Spreadsheets

[lucky penny]

I have 3 Excel spreadsheets:
1. daily spending
2. assets/investments/net worth
3. projected yearly income

My Excel skills are very basic so these are pretty simple but they work for me. I began tracking spending about 10 years ago when I started thinking seriously about retirement & it was an eye-opener about financial realities (& also motivated me to tighten up in some categories & loosen up in others). The assets spreadsheet doesn't automatically update values so I have to do manual updates periodically, but my investments are not complicated so it doesn't take long. The projected income spreadsheet is a relatively recent creation but also an eye-opener especially as to likely future income from RMDs.

 

[Sunset]

I have 3 Excel spreadsheets:
1. daily spending
2. assets/investments/net worth
3. projected yearly income

My Excel skills are very basic so these are pretty simple but they work for me. I began tracking spending about 10 years ago when I started thinking seriously about retirement & it was an eye-opener about financial realities (& also motivated me to tighten up in some categories & loosen up in others). The assets spreadsheet doesn't automatically update values so I have to do manual updates periodically, but my investments are not complicated so it doesn't take long. The projected income spreadsheet is a relatively recent creation but also an eye-opener especially as to likely future income from RMDs.

+1
This year I broke out our investments by pre-tax vs post-tax so I could do RMD estimates in today's dollars.
I recognize inflation will increase the value, while some tax brackets don't increase, but it's all too complex and unknown for me to bother about.

So my spreadsheet calculates the RMD then I add in the estimated SS plus yearly dividends and interest, and realized we need to support the economy more

 

[tulak]

I’m curious, how does everyone track benchmark performance vs your portfolio performance? Do you use end of year performance for the fund and consider it close enough?

In past years, I used a spreadsheet to calculate this taking into consideration cash flows throughout the year. This has always been a pain, and somewhat limiting, since I need to go back and enter price/dividend data for the benchmark fund, account for dividends, etc. This year I automated this calculation using a python script. It’s still a little a bit of work, since I need to get the data, but it’s a lot easier than my old approach and less prone to errors.

 

[pb4uski]

I use the Vanguard Lifestrategy Moderate Growth fund as a benchmark and compare my returns to the funds return. I used to have a portfolio of 8 or so index funds and would calculate a weighted average return for thse funds as a benchmark, but that was too much work.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

There is a repository of Excel utilities provided here:
gummy stuff ... about Investing (mostly)
by Peter Ponzo, a retired math professor. As is.

There is also an FA who is an imposter but not on this site.

Gummy rocks! An education in Excel as well as asset allocation.