net:

Paul, some people are not technologically inclined to use a computer for anything much other than e-mail (my 2 sisters -- one of which only knows she has email if she signs on to her husband's computer occasionally) or to even to get involved in finances (my brother -- as his wife has the financial background and has paid the bills for years; she has never used a computer even for email).

I sent my brother an older copy of Quicken to try out and thought at least his wife might be interested in using it for their finances. I suggested it would be really valuable for him to be familiar with Quicken in case anything happened to me, as he is next designated successor trustee to two of the trusts I am managing. He stopped going any futher as soon as Quicken requested internet access to register.

If I become unable to continue and he receives the backup CD in the mail, I am hoping he will force himself into using and learning Quicken at least long enough to get him the infomation he will need to get started.

If he chooses not to get involved, I guess he and my sisters will have to seek a third party trustee.

The short answer is: to achieve my financial goals. One of which was to retire by the age of 50, which I did with the help of Quicken (and, before Quicken, Andrew Tobias' Managing Your Money). It goes back to the old adage: "If you can't measure, then you can't manage." Setting goals and tracking your progress is the only reliable way to achieve anything, and software like Quicken makes tracking financial progress easy.

For whatever reason, some folks never actually consider what their financial goals are, beyond paying for whatever they want to buy today or - once they misuse their credit to accomplish that - paying whatever bill is due today. As a previous poster points out, a lot of this attitude comes from what people learn from their parents. Mine always tracked their finances on paper every month (and I suspect they learned that from their parents).

Margaret,

I certainly hope you live to well beyond 84! As I approach 60, 84 doesn't seem all that old.

John

I'd like to know what the rest of you that use Quicken think about

Some of my uses for Quicken in addition to yours:

1. Automatic Billpay of my life insurance and long term care insurance: If I end up in the hospital in a pro longed coma, these critcal bills will continue to be paid.
2. Twice daily download of all checking and credit card transactions to look for indentity theft.
3. Continous evaluation of my financial assets to insure appropriate asset allocation.

Thanks, John. But the last year or so, I've had major health problems that have given me a preview of what living to a ripe old age might mean. Fortunately it looks like I'm well on my way to getting my health back. I used to think, "whatever it takes to survive." But now I *know* I don't want to live to be that old unless I have my health. If I don't, may I simply go to sleep one night and never wake up!

Anyway, I know what you mean -- I will be turning 44 in a couple months, and it seems that not so long ago I was just 18. Hey, I blinked, how did I get to be this old? Er, who is *that* old bag in the mirror? Oops, it's me! ;-) It's all relative. My parents are in their late 70s. It sure doesn't seem as old to me as it used to. And to them, of course, I'm still a babe in the woods. :-)

Sorry, I don't mean to be morbid. I do hope we all live to enjoy healthy ripe old age. :-)

Regards,

Margaret

I'd prefer to discuss the finance situation you'll find yourself in *during* marriage, not after. I've been married over 25 years, and don't intend to become divorced. When either myself or my spouse kicks it, then she or I will not be married, but I won't need to have that "after marriage" discussion of course. (I don't believe in talking to the dead, despite the fact my wife complains about it to me all the time.)

I think I phrased it badly. My intended "advice" was to have a discussion

Oh, ok. That's true too! I was thinking you were talking about pre-nups and the like. Yes, I remember reading (not sure if this is true) that most divorces (many?) are caused by monetary disagreements, not necessarily 'other' (being a family forum, all of that will remain unsaid) items that come up.

So during is certainly appropriate too! No need to apologize. Maybe I mis-read your intentions!

Margaret,

So sorry to hear you've had health problems, but glad to hear you are on the mend.

My mom is 87, swims an hour every morning, plays bridge 3-4 times a week, goes to the movies and theater regularly, etc. She's the only one of her friends who still drives. All of this is to say anything is possible. Hang in there!

And one other thing... my mom keeps track of her money using Quicken! My dad died ten years ago, but a few years before that, I got him up and running on Quicken. When my mom became a widow, she jumped right in, learned Quicken (with my help), and still prints her checks and tracks her various account balances.

John

What I use Quicken for:

• Remind me what bills we have due and when
• Keep track of the money we have
• Track retirement account(s)
• Help me make smart decisions about how we should be spending
• Help me identify patterns in our spending and adjust accordingly
• Examine what we can and can't afford (can we spend the extra money on a bigger apartment? Should we take that long weekend vacation this month?)
• Project 1, 6 or 12 months into the future to see how our financial situation will change.

Now, I do also use Excel to get better graphs of a few things, such as tracking our current savings vs. our goal, and getting a bead on our credit card situation, but that data all originates from within Quicken.

I got married a little over year ago and with our merged accounts, assets, credit cards, etc. I don't think I could keep it all straight without some kind of software helping me. I can see at a glance where we stand on every account we have, whether I should kick extra into a certain credit card payment this month, and so on. In 14 months we've knocked our outstanding credit card and "consumer" debt (6 months same as cash furniture deals, etc.) down by over 60%, and we'd be almost entirely paid off had we not needed to purchase some new furniture and a computer for my wife. Had I not been using Quicken, I'd be tossing money at each one helter-skelter (saying "well, I can put this much on this one this month, and I'll put this much on the other account...), not developing a *plan* for getting us out of the red and into the black.

I like seeing the benefits of a structured plan. Scheduled Transactions let me see what my position is long-term, because I can balance my regular bills, etc. against our income and discretionary spending. I can see in the Calendar how those transactions affect my net worth on a day to day basis, and help me decide if I can make a payment a little early this month, or I should wait till the due date.

Thanks John. Your mom sounds like a spunky lady. Thtat's great to hear! :-) Interesting that you mention she uses Quicken. My dad has all their finances in Quicken, and has been trying to encourage my mom into starting to use it in case something "happens" to him. Problem is, my mom doesn't want to touch his computer, because she's afraid if something goes wrong while she's using it, he'll blame her for the trouble. (And she's probably right, though some of it might be fear of computers.) Anyway, since my mom would have to learn how to use a computer before she can even begin to learn Quicken, I've suggested that she look into some computer classes for seniors to get her started. (She definitely doesn't want my dad to teach her. He taught me how to drive a stick shift, when I was just learning to drive, and we nearly killed each other!) Once she feels somewhat comfortable with the computer, I suggested she look into those "Video Professor" lessons they advertise on TV. Unfortunately no movement has been made. So I suggested to my dad that he start printing reports that would help someone else (like my brother, me or a friend) navigate through their computerized finances. I'm not sure this is happening, but I can always hope. :-)

BTW, not too long ago I built a "custom" computer for a friend's mom who's

Regards,

Margaret

"John Blaustein" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com...

On Thu, 18 Aug 2005 12:29:33 -0400, Margaret Wilson wrote:

Oh, no, I'm not at all insulted. I simply saw the TV ads and knew they gave away one free lesson for the cost of shipping. (I figured they could get the Quicken lesson free.) I briefly looked at their web site, but to be honest, that was the extent of my research. So I'm glad to have this info. I don't think my parents are going to do anything different than what they're already doing anyway. But I'll do a little more investigating and passt the info on.

Regards,

Margaret