29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Explains Quicken in clear, easy-to-follow terms, December 18, 2000
This review is from: Quicken 2001 For Dummies Quick Reference (Plastic Comb)
{Pardon my 5-star immodesty. I am the author of this book and Amazon requires me to rate my book when I submit this review.)
Financial counselors agree that keeping good, accurate records is the first step toward financial security. In order to make sound financial decisions, you must be conscientious of your spending habits and know how much income you really have. How can you save for a down payment on a house if you don't know how much you are capable of saving? How can you tell if your investments are doing well if you don't track them carefully?
This book makes it very, very easy to track your finances with Quicken. After you have read it and started using the techniques described here, you will know what your net worth is, how much you spend in different areas, what your investments (if you have any) are worth, and how much in taxes you will owe next year. You will know how to generate reports and graphs that describe in clear terms what your spending habits are, plan for retirement, compare mortgages and loans, and analyze different types of investments.
This book is for people who want to get up to speed with Quicken in a hurry -- people who want to explore Quicken's many excellent features without spending a lot of time doing it. In this book, I don't describe how to use Quicken -- I explain how Quicken serve your and your financial goals.
Here are the topics (taken from the table of contents) that are covered in the book:
The Big Picture
What You See: A Quicken Window
What You See: An Account Register
Toolbar Table
The Basics: Starting Quicken
The Basics: Entering a Transaction in a Register
The Basics: Moving Around in Account Registers
The Basics: Moving from Window to Window
The Basics: Backing Up Your Quicken Data
The Basics: Opening an Account Register
The Basics: Using QuickEntry to Enter Transactions
The Basics: Closing Quicken
The Basics: Getting the Help You Need
What You Can Do: Find Out Where You Spend Your Money
What You Can Do: Write and Print Checks Electronically
What You Can Do: Instantly Update Your Portfolio on the Internet
What You Can Do: Get a Jump-Start on Your Taxes
Part I: Introducing Quicken
Examining the Tasks You Can Do in Quicken
Finding Your Way in Quicken
Setting Up a Checking, Savings, or Credit Card Account
Part II: Recording Your Financial Activity
Creating and Managing Your Categories and Subcategories
Entering Transactions in Checking and Savings Account Registers
Entering Transactions in Credit Card Registers
Finding @md and Fixing @md Lost Transactions
Getting Help from the Quicken Calculator
Handling a Cash Account
Moving Records from One Account or File to Another
Printing an Account Register
Printing Checks
Setting Up and Managing Category Groups
Setting Up and Managing Classes
Splitting a Transaction between Different Categories
Transferring Money Between Accounts
Voiding and Deleting Transactions
WebEntry: Taking Quicken on the Road
Part III: Reconciling a Bank or Other Kind of Account
All about Reconciling
Balancing a Checking or Savings Account
Balancing a Credit Card Account
Recognizing and Fixing Reconciliation Problems
Part IV: Making Your Time with Quicken More Productive
Being Alerted to Financial Events
Being Reminded to Do Things
Customizing the My Finances Window
Deciding What You See When You Start Quicken
Deciding Which Accounts to See on the Account List
Keeping Track of Addresses in the Financial Address Book
Making QuickFill Work Your Way
Recording a Paycheck Deposit Automatically
Scheduling Transactions So That You Don't Forget to Make Them
Part V: Techniques for Measuring Your Financial Success
Easy Answers from an EasyAnswer Report or Graph Getting a Ready-Made Report from Quicken
Graphing Your Finances
Making Your Own Customized Reports
Memorizing a Report or Graph So That You Can Use It Later
Printing Reports and Graphs
Part VI: Quicken for Investors
Comparing Investments and Indices
Entering Investment Transactions
Exploring Quicken.com (and Other Investment Web Sites)
Portfolio and Security Detail View for Examining Your Investments
Setting Up an Investment Account
Setting Up a Security
Updating the Market Value of Securities
Part VII: Planning Your Financial Future with Quicken
Budgeting with Quicken
Devising a Plan to Reduce Your Debt
Forecasting Your Future Cash Flow
Planning for Your Retirement
Saving for a Child's College Education
Saving Toward a Goal
Part VIII: Banking Online with Quicken
Applying for and Getting Ready to Use the Services
Connecting Quicken to the Internet
Getting Accurate, Up-to-Date Account Information
One Step Update: Going Online
Paying the Bills Online
Transferring Money Between Accounts
Part IX: Getting the Housekeeping Done
Archive Files: Closing Out the Year
Creating a New Data File
Deleting Accounts
Emergency Records Organizer: Keeping Your Vital Information
Moving Quicken Data to a New Computer
Protecting Your Financial Records with Passwords
Renaming, Copying, and Deleting Quicken Files
Restoring Data from Backed Up Files
Part X: Quicken as a Financial Analysis Tool
Calculating the Future Value of an Investment
Calculating the Price of a Loan or Mortgage
Forecasting Your Future Financial Position
Getting Home-Buying Advice
Investigating Whether to Refinance a Mortgage
Part XI: Getting Tax Help from Quicken
Estimating Capital Gains Taxes
Finding Ways to Lower Your Tax Bill
Qucken.com and Other Tax Resources on the Internet
Tagging Tax Categories So That You Can Generate Tax Reports
Tax Link Assistant: Assigning Categories to Lines on Income Tax Forms
Tax Planner: Estimating How Much in Taxes You Will Owe
Visiting Your Tax Center
Part XII: Tracking Loans, Liabilities, and Assets
Inventorying Your Possessions
Keeping Track of Assets
Tracking an Amortized Car or Home Loan
Tracking a Liability
Glossary of Financial Terms
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