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Review of:
Quicken Deluxe 99 
by Dick Stewart
About 15 years ago (1983) I started using a program called Money Street, written by a man in Las Vegas (long since gone out of business) in assembly language with 100 categories. I though it was great. Then Quicken was introduced. Boy, I jumped on it and have been using it ever since. I love it! 

I have been teaching a Quicken SIG class for about 8 years now and find that about 95% of my students really like our help showing how to track their investments with Quicken, i.e., stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Having been a stock broker for 40 years, with a seat on the Stock Exchange, I feel very qualified to help people in that category. 

At Stewart Center, we use Quicken Deluxe 99 to maintain about four separate bank accounts, an investment portfolio with 20 different registrations, 74 different stocks, preferreds and bonds and about 15 mutual funds. They are all linked together in one file called "All Accounts". At the push of one button, we can updated all accounts, both by individual registrations, with each category totaled and one grand total of everything, in about two minutes on the Internet (quotes are unlimited and free but delayed 15 minuets—which is no problem to me). The Quicken report prints out on two sheets and is a life saver. It's almost a mini-financial statement. We use it every day for our small business and all our personal business. The check register, reconciling, etc. are great. I believe it to be the best financial accounting program available. 

You may ask, why don't you use Quick Books Pro V 6.0? We have it and its good. Its advantages over Quicken are: 

  1. It's great for invoicing 
  2. It's great for inventory
We don't use either, so we stick with Quicken 98 or 99. 

What's new in Quicken 99? 

     
  1. A new home page with plenty of summaries of all categories and key elements.

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  2. Enter transactions quickly with the new Quick entry time saver.

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  3. Greatly enhanced financial down loading of historical stock and fund quotes up to 5 years history so that you'll be more informed to make investment decisions.

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  4. Results at a glance with new Financial Activity Centers, which include Banking, Financial Planning, Investments, Home, Vehicles and Taxes.

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  5. One step update: download multiple financial information from different banks, brokerages etc. and other on line data with one click and one password.

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  6. Download directly from the Web into Quicken 99.

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  7. Put your full investment portfolio on a website (password protected of course) and check it from anywhere, for the latest prices and performance.

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  8. Taxability for investment transactions, cost basis option, either average cost or separate lots, which ever is to your advantage.

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  9. Simplified budgeting. Its great and very useful. I swear by it.
I could go on and on but I'm still learning, it never ends does it? 
 
 

One more thing

Import, free of charge, into Turbo Tax, all of your Quicken income tax data and prepare your tax return online right from Quicken 99. At the end of each calendar year we print out all our categories, expanded (which means listing every single check we write in that category). This takes about 10 pages that we then we print on one page summaries or one line totals of each category and give this Quicken report to our accountants who easily prepare our income tax return. We used to do our taxes ourselves in Turbo Tax, but I'm getting older and lazier so I gave the program to one of my tenants in our building. 
 
 

Websites

Time Magazine says: "If you're good for only one stop—then go to: Quicken.com. This is the place to settle in and soak up its selection of financial information!" It's all-free. 

For small businesses: get advice, news and information tools you need to succeed plus business forms and travel services, go to: www.quickenBiz.com

For information on choosing small business loans, leases or credit or to apply for a loan, go here: www.cashfinder.com

You can shop for mortgage loans, compare loans from different lenders, apply on line at www.QuickenMortgage.com 

The place to go when you need financial news and information: www.CNNfn.com

System Requirements

IBM PC or compatible (486 or higher), Windows 95 (8MB Ram), Windows 98 (16MB Ram) or windows NT 4.0 (16MB Ram), 10MB free disk space, Windows-compatible inkjet or laser printer, Internet Explorer 3 and Internet access. 

As you know Quicken is a product of Intuit, San Diego, CA. Q-98 Deluxe Tech Support 1-520/618-7101 (5,6) Support is free except you pay for call. Intuit Sales: 1-800/446-8848, Quicken Visa Gold Card: 1-800/225-5709. As you know, these numbers frequently change without notice. 

If you need help call us at 828-1221, mornings only and attend our SIG classes on the third Tuesday of each month at 5120 Broadway in the Stewart Center. Call the phone number to be sure the class is on that night. We will be happy to help you in every phase of Quicken with which we have experience. Believe me, we do not know it all — no way. Next Quicken SIG is 7-9 PM, Tuesday, November 16, 1998, in the Stewart Center Complex, 5120 Broadway, ground floor, in back. You'all come! 

R. L. " Dick " Stewart, was a regular air force pilot, who quit and became a stockbroker with his own company from 1950 to 1990. Dick currently owns and manages, with help of his daughter, Patti, the Stewart Center Complex in the 5100 Block of Broadway in the "Heart" of Alamo Heights. They have 55 separate tenants and its keeps them real busy keeping everyone happy.