Free Programs
All of these programs require Microsoft Excel version 97 or later
Free Pre Retirement Planner program.This free program helps you decide how much you should be saving for retirement, when you may be able to retire, whether you should downsize your home, how allocation of stocks, bonds and cash may affect retirement, and whether new savings should go into taxable, deferred-tax or tax-exempt investments. The Free Pre Retirement Planner is a unique program that will give you an historical perspective that you won’t find in any other free planning program nor in any professional planning program. Link to the Free Pre Retirement Planner.
Free program to decide if you should take Social Security early.
You can download this program free, but you must have Microsoft Excel 97 or later, and you must be under 62. If you are planning to retire early, this program shows whether it’s better to take Social Security at 62 or 66. This program is very quick and easy to use compared with the more comprehensive free program, Social Security at 62, 66 or 70, that you can access below, but it gives you insight that might be surprising.
To download this free program: Netscape users left click on
link and follow instructions. Internet Explorer users right click and then
select "Save Target As" from the menu. Link
to Should You Start Social Security Early
Free program to help decide whether to start Social
Security at 62, 66 or 70.
You can download this program free, but you must have Microsoft Excel 97 or
higher to use it. You must be under 62 (spouse can be older). If you are
planning to retire early, this program shows whether it’s better to take Social
Security at 62, 66, or 70. As you might suspect, the major benefactor of
delaying the start of Social Security is usually the surviving spouse. This
point is often neglected by professional advisors who often suggest taking
Social Security at the earliest possible date in case you would die before the
“breakeven” age of about 84. However, this is often poor advice for those who
are in the 50% of the population that will longer than the breakeven age. This
program also lets you try the major alternatives that are currently being
considered to put Social Security on a sounder financial basis. See if any of
these would change your mind about when you should start taking Social
Security.
To download this free program: Netscape users left click on link and follow instructions. Internet Explorer users right click and then select "Save Target As" from the menu. Link to Social Security at 62, 66 or 70.
Free program gives
new insight and control of your investment results.
This remarkable program helps you with asset allocation and reallocation; getting information in the right categories for retirement planning; tabulates investments in different tax categories; and helps you understand how the ownership of your investments (joint, self, spouse) may affect your will and estate. It includes a ledger that allows you to see the totals of your withdrawals summed for different purposes. Also there is an investment history log that automatically calculates what your annual return was for previous years. Finally, it allows you to see your bond ladders and even estimates the current value of your savings bonds.
To download this free program: Netscape users left click on link and follow instructions. Internet Explorer users right click and then select "Save Target As" from the menu. Link to Investment Manager
Free Program Quantifies How Saving Income Now Can Add Income in Retirement.
This simple program demonstrates the retirement income benefits from
diverting some more of your current working wages
to savings for Roths, 401(k)s, IRAs, taxable accounts, etc. Everyone
should consider whether they really need all of the things that are fueling our
record personal debts and national consumerism binge. Do you really need the
latest electronics, software, cell phones, music recorders, high-speed
internet, daily lattes, dining out, a large home, etc. if you can't afford a
decent life-style in retirement?
To download this free program: Netscape users left click on link and follow
instructions. Internet Explorer users right click and then select "Save
Target As" from the menu. Link to It Pays To Save
Now!
Free Program to Evaluate Immediate Annuities of Various Types
If you are thinking seriously about buying an immediate annuity or converting your employee savings plan to a pension, you can use this program to determine if that is in the best interest of you and, if married, your spouse. The program lets you compare a number of types of immediate annuities including ones with fixed payments, payments that increase a certain percentage each year, and ones that increase each year with inflation. You can further compare the results with how you might do without the immediate annuity. If you have a variable annuity, you might want to consider using a 1035 tax-free exchange to get into one of the new inflation adjusted immediate annuities. The program calculates results for both qualified and non qualified accounts considering ordinary income tax and taxes on returns.
To download this free program: Netscape users left click on link and follow instructions. Internet Explorer users right click and then select "Save Target As" from the menu
Link to Evaluating Immediate Annuities - Simplified
Link
to Evaluating Immediate Annuities - Comprehensive
Free Return Calculator
This Return Calculator program is a wonderful way to find out how your investments actually performed even when you had numerous deposits and/or withdrawals during the year--not how someone would like you to believe they performed. Many financial professionals have ways of hiding costs, fees, and kickbacks that may be a serious drain on your portfolio. If so, or if you are not doing as well as some of the common market indexes, you should probably make some changes. This download is FREE. Many users have found that they can do much better using index funds from low-cost mutual fund because they have discovered the severe penalties from some excessive professional fees and hidden costs in many mutual funds.
This small (only 20 KB) program for MSExcel 97 or later may be very valuable
to you. For your free download: Netscape users left click on
link and follow instructions. Internet Explorer users right click and
then select "Save Target As" from the menu. Link to Return
Calculator
Free Pre-Retirement Budgeting Planner
You can use the free Pre-Retirement Savings Planner to help develop a budget that will save you enough to retire comfortably. Download it using the link below and page down to understand its features. This program requires that you have Microsoft’s Excel 97 or later. In Part 1, you can do an analysis to find what elements of your current spending you can reduce so that you can save more. Another very valuable feature is that you can develop a good understanding of your retirement income needs including the effects of higher inflation rates on key medical related costs. In Part 2, you can try three different investment strategies with varying risk to see if you are saving enough to meet the retirement income goal you established in Part 1. It’s a very small, but powerful file that is less than 100 KB.
To download the free version: Netscape users left click on link and follow
instructions. Internet Explorer users right click and then select "Save
Target As" from the menu. Link
to Free Pre-Retirement Budgeting Planner
You can get an inexpensive and more comprehensive planning program by clicking on the Simplified Planner + from the home page. For a professional quality planning program see the Dynamic Planning link also on the home page.