Stock/Bond Tracking Software?

Question

What would you recommend as a software program to track my investments?

I guess i could use Excel, but are there especially good programs to track my investments?

Answer 1

When it comes to tracking stocks and mutual funds, you'll want to check out the free portfolio tracking area of USATODAY.com. This portion of the Web site provides powerful tools to investors to monitor the health of their stocks and funds. It also links to USATODAY.com's proprietary Stock Meter measure, that shows you how risky a stock is.

For the stock and fund portion of your portfolio, USATODAY.com is a great source. However, if you're looking to monitor your certificates of deposit, that will require taking another step. If you already own a copy of Microsoft Office, you might consider using Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet program to track all your CDs. The software is able to record the deposits made into the CDs and can also perform advanced analysis as well. The only trouble with this approach is that it requires a degree of familiarity with electronic spreadsheets. You will also need to design your own template.

If that sounds like too much work, you will want to look into personal financial software programs, such as Microsoft's Money or Intuit's Quicken. Both have some features that can help you monitor your CDs. My advice to you, though, is to try these products before you purchase them. You can download a trial version of Money, for instance, at http://www.microsoft.com/money/freetrial_info.mspx. It will work for a week or so, giving you a chance to see if it suits your needs.

Matt Krantz is a financial markets reporter at USA TODAY. He answers a different reader question every weekday in his Ask Matt column at money.usatoday.com. To submit a question, e-mail Matt at [e-mail].