The short answer is yes, MSMoney Sunset Deluxe can do this. One approach is:
- set up your periodic future expenses (rent, food, clothing, etc) as recurring expenses
- enter infrequent expenses (wedding, college tuition) as individual future withdrawals
- set up your wages as recurring deposits (the "Paycheck" option)
- set up your investment withdrawals as transfers from each of your investment accounts (either recurring or one-time) into the accounts that you use to pay expenses
Some caveats:
- The cash flow forecast will only be as good as your estimates of future income and expenses.
- MSMoney's cash flow forecast is a great tool for looking 6 months or a year ahead. It will also forecast many years ahead, but it won't be a good estimate unless you take the time to make sure that all the income, transfers, and expenses for
future years are correctly set up in each account.
- If you have many investment, loan, savings, etc. accounts this will be a LOT of work to set up and maintain. For the long-term view, you might be better off to make rough estimates for each future year and forecast your cash flow using a spreadsheet.
- I am not familiar with investments and banking in India. There may be issues with setting up Indian accounts in Money Plus Sunset Deluxe because it's a US-oriented program. A better choice may be the UK or International versions.
Bill Becker
