Newsday, Melville, N.Y., Shopping With Column
By Laurie Squire, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Nov. 20–THE EXPERT: John Hart, vice chairman, Emigrant Savings Bank (which offers a no-fee, no-minimum savings account program called EmigrantDirect. com)
–The product: money management software
–What I want: I want to import financial information from banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions electronically.
–I must have: The ability to download and import statement details into the program quickly. That’s essential. And the more reports a program can generate, the better; you don’t know what types of reports would be helpful until you see examples for yourself. The best programs give you a lot of report options to analyze all of the information and see what’s going on with your finances month to month.
–What I hate: You can really go crazy by entering in all sorts of extraneous details, information about the smallest of purchases, etc. Relax. The software is a tool, not a religion.
–Savvy shopper: Use money management software to get an understanding of your financial situation, identify opportunities to save more. Don’t confuse spending hours with the software with taking action to improve your finances; knowing you wasted $98.20 last week versus $100 isn’t going to make the slightest bit of difference.
–My pick: There is absolutely no reason not to buy the software online. The deals are incredible. Best product as far as I am concerned is Quicken 2006 — I prefer the Premier edition to the Deluxe because it includes tools for tracking investments (as low as $39, Amazon.com).
–Next best: Microsoft Money 2006 Standard ($20, Amazon).
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