Chapter 10. Compound Interest Magic and Other Mysteries

In This Chapter

  • Using the Investment Savings Calculator

  • Using the Loan Calculator

  • Using the Refinance Calculator

  • Using the Retirement Calculator

  • Using the College Calculator

  • Estimating your income taxes

  • Doing other financial-planning stuff

The folks at Intuit provide several nifty little calculators (most are dialog boxes) with Quicken. I strongly encourage you to use these tools. At the very least, the calculators should make your work easier. And if you invest a little time, you should gain some enormously valuable perspectives on your financial affairs.

What's more, the most recent versions of some flavors of Quicken include a handful of more powerful financial planning wizards that I want you to know about. I won't walk you through the steps to using these wizards. But I do want to preview them in the same way that a restaurant critic tells you what you should and shouldn't order at some nice restaurant. You know what I mean. "Darling, you absolutely must try the foie gras, but do stay away from the chocolate mousse. It's abominable...."

Noodling Around with Your Investments

My favorite Quicken calculator is the Investment Savings Calculator. I guess I just like to forecast portfolio future values and other similar stuff.

Using the Investment Savings Calculator

Suppose that you want to know how much you'll accumulate if you save $4,000 per year for 35 years in a stock mutual fund that you anticipate will earn 10 percent annually. Use ...

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