Microsoft Money 2003 Deluxe

Before you invest in Microsoft Money 2003 Deluxe, you should ask yourself if you really need it. If you're fortunate enough to have a simple financial environment with few delinquent payments, and if you've already arranged a comprehensive investment and online banking routine, you may find it redundant and superfluous. However, if you're constantly asking yourself where your latest paycheck went or simply don't know how to best make your money work for you, the program may well seem indispensable.

Sporting a wealth of online and offline tools, numerous instructional videos, and a series of supportive verbal prompts, Money 2003 is much more than just a simple debt and asset tracker. After a little familiarization and an hour or two with its excellent Setup Assistant, you'll soon be banking and paying bills from one convenient online interface, initiating and managing your investments, intelligently forecasting future expenditures and savings, and accurately estimating your taxes. The 2003 edition also allows you to research investments, initiate stock reminders and alerts, track equity and index options, and even customize interfaces.

Furthermore, Money 2003 Deluxe features several intriguing additional perks not found in the Standard edition. Microsoft has also included one year of complimentary online bill payments through MSN, a variety of sophisticated portfolio management and tax tools, and much more. Potential customers should be advised that many of the program's services are functional only if you have an Internet connection and a Microsoft Passport. Fortunately, the latter is free of charge.

Microsoft Money 2003 is a broad offline and online financial planner and record-keeper that will make quick work of any and all budgetary issues. Its slick presentation may even make the usually laborious job of managing personal finances downright enjoyable. --Gordon Goble

Amazon.com Product Description
Microsoft Money 2003 Deluxe lets you manage your day-to-day finances, pay bills, track investments, prepare and file your taxes, and build a financial plan for your future. New features include auto balancing, a bills estimator, spending comparison reports, and investment reminders.

With Deluxe you can manage all aspects of your investment portfolio. Track your investments, including stocks, mutual funds, equity, index, and employee stock options. Estimate capital gains and view performance reports. Research investments and keep up with market developments with MSN Money tools. Achieve your future financial goals, such as reducing your debt, forecasting your cash flow, planning for retirement, financing an education, or saving to buy a house or car.

Money 2003 Deluxe features improved register reconciliation, better bill management, and the ability to save up to five scenarios to compare options of realized capital gains. Automatically balance accounts when they match your downloaded statements. Track equity and index calls, puts, and LEAPs. Even define the way payees are matched in downloaded statements to suit your preferences. Money 2003 Deluxe is a complete solution for finance management on your PC.

One botheration which another reviewer pointed out is that the shares purchased should be rounded to 3 decimal places instead of six. It always messes up the sale if you have partial purchases like DRIP etc.