I would like Quicken for Mac to expand the Budget feature to properly incorporate savings and investments as part of monthly financial planning, rather than treating them only as account transfers.
I understand that Quicken for Mac currently allows certain transfers, such as a transfer from checking to savings, to be included in a budget. However, this does not provide the same functionality as having a dedicated Savings/Investments component within the budget.
Ideally, the monthly budget summary would clearly show:
Income
– Expenses
– Savings & Investments
= Remaining Cash Flow
Within the Savings & Investments section, users should be able to:
• Set monthly savings and investment targets
• Assign targets to specific accounts or goals
• Compare the budgeted amount with actual contributions
• See the amount remaining to reach each target
• Track percentage completion/progress
• Track progress toward longer-term savings and investment goals
For example, if a user budgets $2,000 per month toward investments and $1,000 toward a house fund, Quicken should show the target, actual contributions, remaining amount, and progress for each goal while also incorporating those contributions into the overall monthly budget.
This would make the Budget feature much more useful for people whose financial plans include not only controlling expenses, but also deliberately allocating income toward wealth building, investing, and savings goals.
Quicken for Windows already provides Savings Goals functionality, so bringing goal-oriented savings tracking into the Quicken for Mac budgeting experience, and expanding it to include investments, would significantly improve financial planning on Mac.
