looking for spreadsheet-type software suggestions

Doesn't Quicken do this? I am using an old version from 1999, that still does what I want it to. I don't buy into the concept of needing new software every year or two. I paid for what I want, and I keep it working.

I don't download stock prices, but I know that is possible.

I don't download bank or credit card info, although that is possible. I don't see how you have an audit trail if you just download someone else's data, rather than entering your own and reconciling each month with the bank/cc statement.

I am not current on the various versions of Quicken, or that current status of their competition. Shop around.

I agree. Quicken or any other consumer finance software will be far more cost effective and less error-prone than a large home-grown spreadsheet that doesn't have any QA oversight.

Ira Smilovitz

I use Quicken for exactly all of that. You have to update it once every three years to keep the download working.

Sorry, I wasn't as clear as I should have been. I have a separate spreadsheet to do my gains/losses and in fact I also use Gainskeeper via my Ameritrade account. That information gets imported into TT.

The spreadsheet I'm talking about in my original post is one I do merely for my own information. It gives me a snapshot at where all my investments are and everything else, so I get a good estimate of my total net worth. What I wish would happen is that the stock and mutual fund and bond prices get automatically downloaded. The rest (including my banking figures such as savings accounts and checking accounts) I intend to put in manually, as I do now. I have separate sections for IRA, Roth IRA, and other investments, as well as debits and "cash on hand." I would like to keep that same format, but have the aforementioned d/l capability.

I thought Quicken was expensive and do you have to renew it each year?

Mel

As the saying goes, "fast, cheap, or good -- pick any two". Substitute "easy" for "fast", and it applies to you.

If you have enough assets to make it worthwhile to track them in detail, why are you so chintzy about spending a few bucks for a quality tool? Clearly the marketplace can demand a fee this type of tool. No one here so far, including me, has been able to refer you to what you are looking for. So, keep on looking, and good luck.

For myself, since I already use Quickbooks professionally (Quicken's bigger, brawnier brother), I keep a personal balance sheet and profit/loss statement, broken out much the same way you describe. But QB is best used by one with some knowledge of double-entry accounting.

As for stock investments (or any other kind for that matter), I find that updating balances quarterly is quite adequate, and now that we've finally consolidated retirement and brokerage accounts at as few places as possible, it's not hard to just manually enter the balance in each account off the statement. I don't need to track individual stocks; my brokerage has plentiful tools for that.

If you want to continue to use your spreadsheets, there are functions that will retrieve data from external sources (eg., stock quotes). I have seen some very complex spreadsheets for investment analysis, but their programming is more advanced than I care to pursue. A Google search for "Excel web queries" might point you in the right direction.

Ira Smilovitz

The one click ability to update all stock and mutual fund prices has been in Quicken forever (not sure about bond prices). That's the feature I bought Quicken for a long, long time ago. There are very few asset prices I have to manually update. The portfolio and balance sheet reports are customizable and could do everything I cared about. There are also a lot of capabilities I don't use. Much of the stuff you do manually could be automated - or you could keep doing things manually if you want. There are different versions of Quicken with different feature sets. Quicken Premier (about $62 download on Amazon) would do what you seem to want. Quicken Deluxe (about $42) may even be adequate for what you want. Some of the automated capabilities require an updated version of Quicken every three years. The decision about what you consider to be expensive is yours. Is the time you save worth $15-20/year? My experience is with Quicken but I expect other consumer finance software has similar capabilities.

QB, at least the old version I use, does not handle brokerage investments at all.

Thank you all for your responses. My spreadsheet works fine and is high quality. I also just enter balances from my Ameritrade account, rather than the individual stocks data. But I have a large number of mutual funds through Vanguard, Rowe-Price, Wells Fargo, Fidelity, etc. and I put the individual prices into them.

I am not cheap. However, if there was some free software comparable to Quicken, why not check it out? Anyway, no point arguing about it. It sounds like Quicken is the recommendation.

One more question: I think there are different versions of Quicken (like TT has Basic, Home, Deluxe, Premier, etc.). Do you recommend a particular version, based on what I have mentioned. I am going to go to the Intuit site and see what they say. Again, thanks.

Mel

Bigne:

Thanks for the input. Yes, my time is worth a lot and that's why I am looking for the right software. Looks like I just have to see if Deluxe will do what I want.

Mel

You are correct about online downloads, I think (although QB does support download for personal checking, savings and credit card details if your bank supports it for free, which many do, such as Chase and Wells and Discover, and most smaller banks in my experience).

You can create an asset account in QB for each IRA, 401k, and after-tax brokerage, and then just update the quarterly balance via a register or journal entry. I actually capture the interest and dividend payments too, but it is a (quick) manual entry.

I also maintain a "contra" account for the estimated tax liability on my pre-tax accounts, so I know how much I'm *really* saving for retirement. Other non-liquid assets, such as house, car, and so on are easily included.

Quickbooks supports a "class" feature so I can track various items separately for myself and spouse (two separate columns on the Balance Sheet and P&L). I've never used Quicken, so I don't know how it compares.

I guess my method isn't really cheap, and it isn't really easy, but it is really, really good. :-)

You need Premier to do what you want.

Nevermind my previous answer. Deluxe is fine. I was thinking Turbotax where you would need Premier.

MZB, I think you've had a lot of push towards Quicken, but let me add another strong one.

I can't imagine the time you are taking to do manual entry into your spreadsheets. I have a large diversified portfolio and i wouldn't have hands left if I were not using Quicken (Deluxe). Whatever the price (and it's not that much really), I would buy Quicken. Not every year, and often I don't buy the latest version but a slightly older one cheaper on Ebay), but Quicken is a necessity for managing my financial life. You can make it as simple or as detailed as you want; I enter every individual holding so I can track performance and capital gains/loss situations whenever I want. I update almost daily, which my broker says is stupid, but it's my money and i want to be aware of any big changes.

I've got my bank account(s), charge cards, petty cash, etc all defined so they are included in my personal P/L report. I can tell anyone who might need to know (in the event of my becoming disabled, etc) where and what my assets are, where my income is coming from and what my expenses are. I can't imagine devising spreadsheets do do all this, beyond the obvious problem of not having an update process.

Make life simpler for yourself: get Quicken. There will be a learning curve and probably some things that you don't like, but we will be here to support you!

Thanks Jo.

I did order Quicken Deluxe

Mel

How are you doing so far? I know you were entering things manually. Can't you just download everything from the account and let Quicken prompt you for each new security?

jo