RetirementWorks2 software

[bizlady]

Recently read about a retirement software program that is for those just about to retire or are retired. It is www.RetirementWorks2.com About $190 for purchase and $45 a year after.

Anyone used this and care to share an evaluation of the software?

[teejayevans]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bizlady Recently read about a retirement software program that is for those just about to retire or are retired. It is www.RetirementWorks2.com About $190 for purchase and $45 a year after. Anyone used this and care to share an evaluation of the software?

Do you look at the sample report: the comment of GM stock:
"This investment is hypothesized to do well during your lifetime."

Hope that's a long lifetime
TJ

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bizlady Anyone used this and care to share an evaluation of the software?

With FIRECalc, Fidelity's retirement planner, Otar's retirement analysis, and all the other bezillions of retirement products out there that already have good reviews... including Greaney's REHP website and other boards... why would this planner be better?

Even FinancialEngines.com and ESPlanner, two of the more data-intensive calcultors from hell that I've ever seen, are less expensive. And you only have to pay for ESP once.

It bothers me to see a website showing stock photos of so many satisfied old pharts happily frolicking amongst nature's glories with big smiles plastered on their faces. Right next to the stock photos of other geezers peering at their computer monitors with happy grins. Where's the stock photo of the guy throwing both hands over his head in a touchdown signal, the woman curled up barefoot in a reading nook with a laptop, a cup of herbal tea, and a contented smile? Or the couple reclining in the hammock sharing a laptop touchpad as they steer their way together through their virtual retirement portfolio?

When you enter the website's mailing address into Mapquest's aerial map the neighborhood looks mighty rural... as in someone programming from their home office, not a team of financial & software wizards working from RW2 Galactic HQ. But maybe it's still a good product.

Can you link the article you read?

[bizlady]

Here's a link to the article about the software: Ohio.com - Retirement software doesn't take shortcuts

[Nords]

Humberto Cruz generally does a good job on his reviews, but the program's main appeal to him seems to be that it's more of a "whole life planner" than a retirement finances program.

ESPlanner and Consumption Smoothing.

As you suspect, it's hard to tell that a new program is worth the money without having more extensive publicity and reviews. Both programs certainly seem to be a lot of money for what can be obtained free.

Maybe it's worth a $39 FinancialEngines.com trial membership. You'll spend at least as much time on data entry and you'll be able to tweak at least as many parameters.

[Rustward]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords When you enter the website's mailing address into Mapquest's aerial map the neighborhood looks mighty rural... as in someone programming from their home office, not a team of financial & software wizards working from RW2 Galactic HQ.

I wouldn't use the "ruralness" of the place as input to an opinion. One of my former employers had an office of close to a hundred people about 15 or 20 miles down I-495 from there, and, well, having been there I can say that whole area has a rural feel to it -- almost like rural is in the building codes.

Their website is kinda salesy, though, and does not seem to do a very good job of telling you how their product works. Without a free trial I wouldn't be interested, based on the website -- not the location of their office. Believe it or not, a lot of software is written in home offices. Someone spent 7 years writing a commercial software product in this home office.

This is part of Still River Retirement Planning Software. There is a link on the bottom of the page to bios.

I love FireCalc. Does anyone happen to know where FireCalc was written? I'll say it again: I love FireCalc.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rustward I love FireCalc. Does anyone happen to know where FireCalc was written? I'll say it again: I love FireCalc.

Is that a trick question?

Dory programmed v1.0 from a spreadsheet that was somewhere between the old TMF ER board and Greaney's REHP.

Dory programmed the latest version on the Intracoastal Waterway...

[Rustward]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords Is that a trick question?

It was intended to be a rhetorical question.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rustward I'll say it again: I love FireCalc.

Me too, and I recommend it to our newbies needing a retirement calculator. I think it is a lot better than most free retirement calculators.

Personally I only use FIRECalc as a doublecheck. My thinking is that past performance is not indicative of future results. FIRECalc is based on past market conditions, so it relies upon the assumption that future market conditions will fall within the same range that we have experienced in the past. This is a perfectly sound modeling approach. All models are based on assumptions of some kind.

However, I don't happen like that particular assumption (being more than a little pessimistic) so I think it gives me too much money to spend. I spend considerably less that what would be required for 100% success when running FIRECalc. But at least FIRECalc gives me a reference point from which to work.