Citation:    MacUser, March 1995 v11 n3 p122(3)

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Title:       Smart money Mac. (using financial-management
             software)(includes related article on low-cost software)
             (Tutorial)

Authors:     Wiseth, Kelli

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Subjects:    Financial software_!;  Software Selection;  Personal
             Finance Software;  Tax Preparation Software;  Tutorial

Products:    Apple Macintosh (680X0-based system)_Computer programs

Reference #: A16043411

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Abstract: Financial-management software packages are among the most
          useful tools available for the Macintosh, letting users
          automate budgeting, pay bills electronically and fill out tax
          forms. Such checkbook-management programs as Quicken 5.0 and
          CheckWriter Pro help users budget by assigning transactions to
          categories and creating a record of exactly where money is
          going. Quicken users can drag and drop items from a
          transaction list to a calendar to get reminders of monthly due
          dates and subscribe to the CheckFree electronic bill-paying
          service. Intuit Inc's MacInTax has a Tax Adviser that pops up
          helpful tips for getting every possible break and warning of
          changes in the tax code. Investment-management tools, such as
          Reality Technologies' WealthBuilder, assist with setting
          short, medium and long-term goals and weighing acceptable
          risks. Both WealthBuilder and Quicken have features for
          retirement planning. Nolo Press' WillMaker 5 is a good estate
          planning tool.

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Full Text COPYRIGHT Ziff-Davis Publishing Company 1995

Get fiscally fit with some help from your Mac and the right software.
Although there are strong arguments against the saying "you can never be
too rich or too thin," most people probably wouldn't mind having more
money. The good news is you don't have to become a counterfeiter or win
the lottery to do better financially. The bad news is that selecting the
best strategy to meet your financial goals is complex. Fortunately, you
can cut through the complexity by using your Mac and several
financial-management packages.

Budgeting

If you routinely find yourself with barely enough to feed your cats --
let alone pay your rent -- at the end of each month, it's time to take a
critical look at your budget. If you don't have a budget, it's time to
create one. The first step in budgeting is to figure out where all the
money is going. A checkbook-management program such as Quicken 5
($49.95), from Intuit (800-624-8742 or 415-322-0573), or CheckWriter Pro
($79), from Aatrix Software (800-426-0854 or 701-746-6801), will pay for
itself as it helps you discover all the black holes in your spending.

In Quicken, for instance, you can assign every check and deposit to a
particular income or expense category. Because Quicken's long list of
categories is customizable, you can get as detailed as you want in
recording your outlays; the more discrete the categories, the more
detailed the reports Quicken can produce. The program also lets you
generate a graph showing the breakdown of your expenses to see how
income and expenses compare (see figure 1).

If you're not sure how to create a budget, Quicken can do it for you
automatically, based on your past expenses and income. The program gives
you a list of exactly where your money's going. Look for places to cut
back, and then modify the budget for upcoming months accordingly.
Quicken's budget report shows you how your spending compares to the
budget you've set up, so you can see how realistic your plan is.

Bill Paying

If you find bill paying so tedious that you sometimes forget -- and then
incur late fees -- or if you just want to streamline the process of
writing the same checks to the same creditors each month, it's time to
let your Mac do the job for you. Drag and drop items such as
property-tax payments from your list of transactions into Quicken 5's
new calendar so you'll easily be able to see their monthly due date (see
figure 2). The next version of CheckWriter Pro will also include a
calendar. If you use either Quicken or CheckWriter Pro to write your
checks, you can set the program to automatically enter the amounts and
payees into the check register so you don't have to retype them. Unlike
Quicken, CheckWriter Pro lets you print on your existing checks -- you
don't have to buy special checks or maintain two concurrent checkbooks
with different sets of numbers.

You can also save time by paying your bills electronically through an
account set up with CheckFree. This on-line bill-paying service lets you
send electronic checks, via modem, right from Quicken to the entities
you deal with on a regular basis. The $9.95 monthly fee covers as many
as 20 payments per month.

Taxes

The penalties for shortchanging Uncle Sam at tax time can rival those
charged by loan sharks. Proper tax planning throughout the year not only
saves you worry but it's likely to save you money as well.

Intuit's MacInTax (federal, $35; state, $25) can help ensure that you
get every possible break without setting off any alarms to the IRS. As
you're filling out your tax forms, helpful tips from MacInTax's Tax
Adviser pop up at appropriate moments to warn you of changes in the tax
code and to alert you to tax-saving opportunities (see figure 3). Before
you ship your return off to the IRS, SmartAudit reviews the completed
tax return and flags errors, omissions, and possible audit triggers.

If you're a small-business owner, you should always know the tax
consequences of how you spend your money. Quicken 5's Tax Planner can
help throughout the year by showing you how much you owe the IRS. You
can also modify the numbers to see how certain actions would affect your
taxes. For example, the total tax for the year may be approximately
$12,000; if you invest $2,000 in an IRA and spend $3,000 more on
business equipment, however, the tax drops by about $2,200.

Investing

The first step in developing an investment strategy is setting long-,
intermediate-, and short-term goals. The second step is ascertaining the
amount of risk you can tolerate. Riskier investments typically offer a
higher potential return (in the long run) but are inappropriate for
people -- for example, single parents on a tight budget -- who need
their assets to remain fairly liquid in the short term.

In addition to helping you think through such issues, WealthBuilder 3.0
($109.95), from Reality Technologies (215-277-7600), tailors an
asset-allocation plan to the risk level you've chosen (see figure 4).
The program can tie in to Reuters Money Network, which provides access
to historical prices and to research and rating databases, including
Morningstar fund ratings, so you can research various investment
alternatives. Access to the network ranges from $10 to $30 per month
(the first month is free). You can also use CheckWriter Pro to guide you
in your investment research; it lets you download stock quotes from a
variety of on-line services.

Although Quicken also lets you dial up to CompuServe or Intuit's own 900
service to download current data about your investments, hands-on
investors will probably want the research capabilities of WealthBuilder
or StreetSmart ($59), from Charles Schwab (800-334-4455 or
415-627-7000). The latter lets you do trading from your Mac (see Quick
Clicks, January '95, page 62).

Retirement

The sooner you start saving for retirement, the better. For example, say
you hope to retire at age 70. If, at age 20, you start putting aside
$2,000 a year in a tax-deferred account earning 5 percent interest, you
will have approximately $441,631 awaiting you when you hit retirement
age; if you start at 30, that drops to $255,680. And if you wait until
40, the return plunges to a mere $141,522. You can use either
WealthBuilder or Quicken to calculate such statistics; each program lets
you fiddle with the numbers and set up comparative scenarios.

Estate Planning

If you want to make sure your Power Mac 8100 and CD-ROM collection go to
your favorite nonprofit agency -- instead of being sold to pay for your
urn -- write a will. State laws of intestacy -- legalese for "without a
will" -- typically divide what you own at death according to set
formulas that leave your friends and charities --even your longtime
companion -- out in the cold and your minor children in the hands of the
courts. You can save the cost of having an attorney draw up your will by
using WillMaker 5 ($69.95), from Nolo Press (800-992-6656 or
510-549-1976). An interview format guides you through the process of
bequeathing your property; naming a guardian for minor children; and
making medical decisions for yourself, in advance, in case you become
incapacitated.

The Running Total

Money management isn't just for the very wealthy or the economically
challenged. By analyzing your spending patterns, creating a budget you
can live with, and investing for the future, you can make informed
choices. For example, if you'd rather work less now and have more time
for personally enriching pursuits -- writing a novel, teaching English
to immigrants, or creating a CD-ROM title to rival the likes of Myst --
you need to manage your money to make it stretch.

Related article: Software on a Shoestring

Is your budget for budgeting software slimmer than you wish? That's not
a problem if you're on-line -- lots of shareware programs are available
to help you become a financial whiz.

Loan ($15) is a simple loan calculator that can display and compare
conventional and adjustable-rate mortgage-loan projections. Enter a
loan's vital statistics, and Loan generates a chart detailing the
progression of the loan and its payments, with running totals of the
interest and equity paid.

For those who work with more than just loans, Financial Inquiry Tools
($20) provides over 40 different financial-calculation functions.

Falcon-Nc ($15) is a calculator that provides basic financial functions,
such as nominal- and effective-interest calculations, as well as regular
mathematical functions.

Newton MessagePad owners should check out PocketMoney ($20), which helps
you keep track of transactions in as many accounts as you want. You can
also import and export data between PocketMoney and Quicken or Managing
Your Money on your desktop Mac.

You can find all these programs in the MacUser and ZiffNet/Mac areas on
CompuServe and eWorld and in the libraries of other major on-line
services.

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