# HOW!? Keeping track of investments/etc.



## Kaitlyn (May 13, 2011)

I tried Mint and quite honestly it does a fantastic job - I added 100% of my accounts and they update automatically. Apart from temporary failures, I haven't noticed any issues. HOWEVER, I don't like the idea of putting all my passwords in the cloud/etc.

So I bought Quicken. I added TD and PC Financial, but none of my other accounts are supported (TD mutual funds, questrade, ally, etc.)

So, I have to either copy+paste of the screen (TD mutual) or download CSV (ally) and use some converter to create a QIF to import into quicken. This is time consuming and not necessarily "accurate" depending on account/details. This just doesn't seem the least bit feasible and I don't understand how anyone uses Quicken if they have anything besides a chequing account at a big5 bank...

So.... what are my options? How can I track my investments? It would be NICE to track my chequing/savings/credit card accounts as well, but for me that priority is a lot lower...


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## daddybigbucks (Jan 30, 2011)

most banks output to .csv

so i do all my tracking in Excel.
I set up little spreadsheets and download the data into them.

They dont look professional, but they only include the information i want to include.


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## Dmoney (Apr 28, 2011)

I use excel personally, as it allows me to fully customize everything. It also allows you to automate everything with macros and data feeds. I have it set up so I can update, graph, evaluate etc. my portfolio/net worth/allocation with a click or two.

You can find scripts online for all the automation and then customize it as you see fit. Takes some time to set up, but saves loads of time afterwards.


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## Kaitlyn (May 13, 2011)

Dmoney said:


> I use excel personally, as it allows me to fully customize everything. It also allows you to automate everything with macros and data feeds. I have it set up so I can update, graph, evaluate etc. my portfolio/net worth/allocation with a click or two.
> 
> You can find scripts online for all the automation and then customize it as you see fit. Takes some time to set up, but saves loads of time afterwards.


Do you happen to have a sample/template you could send me?


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## LBCfan (Jan 13, 2011)

Same as Dmoney except I use OpenOffice since I'm to cheap to pay for Excel


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

I use excel also. This is an offline, manual spreadsheet and is a good example of the sort of thing that should be tracked offline. It's only as good as what you put into it. I have several tabs in my file, which give me different info. The possibilities are limitless.


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## Kaitlyn (May 13, 2011)

I think I like the idea of excel, but my problem is I don't even know where to start.

Besides basically recording my buy/sell history, I'm not sure what formulas to use, how best to lay it out, or even what else to put! :s


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

Check around this forum. I believe there is a thread with a STICKY that discusses excel based financial calculators. Might give you some ideas and inspiration.


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## donald (Apr 18, 2011)

Im not that thrilled with rbc @ the moment(customer service,loaning,fees and penilties ect)that aside-There banking format is excelent
They list and catorgerize everything for you online in a block format(i have everything there)

example

standard chq
high interest chq,

visa,money market acct,tfsa,rrsp,credit line,morgage as listed in assets and liabilities coloums,there self directed accts are tied to the accts home page,and updated 24 hrs behind real time,you dont even need a second process,the self directed isnt a stand alone,its easy,simple and effective.Basicly they create a ledger for you,im not sure how the other banks operate,maybe this is standard.


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## donald (Apr 18, 2011)

And in the self directed investment,they have everything you want to know,order status,when dividends are paid,they list your gains and loses after every market day and the list goes on,really aint a reason for me to have to do my own tracking,but then again im under rbc with everything.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

Kaitlyn said:


> So I bought Quicken. I added TD and PC Financial, but none of my other accounts are supported (TD mutual funds, questrade, ally, etc.).


when you say they're "not supported" do you just mean you can't download your transactions to Quicken? Because they're supported in the sense that you can track the value of those investments in Quicken (once you enter the stock ticker it'll update their prices automatically).

If you're using Quicken already, I don't think it makes sense to use Excel to track your investments -- you're going to be manually entering your transactions anyway so you might as well enter them into Quicken and then you can track their value automatically. I believe Quicken can import .csv files as well, so you could do that in cases where a .csv download is available.


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## Kaitlyn (May 13, 2011)

brad said:


> when you say they're "not supported" do you just mean you can't download your transactions to Quicken? Because they're supported in the sense that you can track the value of those investments in Quicken (once you enter the stock ticker it'll update their prices automatically).
> 
> If you're using Quicken already, I don't think it makes sense to use Excel to track your investments -- you're going to be manually entering your transactions anyway so you might as well enter them into Quicken and then you can track their value automatically. I believe Quicken can import .csv files as well, so you could do that in cases where a .csv download is available.


I JUST started using Quicken, so I basically have no data in it yet.. im not "locked in" yet. And I mean "support" as in transactions...

I think quicken is able to grab my prices for all stocks + mutual funds EXCEPT "EMC" on the NYSE for some reason... grabs wrong price...

Also as I have learned/understand, Quicken has a timeframe of I think 2 years and after that it will stop updating stock prices, etc.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

Kaitlyn said:


> Also as I have learned/understand, Quicken has a timeframe of I think 2 years and after that it will stop updating stock prices, etc.


I'm not sure if it'll stop updating stock prices, but it will definitely stop connecting to your bank. This is the big drawback of Quicken: the forced upgrades. They deliberately break the connection with your banks every few years to force you to buy a newer version of Quicken.

You can get around it by entering transactions manually, which I've been doing for many years now. I used to connect to my bank from Quicken but enough small errors crept in over the years that I went back to manual entry; it doesn't take that much time as long as you keep up with it. I was still using Quicken 2001 until I switched to the Mac version late last year.

For me the main values of Quicken are its convenience and its reports. I've tried a few Excel templates and none of them were as easy to use as Quicken, and since my time is valuable to me I wanted something that would allow me to manage my finances efficiently. I don't mind paying for it, but I don't get into the forced-upgrade trap. I only upgrade when a new version has a particular feature that I really want, but because Quicken is a very mature product Intuit will have a hard time coming up with any must-have improvements.

For tracking the value of your investments and asset allocation, you could use the Google Spreadsheet tool developed by Canadian Capitalist -- it works great. I don't have a link handy but you can find it on his site, just do a search for Google Docs.


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

<off topic>
Why are the two of you quoting each other? It's not necessary to do that. Just type your reply in the box, that is sufficient. No quotes necessary.
</off topic>


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

Sorry royal I disagree with you. It's appropriate and efficient to quote a particular part of a message if that's the only thing you're replying to.

What's inappropriate is quoting someone's entire message and replying to just one part of it.


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## balexis (Apr 4, 2009)

+1, I agree with Brad on this one. Quoting the part of the message one is replying to is good netiquette, just like in email threads. Quoting an entire message is evil though.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

+1 Snipping longer posts down to the sentence or two you're responding to reduces confusion.


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## Dmoney (Apr 28, 2011)

Kaitlyn said:


> Do you happen to have a sample/template you could send me?


I could send you what I use, a little convoluted behind the scenes since there are various feeds coming in to update it.

Is there a way to send files through the forum? I'll look into it and if you want my template I can upload it Sunday.


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## Kaitlyn (May 13, 2011)

Dmoney said:


> I could send you what I use, a little convoluted behind the scenes since there are various feeds coming in to update it.


Sent you a PM. Thanks!


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

brad said:


> Sorry royal I disagree with you. It's appropriate and efficient to quote a particular part of a message if that's the only thing you're replying to.
> 
> What's inappropriate is quoting someone's entire message and replying to just one part of it.





balexis said:


> +1, I agree with Brad on this one. Quoting the part of the message one is replying to is good netiquette, just like in email threads. Quoting an entire message is evil though.





andrewf said:


> +1 Snipping longer posts down to the sentence or two you're responding to reduces confusion.


+1 Now Give it up off-topic quote Nazi!!

And I use Quicken but it leaves some things to be desired. I think I could make a better tailored spreadsheet on Excel if I ever dedicate the time to do so. Too bad excel graphs look like something from 1990, have they made them better yet?

I am impressed how Quicken handles my 3 currencies with ease, but I would rather see my dividends included in reports. I have a feeling Quicken does everything I want and I just haven't figured out how. As a previous programmer, it doesn't phase me one bit to pay for such a useful program every 2 years! The price is minimal for something that tracks my finances

Quicken needs to work on their iPhone app so I can input cash transactions on the go (which I'm doing a lot more of in Europe where they don't fall for the CC rewards scam)


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## Financial Cents (Jul 22, 2010)

Excel all the way. Like royal_mail, you can have multiple tabs to slice and dice data as much as you want. 

I really don't put too much effort into tracking our finances, some simple worksheets with rolling budgets, stock and ETF holdings are enough for us.

I tend to spend more time figuring out ways to save $100 or $200 every couple of weeks to pay down our LOC faster.


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## mrbizi (Dec 19, 2009)

+1 on Quicken.

Although I too hate the forced upgrade, I think you still get your money's worth and more from this app. As a visual learner I particularly like and use their pre-built graphs (and reports ) a lot. Even if you pay $50 every 3 years that comes out to .01% expense-to-investment ratio (assuming you have at least $100k in investments). Even without the investment management component, the app can really help you monitor, analyze and manage your expenses, e.g. it can help you identify your major money "leaks". So I'd say stick with Quicken.


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