Software Microsoft Money 2007 Deluxe [OLD VERSION]
Rating:  -
I upgraded to MS Money 2007 from MS Money 2004. The look has changed but I can't find any improved functionality. It is harder to get to and find certain features unless they are added to a customized short-cut bar.
And the bugs . . .
I have problems and error messages that I have never encountered before - mainly in getting online updates. Every time I start 2007 it says I need to download updates. When I try to download updates it gives an error message to the effect that security software may be interfering with the download. I got the same message when I de-activated the security suite and after I uninstalled it. With no firewall (not even Windows' firewall), no virusscan, and no spyware even installed on the machine Money 2007 says it cannot download updates and suggests that the security software may be a problem.
If I start Money 2007 and close it, I cannot open it again without re-booting the machine. It gives me an error message that it is already running.
About 1/2 the time that I try to download credit card activity I receive an error message on one or more accounts that it cannot connect.
Reports that worked fine in 2004 are not performing calculations the way they did in 2004. My Net Worth report is no longer date specific. In 2007 it is reporting as if it were Account List. As far as I can tell, it is set to report account balances as of todays date and not include future posted activity.
(I am updating this due to a new bug that I only noticed today, Aug. 19, 2007) The Performance by Investment Report is now calculating from balances that do not tie back to actual activity. It has added amounts to low risk investments (Money Markets & Capital Preservation) so that those investments are now showing losses in the 40 to 75% range. When I pulled the transactions to verify those balances, they are not there. The transactions tie back to the more reasonble 2 - 5% gains those investments have really earned. This is just wierd.
I never had any of the above problems with Money 2004. In fact, I can't recall any persistently annoying bugs.
Rating:  -
I've used Money for about four years now and have become very familiar with it. I don't have many complaints about it and I've recently upgraded to the 2007 version. I use it mainly to keep track of investments and for those of you who are similarly inclined, I'd like to share some thoughts about the Performance Report flaws that I've discovered:
#1. 1-Year Total Return Flaw
Whatever 1-year returns of a particular stock we wish to calculate, Money always uses the start date a day earlier than it should be.
This is best illustrated by assuming we want to calculate the 1-Year Total Return for the year to Dec 31, 2006. Strictly speaking, this period should run from Jan 1, 2006 to Dec 31, 2006. However, since the opening price for Jan 1, 2006 is the closing price for Dec 31, 2005, the correct dates to use are Dec 31, 2005 to Dec 31, 2006. However, for unknown reasons, Money uses the price at Dec 30, 2005 (rather than Dec 31, 2005) for its start date
One may think that a day's difference will not much affect the performance metric, but consider this:
A not unusual practice is for prices to be updated at the end of every quarter i.e. as at Mar 31, Jun 30, Sep 30 and Dec 31 in line with the popular gauging of investment performance on a quarterly basis. In the above example, since Money cannot find the price as at Dec 30, 2005, it uses the latest price available i.e. the one at Sep 30, 2005. Thus for the year to Dec 31, 2006, under the above circumstances, Money calculates the performance from Sep 30, 2005 to Dec 31, 2006, a period of 15 months instead of one year.
At best, Money is a day out in computing 1-year total returns. At worst, where prices are updated quarterly (or even half-yearly), the 1-Year Total Return performance metric is completely misleading. Although not tested, this flaw may also extend to the 3-Year Total Return metric. The Year to Date Total Return and All Dates Total Return do not seem to be so affected.
#2. Foreign Stocks and Performance Report Flaw
(This flaw is also present in Quicken 2007 in case you're wondering)
The performance report computes the percentage rate of return or annualized percentage return on investment. The method of computation is: "current market value plus income, minus beginning market value, divided by beginning market value" according to Money. Where foreign stocks are concerned, the proper "beginning market value" should be based on the beginning market price as well as the beginning exchange rate. As Money does not retain historical exchange rates the way that it does historical stock prices, the beginning market value (as well as the current market value) is computed using the current exchange rate.
An example to guage performance for the period Jan 1, 2006 to Dec 31, 2006 will illustrate the problem of not maintaining and utilizing historical exchange rates to value beginning market values (pardon the lack of formatting. The data is in five columns):
Date: Jan 1,06(Actual) Dec 31,06(Actual) Jan 1,06(Money) Dec 31,06(Money)
Quantity: 100 100 100 100
Price in foreign currency: 8 10 8 10
Exchange rate (Note 1): 2.00 1.50 1.50 1.50
Value in USD: 1,600 1,500 1,200 1,500
Gain/(Loss) in USD: n/a (100) n/a 300
Percentage Annual Return: n/a (6.25%) n/a 25.00%
Note 1: We assume here that the correct opening rate is 2.00 USD to one unit of foreign currency and the closing rate is 1.50. However, Money uses the same closing rate as the opening rate.
The significant observations to be made are:
1. the rate of return computed by Money (25%) is completely wrong as compared with the correct rate (-6.25%).
2. the ridiculous situation of having lost money (1,600 at start versus 1,500 at end) and yet having Money report a positive return of 25%! This has come about because although the share price has increased somewhat (8 at start versus 10 at end) which is recognized by Money, the exchange rate has fallen, value wise, by even more (2.00 at start versus 1.50 at end) which is not recognized by Money.
This problem is not just a bug that can be easily fixed. It shows that the exchange rate implementation by Money is fundamentally flawed. It is plainly obvious that in order to calculate performance on foreign stocks, Money has to maintain historical data for both prices as well as exchange rates.
#3. Money Unable to Calculate Annual Percentage Rate (Sometimes)
The subtotal for stocks investment type does not show a figure for annual percentage rate (shows "N/A" instead) if there are individual stocks that are held for more than about 12 years. The individual stock itself however shows the correct APR.
For example, if a stock bought on Sep 9, 1994 is included in the portfolio, the APR for stocks sub-total shows "N/A". Change the date to Sep 9, 2004 and the APR figure appears.
Comments to wongp@pc.jaring.my
Apr 21, 2007.
Rating:  -
My best rating for Microsoft Money Deluxe is it is pure JUNK. Don't was your money. If it works at all, trust ,it is not with Microsoft Vista. A class action law suit sounds in order for this GARBAGE.
Rating:  -
Though it may lack some of the integrated tools of Quicken or other financial software, MS Money continues to be the best entry level software of its genre and the best value for the money. Particularly notable is the ease of integrating it with your on-line banking tools to create a one stop shop for your financial needs.
Rating: -
I have been a Microsoft Money user for many, many years. (Going back to Money '98? I forget.) I reluctantly upgraded to Money 2007 Premium earlier this year from Money 2004 when I read somewhere that Money 2004 was no longer going to be supported. (I also read that Money 2005, Money 2006, and Money 2007 had issues. Hence my reluctance to upgrade.)
For years, I have sync'ed Money with my online accounts on nearly a daily basis. I'm that kind of focused on keeping my eye on my money, and Money has historically served me very well in this habit. Money 2007 does not.
Since installing it, I have:
1) Battled with my prior bank for nearly two months to get them to figure out by Money 2007 does not synchronize with their systems.
2) Installed and reinstalled Money 2007 on several different workstations to test the synchronization issue with my years-old Money file and new, empty Money files. Always fails.
3) Now I have *switched banks* thinking the syncing issue was my bank's fault. It wasn't. It's Microsoft Money's fault.
Syncing fails *every* time with a helpful OBRES 22063 error. Oh, yea, that
one! We all know just what that is.
I have read every Microsoft knowledge base article I can find. I have perused public.microsoft.money and other usenet groups. I have Googled. I have read blogs. The only thing I find is that lots of people have this problem with lots of different financial institutions, and Microsoft is doing nothing about it
In Money 2004, this worked flawlessly nearly every time. Why did it
break?!?!!
So if you're looking to have Money synchronize with your accounts online, look elsewhere. But if you're all about putting everything in manually, this product will serve you just fine.
Buy a copy of Quicken instead!
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