Quicken 2004 Manages Your Personal Finances in Minutes Has It Really Been 20 Years? Eric Grevstad
Mon 8/25/03 -- Promising to eliminate the barriers that have kept people from realizing the benefits of personal finance software, Intuit Inc. has shipped Quicken 2004 for Windows, which the company claims redefines financial management as boldly as the original Quicken did 20 years ago.
According to Intuit, fewer than 30 percent of PC-owning households use personal finance software, because it's too hard to set up accounts and keep data up to date. Quicken 2004's Express Setup virtually eliminates the time and effort of data entry, creating an account, downloading your recent financial activity, and even presenting a pie chart of your spending as soon as you enter the name of your bank, an ID name, and PIN number. The feature works with over 2,000 participating banks, brokerages, and credit card and 401(k) providers.
A completely redesigned investments area provides at-a-glance answers to key questions about your portfolio, with no need to track the detailed history of each investment account during setup. Consolidating an entire portfolio in Quicken gives investors new insight into its total value, performance over time, any underperforming stocks or funds, and whether their assets are appropriately diversified or keeping up with market benchmarks. Mutual-fund insights keep you informed of hidden fees or Morningstar rating changes.
A new Financial Overview Center makes it easy to track your net worth, automatically creating charts and graphs of overall financial health with all accounts set up in Quicken. Quicken 2004 is available in Basic ($30), Deluxe ($60), Premier ($80), and Premier Home & Business ($90) versions; all except Basic offer a $20 rebate for upgrades.
