The Best Personal Financial Software
The days of balancing your checkbook on paper, writing down expenses on ledgers and organizing your monthly budget into envelopes are slowly fading. Thanks to the pervasive nature of computers and the Internet, a steady stream of software programs offer you convenient, instantaneous ways to manage, track and edit various aspects of your personal finances. If all the options on the shelves of your neighborhood computer store leave you feeling dizzy, editors of computer and finance magazines have highlighted some of the best personal finance software options on the market.
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TurboTax Deluxe 2010
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No one likes to do their taxes, but the right tax management program can help make the experience a little easier. The 2010 deluxe version of TurboTax won a 2010 editors' choice award from the CNET website -- the only tax program to do so. In giving TurboTax 4.5 stars out of five, the site's editors said TurboTax has "impressed" them for years and that the 2010 version was "no exception." Features include live support, in-depth tax analysis that can take into account major life changes like marriage or career changes, and the ability to automatically fill in your tax forms using data from your employer.
Mint
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With Internet access on everything from your computer to your cell phone, online-only personal finance programs let you monitor the status of your personal finances pretty much anywhere. When it comes to online personal finance software, Mint's free services are the best, according to "PC Magazine." The magazine gave Mint an editors' choice award in the winter of 2009, praising its ability to take into account everything from your stock portfolio to the value of your real estate. Besides just letting you see all your financial information in one spot, aggregated from various institutions like your credit card company and savings account, Mint also lets you create personalized budgets.
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Quicken Premier
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Despite the rise of free and low-cost personal finance software, both computer-only and online, "Kiplinger" magazine reports that Quicken Premier is still the best personal finance program out there. It doesn't just let you track your expenses, income and budget like most personal finance programs. The magazine specifically praised Quicken's "robust" ability to monitor the performance of your investment portfolio, letting you keep tabs on important criteria like your current asset location. You also can enter your bill due dates and get alerts when a bill's deadline looms on the horizon.
IGG Software iBank 4
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For a Mac-specific personal finance experience, "Macworld" magazine recommends IGG's iBank software. The magazine gave it four out of five stars in January 2011, which makes it the highest-rated personal finance program as of March 2011. It's "excellent" and has "almost everything you need," summarized the publication. Features include instantly generated graphs for pictorial snapshots of your financial status plus uncommon budgeting designs. For example, people who liked their grandmother's use of the traditional envelope budget can employ the same style, albeit virtually using electronic envelopes.
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