Microsoft Money Premium 2005 [Old Version] | ![Microsoft Money Premium 2005 [Old Version]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/515RCZVS7EL._SL500_.jpg)
| From: Microsoft Software
Buy New: $79.99
New (1) Used (6) from $20.68
Rating:  41 reviews
Sales Rank: 3703
Format: Cd-rom
Platforms: Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows Xp
Media: CD-ROM
Edition: Premium
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Operating System: Windows 98
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.5 x 1.4
MPN: MSCD80377WI
Model: S66-00009
UPC: 805529803770
EAN: 0805529803770
ASIN: B0002D156I
Release Date: September 13, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
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| Features:
| • | Personal finance software with award-winning Portfolio Manager | | • | Automatically consolidates online financial information | | • | Provides essential tools for planning financial future | | • | Integrated GainsKeeper for tax-smart investment choices | | • | Simplify taxes, maximize savings; achieve financial goals |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Money Premium 2005 is the ultimate personal finance solution that will help you secure your financial future. It automatically consolidates all your online bank and investment information and provides the tools and insights to help you optimize your investments, minimize tax implications, and reach long-term goals. Money Premium 2005 includes everything in Money Deluxe 2005.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 36 more reviews...
 Going back to the previos version September 4, 2004
Tim Mouradian (North Shore, MA United States)
130 out of 133 found this review helpful
I am going to skip this version of Microsoft Money and return to the prior version (2004 Deluxe).
Normally, I upgrade every September, but this new version is disappointing.
Pros:
+ Choices between simplified and advanced views, this affects
account managers, reports, bills, planning etc.
+ Better setup process, generally more intuitive navigation.
+ Better online operations, this was improved dramatically.
+ Ability to merge accounts
+ Ability to share the data file between users (up to 8 people, signed via Microsoft Passport)
Cons:
- Bad User interface. Work Area (the register) is less
than 30% of the screens real estate. The rest are menus,
toolbars, web toolbars (huh?) etc.
There is no way to maximize work areas.
- Sponsorship links and products are everywhere. There is no
way to turn any of these things off. At some point the line blurs
at where is your financial data and where is solicitation.
- There is no way to customize anything. Some of the first
versions(1994, 95) allowed the user to customize the colors,
layouts, etc. This gradualy decreased to 2 color choices + some customization in 2004 version.
In 2005 there is no choice whatsoever, except for (largely useless) home page layout changes and ability to modify the web toolbar.
General:
Bugs: If there are any bugs, they are not obvious.
The software is stable, as the previos version was nearly
flawless, so I assume most of the fixes went into the rarely used
part of application.
Yodlee: This version includes Yodlee engine, which allows for a
very nice view of your aggregated financial data.
Too bad it doesn't sync with banks reliably as advertised September 22, 2004
Justin Sarma (New York, NY United States)
36 out of 37 found this review helpful
After seeing the reviews in every magazine saying the new Microsoft Money 2005 beat the new Quicken hands down, I thought maybe I should upgrade from 2003 to 2005 premium. I was particularly enticed by claims that it allowed you to sync automatically with almost any bank. I have Fleet and Citibank accounts, neither of which would auto-sync with 2003, so I was relegated to downloaded statements each month and importing them. I was also expecting to be able to sync with my online brokerage accounts at Charles Schwab and Ameritrade.
But not only did the Fleet and Citibank accounts fail to sync, Ameritrade, whichhad worked before failed to sync, and the other Schwab did so about half the time. I called in to tech support and they weren't able to fix the problem, but said they'd been getting a lot of such calls. The product only came out in the last week, so I will cut them some slack and wait for updates which they said would be coming in a few weeks, but I must say I was disappointed after hearing such glowing reviews from magazines. The problem with building software from the ground up, as Microsoft has done with this new version of money, is that things that worked perfectly well in previous versions often don't work. I would have thought the magazines would mention these syncing difficulties, considering how common they appear to be... but then again, Microsoft does have a lot of money (no pun intended), and if you're a magazine you probably wouldn't want to get on their bad side. Oh well. If the updates work ok, I'll post an update in a couple weeks.
 Should not have been ever released November 20, 2004
SB
33 out of 34 found this review helpful
I just got off the phone with MS tech support. Two hours, several 'trial' files later, I still cannot get online updates from several banks and investment organizations that I could do with the 04 version. This is after a couple of days when MS downloaded a major update that was planned to take care of 'errors that you might have had with your accounts' balance after upgrading to 2005'. I kid you not.
Now, for someone reading this review will contrast with the 'fantastic' reviews, and might ask - who do I believe? I have always gone by the law of large numbers - if a large number of people rank something, the average is probably the best guess that you can go by.
I have been using Money from 1998. Never been a great fan, but always felt that it was like any other prominent MS end-user software - useful, sometimes with some neat tricks, but never really 'wow'. And I am okay with that. So on to my review...
After upgarding, the first thing that struck me was that my net worth seemed to have shrunk by a factor of 5. A little sleuthing later, I find that when I sold many of my investments, the cash, instead of crediting my bank, debited it. So, not only had my investment account been debited, but so had my bank account! No wonder did I initially think that I would have to rethink my retirement plans.
After painfully changing all of them one by one, the second whammy - the online MSN account, which I like an idiot tried to give another try after the fiasco of last year, acted just like before. A flurry of new accounts, existing accounts had new transactions, weird closed accounts with suffixes of #1, #2, etc. Another round of painful editing. By this time, it was nearly 2 in the morning, and I had spent over 5 hours on the !@#$ software.
Nearly forty days later, I have stabilized. There are still gripes, like some accounts that could be downloaded before cannot be any longer (a hint: if you have a retirement account that does not download and other accounts that do with the same investment firm, you are going to have problems - the MS tech support helpfully pointed out that the new format that 2005 uses is yet to be fully or flawlessly integrated by all financial institutions).
So, what have you got? No new feature, really truly speaking, when you get down to it. Gimmicks here and there, but they were all present - warts and all - before, only now they have been more prominently advertised. The interface is probably nice for first-time users, but I really miss my four-column display where I could display a lot more information. The features you would really like to see - and I have emailed Microsoft before about them several years back, hoping that they look at user reviews - like some sort of investment analysis by grouping a set of accounts together dynamically by different goals (e.g. college, retirement, down payment for so and so, etc.), still do not exist. The flaws that were there before are still there - all of them. If someone has found one which has been corrected, let me know. Huge un-learning curve for old-time users, because MS suddenly decided to do away with the two-level classification in many cases.
In other words, if you have 04 (or even 03) do yourself a favor - do not buy it, even for free. You won't miss a thing, and you might hold on to some of your hair for a few days longer. I have never used Quicken, but read about similar horror stories from upgraders, so I decided to cut my losses and quit. Note to myself - when 06 comes out, wait till February of the new year at least before deciding.
Do not upgrade September 26, 2004
R. Jones (California)
32 out of 34 found this review helpful
I am a MS Money fan so was quick to get the 05 version. Well I am uninstalling and rolling back to last years version!
First there is a new Internet Services Policy you must agree to. It starts out with "Microsoft Money 2005 includes up to two (2) years of Internet-based Services. You will be able to use the Internet-based Services in Microsoft Money 2005 for a period of two (2) years from installation of the product or until September 1, 2007, whichever is earlier."
**** In two years you can not perform online banking!!!
Second the little Money Express program that reminds you of upcoming bills is gone.
I have 3 words for this program - Do Not Upgrade!
Stay With Your Current Version
cons greater than pros October 2, 2004
B. Tran (Fort Worth, TX)
32 out of 33 found this review helpful
overall, not much different from 2004 with some bugs with online updating
pros: prettier interface, better portfolio features, web integration (not too useful as most people prefer security of their own computers vs. microsoft servers)
cons: home page customization options more limited (miss the home view, auto view, etc), online problems (sometimes doesn't sync right, had to reinstall windows to fix this so that the work offline option was showing and so that the downloads wouldn't freeze), slower updates and balancing, toolbar not as customizable as in past, only one color interface instead of three before
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