Quicken 2009 Versions and Features

Quicken 2009 Starter Edition provides very basic personal finance tools, but does not import data from Quicken Deluxe or higher Quicken versions.

Quicken 2009 Starter Edition features include:

• Categorize expenses and keep a budget.


• View monthly expected income and expenses and how much money is left over after expenses are paid.


• Reconcile accounts.


• Download account transactions.


• Generate income tax reports and import tax data into TurboTax.

Quicken 2009 Starter Edition retails for $29.99. At the time this was written, Quicken 2009 Starter Edition was available through a variety of retailers, but not on Quicken.com.

Quicken 2009 Deluxe

Quicken 2009 Navigation Tabs


Screen shot by Shelley Elmblad

Quicken 2009 Deluxe has all the features of Quicken Starter Edition, plus the following features:

• Tabbed navigation on the right with quick access to reminders, Quicken online community and guidance for the part of Quicken being used.


• My Savings Plan for advanced budgeting.


• Quicken Attachments for transactions and accounts.


• 401(k), IRA and 529 account tracking.


• Collapsible left account navigation bar for increased work space.


• Tag transactions similar to tagging web pages in social bookmarks.


• Quicken Billminder Gadget for Windows Vista users shows scheduled bills and transactions right on your desktop.

Quicken 2009 Deluxe retails for $59.99, but you can compare prices for Quicken Deluxe to find a better deal.

Quicken 2009 Premier

Asset Allocation in Quicken Investments Center


Screen Shot by Shelley Elmblad

Quicken 2009 Premier includes all the features of Quicken Deluxe along with investing tools with the latest asset allocation and investing guidelines. Other investment tools in Quicken 2009 Premier features include:

• Investment performance analysis.


• Help with minimizing taxes on capital gains.


• Reporting for IRS Schedules A, B and D.


• Morningstar ratings for mutual funds and ETFs.

The investing tools in Quicken 2009 Premier bump up the retail price over Quicken Deluxe by $30 to $89.99, but compare prices for Quicken 2009 Premier before paying retail.

Quicken 2009 Home & Business

Quicken Home & Business Home Page


Screen Shot by Shelley Elmblad

Many small business owners combine both personal and business transactions in one account. Quicken 2009 Home & Business has tools to help with separating personal and business expenses for tax and profit reporting.

• Business and personal income and expense categories are clearly separated.


• The Profit and Loss view revealsd eposits plus expected income, expenses plus upcoming bills, deductible totals and profit/loss for the current and previous months.


• Possible tax-deductible expenses flagged for review.


• Year-to-Date tax deduction reporting.

Quicken 2009 Home & Business retails for $99.99, and you can compare prices for Quicken 2009 Home & Business to check for deals.

Compare the features and costs of Quicken 2009 versions so you can decide which Quicken version works for managing your personal finances. Click on the images for a closer look.

Quicken 2009 Starter Edition provides very basic personal finance tools, but does not import data from Quicken Deluxe or higher Quicken versions.

Quicken 2009 Starter Edition features include:

• Categorize expenses and keep a budget.


• View monthly expected income and expenses and how much money is left over after expenses are paid.


• Reconcile accounts.


• Download account transactions.


• Generate income tax reports and import tax data into TurboTax.

Quicken 2009 Starter Edition retails for $29.99. At the time this was written, Quicken 2009 Starter Edition was available through a variety of retailers, but not on Quicken.com.

Compare prices for Quicken Starter Edition.

Quicken 2009 Deluxe

Quicken 2009 Navigation Tabs


Screen shot by Shelley Elmblad

Quicken 2009 Deluxe has all the features of Quicken Starter Edition, plus the following features:

• Tabbed navigation on the right with quick access to reminders, Quicken online community and guidance for the part of Quicken being used.


• My Savings Plan for advanced budgeting.


• Quicken Attachments for transactions and accounts.


• 401(k), IRA and 529 account tracking.


• Collapsible left account navigation bar for increased work space.


• Tag transactions similar to tagging web pages in social bookmarks.


• Quicken Billminder Gadget for Windows Vista users shows scheduled bills and transactions right on your desktop.

Quicken 2009 Deluxe retails for $59.99, but you can compare prices for Quicken Deluxe to find a better deal.

Quicken 2009 Premier

Asset Allocation in Quicken Investments Center


Screen Shot by Shelley Elmblad

Quicken 2009 Premier includes all the features of Quicken Deluxe along with investing tools with the latest asset allocation and investing guidelines. Other investment tools in Quicken 2009 Premier features include:

• Investment performance analysis.


• Help with minimizing taxes on capital gains.


• Reporting for IRS Schedules A, B and D.


• Morningstar ratings for mutual funds and ETFs.

The investing tools in Quicken 2009 Premier bump up the retail price over Quicken Deluxe by $30 to $89.99, but compare prices for Quicken 2009 Premier before paying retail.

Quicken 2009 Home & Business

Quicken Home & Business Home Page


Screen Shot by Shelley Elmblad

Many small business owners combine both personal and business transactions in one account. Quicken 2009 Home & Business has tools to help with separating personal and business expenses for tax and profit reporting.

• Business and personal income and expense categories are clearly separated.


• The Profit and Loss view revealsd eposits plus expected income, expenses plus upcoming bills, deductible totals and profit/loss for the current and previous months.


• Possible tax-deductible expenses flagged for review.


• Year-to-Date tax deduction reporting.

Quicken 2009 Home & Business retails for $99.99.

The Best Personal Finance Software for Your Pocket PC or Palm PDA

You will get many benefit Using personal finance software on the PDA (handheld computer) , including the ability to enter transactions as they happen. Palm and Pocket PC PDA users need personal finance software that renders readable graphs and meaningful reports on their PDA and that makes data entry simple.

PDA Operating Systems

Pocket PCs and Palms refer to two different PDA operating systems. Personal finance software for Palm PDAs will not run on Pocket PCs. Be sure to buy personal finance software for the correct operating system: Palm or Pocket PC (Win CE or Windows Mobile).

Desktop Software

It is convenient to have personal finance software on the desktop computer that synchronizes data with financial software on a PDA, byt desktop software is not necessary and not all PDA users are interested in using it. While you read the suggestions below for PDA personal finance software keep in mind:

• Even if PDA personal finance software comes with or will work with desktop software such as Quicken or Microsoft Money, PDA software does not require a desktop application.
• If you decide to buy stand alone PDA software, desktop personal finance software that will synchronize with the PDA software can be added later.

Desktop Synchonization Choices

For PDA users who already have personal finance software on the desktop or laptop computer:

• Either Pocket PC or Palm PDA users who use Quicken on the desktop: Nothing other than Pocket Quicken will do, and there is a version for Pocket PC and Palm.
• Palm PDA users who also use Microsoft Money on the desktop: Ultrasoft Money has been providing seamless data synchronization with Microsoft Money for years and is a favorite software application in the Palm user community.
• Those owning a Pocket PC and using Microsoft Money on the desktop: Sbp Finance, which is very stable, fully-featured personal finance software for Pocket PCs.

For PDA users who do all personal finance tracking on a PDA with no desktop software synchronization:

• The Pocket PC fans will find Sbp Finance to be the best, most fully-featured personal finance software developed for the Pocket PC.
• Palm PDA users will like SplashMoney's ability to download transactions from financial institutions via wifi and SplashMoney's excellent graphics.