ImThinkin2019
Recycles dryer sheets
Hi All-
I have used many different programs including I-orp, csplanner, *******, Fidelity Income Planner, Vanguard's Financial Engines, a Vanguard free financial consultant, and bigfoot's google spreadsheet. In addition, like most of us, I created my own spreadsheet.
After doing all this I purchased ES Planner, to get more precise Social Security estimates.
Now that I've used it for a while I really like it, much better than any other program. The two features I like the most are the social security estimates and the tax calculations which include the AMT. Most of the other programs do not calculate taxes or if they do, they don't account for the AMT.
There are two interesting conclusions from ESPlanner that are contrary to what we thought. We thought others might be interested. (Note, most of our savings are in tax-deferred vehicles, so this affects our results.)
The $200 we spent on the program will be paid for in the first year we retire, absolutely. Just the answer on SS timing will give us a huge return on the investment.
I have used many different programs including I-orp, csplanner, *******, Fidelity Income Planner, Vanguard's Financial Engines, a Vanguard free financial consultant, and bigfoot's google spreadsheet. In addition, like most of us, I created my own spreadsheet.
After doing all this I purchased ES Planner, to get more precise Social Security estimates.
Now that I've used it for a while I really like it, much better than any other program. The two features I like the most are the social security estimates and the tax calculations which include the AMT. Most of the other programs do not calculate taxes or if they do, they don't account for the AMT.
There are two interesting conclusions from ESPlanner that are contrary to what we thought. We thought others might be interested. (Note, most of our savings are in tax-deferred vehicles, so this affects our results.)
- If we retire at 60, it's better for us to take social security at 62. This is because doing this minimizes taxes in later years. Surprising! - (We had originally thought we should take SS at 70, with me filing and suspending and my DW taking spousal benefits from 67-70.)
- If we retire at 60, it's better for us to Roth convert a lot of tax-deferred money early, even if we "enter AMT land". (I thought it would be better to avoid AMT so this was surprising.)
The $200 we spent on the program will be paid for in the first year we retire, absolutely. Just the answer on SS timing will give us a huge return on the investment.