Finance Dave
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2007
- Messages
- 1,864
I looked at a few software packages, and ultimately did not buy any of them. I work in corporate finance, but personal finance is a hobby of mine and I've even considered getting my CFP in the next few years.
I always find some deficiency with the software tools. Either they are too expensive, or don't include Monte Carlo, or too difficult to learn, or don't allow for multiple scenarios, or don't allow for work income while collecting SS, or assume investment returns are same pre-retire as post-retire, etc.
Another thing that concerns me is that I don't know whether to trust the tools' output. What I mean by this is that if you use many of the "free" tools on the web, and put in exactly the same info, you often get values that vary significantly. This makes me leery about the underlying assumptions used in the models (such as are the investments made in the beginning of the year or the end of the year or evenly throughout the year).
As a result, I simply do my own modeling in Microsoft Excel. Nothing I've built is flexible enough to allow the outside world to use, but it works well for my exact circumstances, and i KNOW what assumptions were used.
But, just for fun...I've included one of my favorite free online tools here..
Monte Carlo Retirement Planning
*Note that with the link above, the INITIAL tool is NOT the one I like...but they start you on this one to show the difference between a traditional tool and a Monte Carlo tool. You must click on the link at the bottom of the page to progress to the Monte Carlo tool...or I've made it easy for you by clicking here --> Monte Carlo Retirement Calculator
Enjoy!
Dave
I always find some deficiency with the software tools. Either they are too expensive, or don't include Monte Carlo, or too difficult to learn, or don't allow for multiple scenarios, or don't allow for work income while collecting SS, or assume investment returns are same pre-retire as post-retire, etc.
Another thing that concerns me is that I don't know whether to trust the tools' output. What I mean by this is that if you use many of the "free" tools on the web, and put in exactly the same info, you often get values that vary significantly. This makes me leery about the underlying assumptions used in the models (such as are the investments made in the beginning of the year or the end of the year or evenly throughout the year).
As a result, I simply do my own modeling in Microsoft Excel. Nothing I've built is flexible enough to allow the outside world to use, but it works well for my exact circumstances, and i KNOW what assumptions were used.
But, just for fun...I've included one of my favorite free online tools here..
Monte Carlo Retirement Planning
*Note that with the link above, the INITIAL tool is NOT the one I like...but they start you on this one to show the difference between a traditional tool and a Monte Carlo tool. You must click on the link at the bottom of the page to progress to the Monte Carlo tool...or I've made it easy for you by clicking here --> Monte Carlo Retirement Calculator
Enjoy!
Dave
Last edited: