Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xii
Introduction xiii
Part 1 Learning Quicken Basics
1 Introducing Quicken 3
What Is Quicken? 4
Exploring Quickens Uses 4
Getting Started 5
Installing Quicken 5
Starting Quicken 10
Creating Your First Account 10
The Quicken Interface 14
Exploring the Quicken Window 14
Understanding Online Financial Services 16
Accounts 17
Using One Step Update and the Password Vault 17
Setting Up One Step Update 17
Understanding the Quicken ID 21
Understanding the Password Vault 21
Exiting Quicken 23
2 Getting Started with the Basics 25
How Financial Transactions Are Tracked 25
Bookkeeping with Quicken 26
Reviewing Account Types 27
Exploring the Quicken Window 29
Understanding Other Quicken Features 35
Finding Help in Quicken 38
As You Begin 40
Understanding Data Files and Accounts 40
Accounts 42
Creating More Accounts 42
3 Understanding Quicken Mobile 45
Understand Mobile Applications 45
Appreciating Mobile 46
Meet Quickens Mobile App 46
About Your Mobile Companion 46
Beginning with Quicken's Mobile App 47
Understanding Your Quicken ID 48
Getting Started from Your Desktop 48
Setting Alerts 53
Using Your Mobile Device 55
Getting Started on Your Mobile Device 55
Working with the Quicken Mobile Overview Page 57
Part 2 Organizing Quicken for You
4 Organizing Your Data 69
Setting Up Other Banking Accounts 69
Reviewing Account and Transaction Types 70
Working with Bank Accounts 71
Adding New Accounts 75
Working with the Account List Window 78
Categories 88
Establishing Categories and Subcategories 88
Working with the Category List Window 88
Organizing Categories into Groups 91
Tags 97
Using Tags 97
5 Using Bank and Credit Transactions 101
Getting Started 102
Quicken's Registers 102
Using Account Registers 103
Working with QuickFill and Memorized Payees 114
Understanding Splits 119
Tracking Credit Cards with Quicken 121
Writing and Printing Checks in Quicken 125
Printing Quicken Checks 128
Transferring Money 129
Working with Existing Transactions 130
Searching for Transactions 130
Quicken's Other Account Features 137
Adding Notes, Flags, and Alerts 138
Attaching Checks, Receipts, or Other Images 138
Watching Your Credit Score 140
6 Downloading into Quicken 143
Online Account Services 144
Understanding Transaction Download 144
Introducing Online Payment and Quicken Bill Pay 144
Setting Up Online Account Services 146
Checking Online Account Service Status 148
The Online Center 151
Using the Online Center Window 151
Downloading Transactions 152
Making Online Payments 163
Part 3 Tracking Your Money
7 Recording Your Bills and Paychecks 173
Bills and Income Reminders 174
Being Reminded 174
Creating Reminders from Downloaded Transactions 175
Working with the Bills & Income Tab 180
Using the Bills Center 181
Use Bill Reminders 183
Managing Reminders 188
Using the Financial Calendar 192
Useful Quicken Features 195
Minding Your Bills 195
Using the Paycheck Setup Wizard 196
A Closer Look at the Spending Tab 199
Exploring the Spending Graph 199
Using the Spending Register 202
Creating the Address Book 204
About Alerts 208
Viewing Available Alerts Groups 208
8 Reconciling to the Bank 213
Reconciling Bank Accounts 214
Starting a Reconciliation 214
Comparing Transactions to a Paper Statement 219
Identifying Reconciled Items 223
Finishing Up 224
Other Reconciliation Tasks and Features 226
Reconciling Credit Card Accounts 226
Printing a Reconciliation Report 230
Undoing Reconciled Transactions 232
9 Managing Your Investments 233
Quicken Investment Basics 234
Understanding Your Portfolio 234
Creating Investing Accounts 237
Setting Up Transaction Downloads 247
Working with Investment Accounts 254
Understanding the Investment Transaction List 255
Exploring the Account Overview Window 259
Using the Investment Transaction Dialog 262
Entering Common Transactions 266
Working with the Security List 272
Viewing the Security List 272
Downloading Quotes and Investment Information 279
Downloading Online Quotes 279
Creating a Watch List 283
Using Investing Quicken.com for Updates 284
Exporting Your Portfolio 284
Utilizing Quote Lookup 286
Using Online Research 286
Part 4 Assessing Your "Money's Worth"
10 Working with Your Assets 291
The Basics 292
Understanding Assets and Debts 292
Creating Property and Debt Accounts 294
Loan Accounts in Quicken 298
Creating a Loan Account 299
Viewing Loan Information 308
Making Loan Payments 308
Modifying Loan Information 311
Other Asset Transactions 318
Adding and Disposing of Assets 318
Updating Asset Values 319
The Property & Debt Tab 320
Exploring the Net Worth View 322
Using the Property View 326
Opening the Debt View 328
Accessing Property and Debt Account Registers 333
Creating Alerts for Property and Debt Accounts 334
Setting Up Property and Debt Alerts 334
11 Understanding Your Financial Position 337
Using the Investing Tab 338
Working with the Portfolio View 339
Using the Portfolio X-Ray 345
Studying Your Performance 347
Exploring Asset Allocation 352
Updating Your Investments 356
Working with Reports 357
Utilizing Investing Tab Tools 358
Using Investment Analysis Tools 358
Using Asset Allocation 358
Analyzing Your Portfolio 361
Previewing Your Buy/Sell Decisions 363
Estimating Capital Gains 364
Setting Investment Alerts 366
Part 5 Looking Toward Tomorrow
12 Using Quicken Tools for Future Planning 371
Planning for Retirement 372
Planning Your Steps 372
Getting Started with the Quicken Lifetime Planner 374
Setting Plan Assumptions 375
Savings & Investments 382
Viewing Plan Results 392
The "What If" Alternatives 394
Setting "What If" Options 395
Using "What If" Results 395
Finding More Planning Tools 396
A Look at Quicken's Financial Calculators 396
Learning About Financial Calculators 396
Accessing the Financial Calculators 396
Using the Financial Calculators 397
Working with the Retirement Calculator 397
Running the College Calculator 399
Evaluating the Refinance Calculator 401
Planning with the Savings Calculator 402
Using the Loan Calculator 403
13 Saving Money by Reducing Debt 407
Reducing Your Debt 408
Taking Control 408
Using the Debt Reduction Planner 410
Budgeting with Quicken 424
Quicken's Automatic Budget 424
Understanding Quicken's Automatic Budget 426
Working with Your Automatic Budget 426
The Annual View 432
Creating Your Own Budget 435
Where Does Your Money Go? 436
Forecasting for Your Future 437
Understanding Why We Save 438
Using Savings Goals 439
14 Preparing for Taxes 443
Tax Information in Accounts and Categories 444
Including Tax Information in Accounts 444
Connecting Tax Information with Categories 445
Tax Reports 447
Online Tax Tools 448
About Turbo Tax 450
Using Turbo Tax 451
Planning to Avoid Surprises 452
Working with the Tax Planner 453
Creating Scenarios 455
Meeting the Estimators 456
Minimizing Taxes by Maximizing Deductions 456
Utilizing the Itemized Deduction Estimator 459
Exploring the Tax Withholding Estimator 460
Understanding the Tax Center 461
15 Using Quicken Reports 465
Quicken Reports Overview 466
Reviewing Report and Graph Types 466
Creating Reports and Graphs 468
Working with Reports and Graphs 472
Working with a Report Window 472
Customizing Reports and Graphs 476
Working with Subreports 479
Saving Reports and Graphs 479
Exporting Your Reports 483
Printing Reports and Graphs 485
Part 6 Appendixes
A Managing Quicken Files 489
Working with Multiple Data Files 490
Creating a New Data File 491
Opening, Saving, and Showing Quicken Data Files 492
Password-Protecting Quicken Data 494
Protecting a Data File 494
Protecting Existing Transactions 496
Working with Passwords 497
Backing Up Your Quicken Data File 498
Setting Backup Preferences 499
Backing Up Your Data 501
Restoring Data Files 504
Additional File Procedures 506
Importing Files into Quicken 506
Exporting Quicken Files 507
Working with Additional File Operations 507
Setting Up Printers 512
Setting Up for Check Printing 513
Using Keyboard Shortcuts 515
B Customizing Quicken 517
Customizing Quicken's Interface 517
Creating Custom Home Tab Views 518
Re-creating the Summary View 520
Crafting an Analysis & Reports View 523
Customizing the Toolbar 523
Setting Preferences 528
Telling Quicken Your Preferences 528
Useful Tips 541
Converting Your Older Quicken Files to a New Computer 541
Changing Multiple Transactions 542
Quicken Emergency Records Organizer 543
Using the Emergency Records Organizer 544
Creating Reports in the Emergency Records Organizer 545
Index 546
