Investing Software

If you are looking for a software program that will help put you in the driver's seat, so to speak, for your financial planning, investing software comes in many makes and models. Whether you're a novice or an old pro at the game of investments, there seems to be a program just your speed.

Investing software comes in several forms and a price range to meet every budget. The cautious investor will start with the free (or almost) downloadable utility programs scattered throughout cyberspace. Be careful about downloading, though, and remember to run an anti-virus program before accepting downloads, even those that come from familiar, reputable companies.

For the less timid, investing software comes bundled with other personal financial services in accounting software,such as Intuit's Quicken and Microsoft Money, two very popular software programs favored by the money-savvy computer user. Both these programs consist of tracking programs for investment, banking, and credit card accounts.

For the serious, hands-on, investor, there are a number of websites offering monthly or annual subscription services, which have the capability to track investments in real time and create charts and analytical reports based on your portfolio. Working in real time means you will have access to the latest prices and breaking news just like a broker does.

Even if you have no money yet invested in the stock market, investing software can be of value to you. Pick a few stocks you're honestly interested in and enter the data as if you actually purchased shares. Now just track it for a few months, maybe even a year, just to give yourself a feel for the software, the stock market, and your stock market intuition.

Think of it as training wheels.