One of the reasons Aaron Patzer founded personal finance site Mint.com was because of his frustrations with Intuit’s financial management software Quicken. Quicken, says Patzer wasn’t user-friendly, and in Patzer’s own words “felt like a product from 1996.” Flash forward two years, and Patzer’s Mint.com (which was also a TechCrunch50 winner) was bought by Intuit for $170 million in the Fall of 2009. Clearly, Intuit perhaps agreed with Patzer, who is now vice president and general manager of Intuit’s personal finance group, that its own financial products needed a a makeover. Today, Quicken 2011 is debuting its software for Windows that includes more features from Mint.com.
This is the first version of Quicken to reflect the collaboration of the Quicken Desktop and Mint.com product and engineering teams since last fall. The new version for Windows users includes 360-degree financial view that brings together all accounts, including bank, credit card, investment and retirement. Intuit has also added support for 7,000 more banks and now lists 12,000 banks and credit union in the U.S.
Quicken’s new automated engine categorizes transactions (i.e. business, clothes, groceries, etc.) Credit card payments are automatically matched to transfers from checking or savings, to ensure they’re not double-counted. You can also create budgets within the software based on an individual’s historical spending and the software will include expense alerts and a graph to project cash flow help users avoid late fees and penalties. Pricing for Quicken 2011 ranges from $29.99 to $89.99.
Patzer says of the new version: “It combines the best of Quicken with what we built into Mint.com to help ease the burden on people trying to manage their money…The product is customizable and intuitive, two things that people have come to expect from modern software.”
One feature that is clearly lacking between Quicken and Mint is the ability to sync your Quicken desktop software with your Mint.com web account, and integrate the data (Quicken Online users are being merged to Mint.com). But Patzer says that this will soon be added to the suite of products. His goal is for Quicken and Mint to work seamlessly across all platforms, including mobile.
On another note, the Intuit acquisition doesn’t seem to have stunted Mint.com’s growth. Patzer says that the platform has grown from 1.7 million users in September of 2009 to 4.2 million users currently.
Ontario’s
recipe for improving Canada’s pension retirement system includes both
modest improvements to the Canada Pension Plan and new pension
innovations from the private sector, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan
says in a new report.
The province issued a consultation paper Friday,
asking for public input on proposals to improve pensions for Ontarians
as part of a national initiative to find solutions to boost retirement
incomes across Canada.
In a letter accompanying the report, Mr.
Duncan continued to support a proposal he endorsed at a national
finance minister’s meeting in June calling for an expansion of CPP
benefits for Canadians. The proposal has faced opposition from Alberta
and is expected to be debated again at a finance minister’s meeting in
December.
“A modest enhancement to the CPP now would provide a
significant benefit to these workers when they retire,” Mr. Duncan
said. “I believe such an enhancement is affordable if contribution
rates are phased in gradually, particularly in light of the over
$8-billion in annual tax relief Ontario will be providing to businesses
as part of its tax plan.”
The report does not back any specific
model for achieving that goal, however, only outlining different
options and asking for comment on the choices.
Currently,
CPP benefits are structured to replace 25 per cent of an individual’s
career average earnings up to an annual limit currently set at $47,200,
although most retirees do not qualify for the maximum amount.
One
reform option is to increase the maximum income replacement rate from
25 per cent currently to a higher rate, such as 35 per cent, the report
said. Another option is to increase the maximum earnings ceiling, the
report said, noting that a 50 per cent or 100 per cent increase would
move it from $47,200 a year to $70,800 or $94,400.
The report also
asks for comments on potential implementation issues with expanding
the CPP, including how to phase in the increases and how extra money in
the fund should be managed. It also questions whether an increase
would have an impact on other retirement savings by inducing employers
to reduce their pension benefits or inducing individuals to save less
on their own.
Mr. Duncan also said governments should make regulatory changes that will provide better private-sector pension options.
In
his letter accompanying the report, he said current rules only allow
pension plans to be offered by an employer to an employee. This limits
options for people who are self-employed or who work for small companies
that cannot afford to offer a pension plan.
The report asks for
input on proposals to allow financial institutions to offer pension
plans with participation from multiple employers, allowing more
companies to offer retirement benefits to workers and reducing
administration costs by creating large pools of funds.
The report
said one goal of such plans would be to allow individuals to hold their
own accounts in the pension plans, so they could transfer them if they
switch jobs. The money would also be portable nationally, the report
suggested.
“By changing these laws, we can expand the range of
institutions that can set up pension plans, and the range of people who
can access them,” Mr. Duncan said.
The report also asked for
comments for reforms to make it easier for companies to offer “target”
benefit plans, which are similar to traditional defined benefit plans,
but allow the employer to reduce payouts if the pension plan does not
have sufficient assets to maintain coverage.
Employers and pension
experts have argued such plans would be more flexible for sponsors and
could be a solution to declining pension coverage in the private
sector, where many traditional plans are being abandoned.
You can download Ontario's new report, Securing Our Retirement Future: Consulting with Ontarians on Canada's Retirement Income System.
I think it's a step in the right direction, but much more needs to be
done. What really worries me is what's going on in Britain, and how long
before we see the same trends on this side of the Atlantic (probably
already happening).
bench craft company
Why Facebook Deals is Bad <b>News</b> for Foursquare - Techland - TIME.com
Foursquare just got Facebooked. And it's more than just a poking. It might be a body blow to one of the location-based service's killer features. When I first covered Foursquare for TIME in January, I gave the (then) pint-sized start-up ...
Even FOX <b>News</b> Not Hiring Christine O'Donnell
FOX News not doing something is always a banner news item. They also didn't burn down the Empire State building today or march naked through Times Square. Don't miss writing news copy about that! ...
New Rock Type Found On Moon - Science <b>News</b>
Odd spots on the lunar farside could be ancient material from deep inside.
bench craft company
One of the reasons Aaron Patzer founded personal finance site Mint.com was because of his frustrations with Intuit’s financial management software Quicken. Quicken, says Patzer wasn’t user-friendly, and in Patzer’s own words “felt like a product from 1996.” Flash forward two years, and Patzer’s Mint.com (which was also a TechCrunch50 winner) was bought by Intuit for $170 million in the Fall of 2009. Clearly, Intuit perhaps agreed with Patzer, who is now vice president and general manager of Intuit’s personal finance group, that its own financial products needed a a makeover. Today, Quicken 2011 is debuting its software for Windows that includes more features from Mint.com.
This is the first version of Quicken to reflect the collaboration of the Quicken Desktop and Mint.com product and engineering teams since last fall. The new version for Windows users includes 360-degree financial view that brings together all accounts, including bank, credit card, investment and retirement. Intuit has also added support for 7,000 more banks and now lists 12,000 banks and credit union in the U.S.
Quicken’s new automated engine categorizes transactions (i.e. business, clothes, groceries, etc.) Credit card payments are automatically matched to transfers from checking or savings, to ensure they’re not double-counted. You can also create budgets within the software based on an individual’s historical spending and the software will include expense alerts and a graph to project cash flow help users avoid late fees and penalties. Pricing for Quicken 2011 ranges from $29.99 to $89.99.
Patzer says of the new version: “It combines the best of Quicken with what we built into Mint.com to help ease the burden on people trying to manage their money…The product is customizable and intuitive, two things that people have come to expect from modern software.”
One feature that is clearly lacking between Quicken and Mint is the ability to sync your Quicken desktop software with your Mint.com web account, and integrate the data (Quicken Online users are being merged to Mint.com). But Patzer says that this will soon be added to the suite of products. His goal is for Quicken and Mint to work seamlessly across all platforms, including mobile.
On another note, the Intuit acquisition doesn’t seem to have stunted Mint.com’s growth. Patzer says that the platform has grown from 1.7 million users in September of 2009 to 4.2 million users currently.
Ontario’s
recipe for improving Canada’s pension retirement system includes both
modest improvements to the Canada Pension Plan and new pension
innovations from the private sector, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan
says in a new report.
The province issued a consultation paper Friday,
asking for public input on proposals to improve pensions for Ontarians
as part of a national initiative to find solutions to boost retirement
incomes across Canada.
In a letter accompanying the report, Mr.
Duncan continued to support a proposal he endorsed at a national
finance minister’s meeting in June calling for an expansion of CPP
benefits for Canadians. The proposal has faced opposition from Alberta
and is expected to be debated again at a finance minister’s meeting in
December.
“A modest enhancement to the CPP now would provide a
significant benefit to these workers when they retire,” Mr. Duncan
said. “I believe such an enhancement is affordable if contribution
rates are phased in gradually, particularly in light of the over
$8-billion in annual tax relief Ontario will be providing to businesses
as part of its tax plan.”
The report does not back any specific
model for achieving that goal, however, only outlining different
options and asking for comment on the choices.
Currently,
CPP benefits are structured to replace 25 per cent of an individual’s
career average earnings up to an annual limit currently set at $47,200,
although most retirees do not qualify for the maximum amount.
One
reform option is to increase the maximum income replacement rate from
25 per cent currently to a higher rate, such as 35 per cent, the report
said. Another option is to increase the maximum earnings ceiling, the
report said, noting that a 50 per cent or 100 per cent increase would
move it from $47,200 a year to $70,800 or $94,400.
The report also
asks for comments on potential implementation issues with expanding
the CPP, including how to phase in the increases and how extra money in
the fund should be managed. It also questions whether an increase
would have an impact on other retirement savings by inducing employers
to reduce their pension benefits or inducing individuals to save less
on their own.
Mr. Duncan also said governments should make regulatory changes that will provide better private-sector pension options.
In
his letter accompanying the report, he said current rules only allow
pension plans to be offered by an employer to an employee. This limits
options for people who are self-employed or who work for small companies
that cannot afford to offer a pension plan.
The report asks for
input on proposals to allow financial institutions to offer pension
plans with participation from multiple employers, allowing more
companies to offer retirement benefits to workers and reducing
administration costs by creating large pools of funds.
The report
said one goal of such plans would be to allow individuals to hold their
own accounts in the pension plans, so they could transfer them if they
switch jobs. The money would also be portable nationally, the report
suggested.
“By changing these laws, we can expand the range of
institutions that can set up pension plans, and the range of people who
can access them,” Mr. Duncan said.
The report also asked for
comments for reforms to make it easier for companies to offer “target”
benefit plans, which are similar to traditional defined benefit plans,
but allow the employer to reduce payouts if the pension plan does not
have sufficient assets to maintain coverage.
Employers and pension
experts have argued such plans would be more flexible for sponsors and
could be a solution to declining pension coverage in the private
sector, where many traditional plans are being abandoned.
You can download Ontario's new report, Securing Our Retirement Future: Consulting with Ontarians on Canada's Retirement Income System.
I think it's a step in the right direction, but much more needs to be
done. What really worries me is what's going on in Britain, and how long
before we see the same trends on this side of the Atlantic (probably
already happening).
bench craft company
Why Facebook Deals is Bad <b>News</b> for Foursquare - Techland - TIME.com
Foursquare just got Facebooked. And it's more than just a poking. It might be a body blow to one of the location-based service's killer features. When I first covered Foursquare for TIME in January, I gave the (then) pint-sized start-up ...
Even FOX <b>News</b> Not Hiring Christine O'Donnell
FOX News not doing something is always a banner news item. They also didn't burn down the Empire State building today or march naked through Times Square. Don't miss writing news copy about that! ...
New Rock Type Found On Moon - Science <b>News</b>
Odd spots on the lunar farside could be ancient material from deep inside.
bench craft company
bench craft company
bench craft company
Why Facebook Deals is Bad <b>News</b> for Foursquare - Techland - TIME.com
Foursquare just got Facebooked. And it's more than just a poking. It might be a body blow to one of the location-based service's killer features. When I first covered Foursquare for TIME in January, I gave the (then) pint-sized start-up ...
Even FOX <b>News</b> Not Hiring Christine O'Donnell
FOX News not doing something is always a banner news item. They also didn't burn down the Empire State building today or march naked through Times Square. Don't miss writing news copy about that! ...
New Rock Type Found On Moon - Science <b>News</b>
Odd spots on the lunar farside could be ancient material from deep inside.
bench craft company
One of the reasons Aaron Patzer founded personal finance site Mint.com was because of his frustrations with Intuit’s financial management software Quicken. Quicken, says Patzer wasn’t user-friendly, and in Patzer’s own words “felt like a product from 1996.” Flash forward two years, and Patzer’s Mint.com (which was also a TechCrunch50 winner) was bought by Intuit for $170 million in the Fall of 2009. Clearly, Intuit perhaps agreed with Patzer, who is now vice president and general manager of Intuit’s personal finance group, that its own financial products needed a a makeover. Today, Quicken 2011 is debuting its software for Windows that includes more features from Mint.com.
This is the first version of Quicken to reflect the collaboration of the Quicken Desktop and Mint.com product and engineering teams since last fall. The new version for Windows users includes 360-degree financial view that brings together all accounts, including bank, credit card, investment and retirement. Intuit has also added support for 7,000 more banks and now lists 12,000 banks and credit union in the U.S.
Quicken’s new automated engine categorizes transactions (i.e. business, clothes, groceries, etc.) Credit card payments are automatically matched to transfers from checking or savings, to ensure they’re not double-counted. You can also create budgets within the software based on an individual’s historical spending and the software will include expense alerts and a graph to project cash flow help users avoid late fees and penalties. Pricing for Quicken 2011 ranges from $29.99 to $89.99.
Patzer says of the new version: “It combines the best of Quicken with what we built into Mint.com to help ease the burden on people trying to manage their money…The product is customizable and intuitive, two things that people have come to expect from modern software.”
One feature that is clearly lacking between Quicken and Mint is the ability to sync your Quicken desktop software with your Mint.com web account, and integrate the data (Quicken Online users are being merged to Mint.com). But Patzer says that this will soon be added to the suite of products. His goal is for Quicken and Mint to work seamlessly across all platforms, including mobile.
On another note, the Intuit acquisition doesn’t seem to have stunted Mint.com’s growth. Patzer says that the platform has grown from 1.7 million users in September of 2009 to 4.2 million users currently.
Ontario’s
recipe for improving Canada’s pension retirement system includes both
modest improvements to the Canada Pension Plan and new pension
innovations from the private sector, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan
says in a new report.
The province issued a consultation paper Friday,
asking for public input on proposals to improve pensions for Ontarians
as part of a national initiative to find solutions to boost retirement
incomes across Canada.
In a letter accompanying the report, Mr.
Duncan continued to support a proposal he endorsed at a national
finance minister’s meeting in June calling for an expansion of CPP
benefits for Canadians. The proposal has faced opposition from Alberta
and is expected to be debated again at a finance minister’s meeting in
December.
“A modest enhancement to the CPP now would provide a
significant benefit to these workers when they retire,” Mr. Duncan
said. “I believe such an enhancement is affordable if contribution
rates are phased in gradually, particularly in light of the over
$8-billion in annual tax relief Ontario will be providing to businesses
as part of its tax plan.”
The report does not back any specific
model for achieving that goal, however, only outlining different
options and asking for comment on the choices.
Currently,
CPP benefits are structured to replace 25 per cent of an individual’s
career average earnings up to an annual limit currently set at $47,200,
although most retirees do not qualify for the maximum amount.
One
reform option is to increase the maximum income replacement rate from
25 per cent currently to a higher rate, such as 35 per cent, the report
said. Another option is to increase the maximum earnings ceiling, the
report said, noting that a 50 per cent or 100 per cent increase would
move it from $47,200 a year to $70,800 or $94,400.
The report also
asks for comments on potential implementation issues with expanding
the CPP, including how to phase in the increases and how extra money in
the fund should be managed. It also questions whether an increase
would have an impact on other retirement savings by inducing employers
to reduce their pension benefits or inducing individuals to save less
on their own.
Mr. Duncan also said governments should make regulatory changes that will provide better private-sector pension options.
In
his letter accompanying the report, he said current rules only allow
pension plans to be offered by an employer to an employee. This limits
options for people who are self-employed or who work for small companies
that cannot afford to offer a pension plan.
The report asks for
input on proposals to allow financial institutions to offer pension
plans with participation from multiple employers, allowing more
companies to offer retirement benefits to workers and reducing
administration costs by creating large pools of funds.
The report
said one goal of such plans would be to allow individuals to hold their
own accounts in the pension plans, so they could transfer them if they
switch jobs. The money would also be portable nationally, the report
suggested.
“By changing these laws, we can expand the range of
institutions that can set up pension plans, and the range of people who
can access them,” Mr. Duncan said.
The report also asked for
comments for reforms to make it easier for companies to offer “target”
benefit plans, which are similar to traditional defined benefit plans,
but allow the employer to reduce payouts if the pension plan does not
have sufficient assets to maintain coverage.
Employers and pension
experts have argued such plans would be more flexible for sponsors and
could be a solution to declining pension coverage in the private
sector, where many traditional plans are being abandoned.
You can download Ontario's new report, Securing Our Retirement Future: Consulting with Ontarians on Canada's Retirement Income System.
I think it's a step in the right direction, but much more needs to be
done. What really worries me is what's going on in Britain, and how long
before we see the same trends on this side of the Atlantic (probably
already happening).
bench craft company
bench craft company
Why Facebook Deals is Bad <b>News</b> for Foursquare - Techland - TIME.com
Foursquare just got Facebooked. And it's more than just a poking. It might be a body blow to one of the location-based service's killer features. When I first covered Foursquare for TIME in January, I gave the (then) pint-sized start-up ...
Even FOX <b>News</b> Not Hiring Christine O'Donnell
FOX News not doing something is always a banner news item. They also didn't burn down the Empire State building today or march naked through Times Square. Don't miss writing news copy about that! ...
New Rock Type Found On Moon - Science <b>News</b>
Odd spots on the lunar farside could be ancient material from deep inside.
bench craft company
bench craft company
Why Facebook Deals is Bad <b>News</b> for Foursquare - Techland - TIME.com
Foursquare just got Facebooked. And it's more than just a poking. It might be a body blow to one of the location-based service's killer features. When I first covered Foursquare for TIME in January, I gave the (then) pint-sized start-up ...
Even FOX <b>News</b> Not Hiring Christine O'Donnell
FOX News not doing something is always a banner news item. They also didn't burn down the Empire State building today or march naked through Times Square. Don't miss writing news copy about that! ...
New Rock Type Found On Moon - Science <b>News</b>
Odd spots on the lunar farside could be ancient material from deep inside.
bench craft company
Why Facebook Deals is Bad <b>News</b> for Foursquare - Techland - TIME.com
Foursquare just got Facebooked. And it's more than just a poking. It might be a body blow to one of the location-based service's killer features. When I first covered Foursquare for TIME in January, I gave the (then) pint-sized start-up ...
Even FOX <b>News</b> Not Hiring Christine O'Donnell
FOX News not doing something is always a banner news item. They also didn't burn down the Empire State building today or march naked through Times Square. Don't miss writing news copy about that! ...
New Rock Type Found On Moon - Science <b>News</b>
Odd spots on the lunar farside could be ancient material from deep inside.
bench craft company
Why Facebook Deals is Bad <b>News</b> for Foursquare - Techland - TIME.com
Foursquare just got Facebooked. And it's more than just a poking. It might be a body blow to one of the location-based service's killer features. When I first covered Foursquare for TIME in January, I gave the (then) pint-sized start-up ...
Even FOX <b>News</b> Not Hiring Christine O'Donnell
FOX News not doing something is always a banner news item. They also didn't burn down the Empire State building today or march naked through Times Square. Don't miss writing news copy about that! ...
New Rock Type Found On Moon - Science <b>News</b>
Odd spots on the lunar farside could be ancient material from deep inside.
bench craft company bench craft company
bench craft company
bench craft company
bench craft company
Why Facebook Deals is Bad <b>News</b> for Foursquare - Techland - TIME.com
Foursquare just got Facebooked. And it's more than just a poking. It might be a body blow to one of the location-based service's killer features. When I first covered Foursquare for TIME in January, I gave the (then) pint-sized start-up ...
Even FOX <b>News</b> Not Hiring Christine O'Donnell
FOX News not doing something is always a banner news item. They also didn't burn down the Empire State building today or march naked through Times Square. Don't miss writing news copy about that! ...
New Rock Type Found On Moon - Science <b>News</b>
Odd spots on the lunar farside could be ancient material from deep inside.
bench craft company reviews
There have been a slew of new personal finance books as of late. It seems that to a percentage of the population, being good with money appears to be the new cool thing to do. People are opening high yield savings accounts, maximizing their retirement investments, writing budgets and working to increase their incomes. One of the latest personal finance books available is written by Loral Langmeier, called the book The Millionaire Maker. In the book, she offers a 5 step strategy for getting out of debt, but is it the best way to go?
Let's take a look at the plan, and then analyze whether or not it should be followed. The first step is to create a list of your debts with the amount of money you owe, the minimum payment, and the interest rate. The second is to create what is called a factoring number. You do this by taking the balance of each debt and divide it by your monthly payment, and this is your factoring number. Step number three is listing your debts from smallest to biggest factoring number, and the one with the biggest factoring number is to be paid off first. Step number four is finding an extra $200 a month in addition to your minimum payments to pay off debt. This is not an easy task for some people, and use that to attack the debt with the biggest factoring ratio. Step number five is debt payments, in which you take out your debts, and use the extra money that you save from the previous minimum payment toward your next debt.
So is this the correct plan to follow? Probably not. There are two major problems with the Millionaire Maker's plan to get out of debt. The first major problem with it is the order that Langmeier suggests you order your debts to pay off. There is no good reason to list your debts by highest balance to minimum payment ratio as she suggests. If you want to do it mathematically proper, you should instead list them from highest interest rate to smallest interest rate. This way you are paying off the highest interest debt first, and are lowering the overall interest rate of your debt as you pay on them.
Another major contention with Langmeier's plan is the amount of money extra that she suggests you put toward your debts. She says $200 is a good amount to start putting toward debts. This doesn't work for people with very high amounts of debt. If you have $50,000 in consumer debt, and some people do, $200 just isn't enough. You need to make radical changes in your life style to get out of debt any time in the next decade. This means selling cars, homes, major purchases, and working 60 or 80 hours a week. It might not be fun, but it needs to be done or you will be in debt forever.
If you are looking for a great proven method to getting out of debt, you should consider reading The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have successfully used that program to get out of debt, and you can too.
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