Opções de ações money guia pro
Opções de ações money guide pro
Obrigado por escolher o Money Pro e bem-vindo!
O Money Pro é um aplicativo abrangente de gerenciamento de finanças pessoais com recursos poderosos que são fáceis de usar. O Money Pro é a próxima geração do aplicativo Money (mais de 2 milhões de downloads em todo o mundo).
O Money Pro foi construído com uma visão. É um conjunto de ferramentas para acompanhar contas, planejamento de contas e orçamentos que funcionam em uníssono. Ao mesmo tempo, é muito mais do que isso. Nosso objetivo é dar-lhe um meio para assumir o controle de suas finanças pessoais e, em última análise, sua própria vida como um homem financeiramente livre.
Neste guia do usuário, você aprenderá a começar a gerenciar suas finanças pessoais com o Money Pro em seus dispositivos iOS e Mac. O guia é dividido em cinco áreas: Contas, Orçamentos, Contas, Relatórios e Mais. Estas áreas correspondem perfeitamente às cinco guias da aplicação.
Contas.
A primeira coisa que você faz com o aplicativo, você preencha as informações para o seu balanço (guia Saldo). Um balanço é um tipo de demonstração financeira pessoal. Ele fornece um instantâneo geral da sua riqueza em um período específico no tempo. É um resumo de seus Ativos (o que você possui) e seus Passivos (o que você deve). Cor amarela significa dívida. A cor azul significa dinheiro.
Ativos e Passivos.
Mesmo que você possa encontrar uma classificação mais distinta dos ativos, existem dois tipos de ativos sugeridos neste aplicativo:
- contas de pagamento: contas utilizadas para pagamentos, como dinheiro, conta bancária, cartões de débito, contas da Internet, etc .;
- outros ativos: todos os outros ativos de grande valor - casa, veículo, ações, etc.
- cartões de crédito: seus cartões de crédito apenas;
- outros passivos: empréstimos, dívidas, hipotecas, etc.
Adicionando contas.
Para adicionar uma conta, toque / clique em "Editar>" Adicionar "e selecione o tipo de conta.
Digite os detalhes da conta:
- Ícone: escolha um ícone da lista de 1400 ícones ou adicione sua própria imagem através do Gerenciador de ícones;
- Nome: um nome curto para encontrá-lo facilmente na lista;
- Saldo: o valor atual do seu ativo / passivo; Para um cartão de crédito, você deve preencher dois campos - "Dívida" (o valor que você deve ao banco) e "Limite" (o limite total para este cartão);
- Moeda: para esta conta em particular. A moeda de todas as transações atribuídas corresponderá à moeda da conta;
- Reconciliar: ativar a reconciliação da conta;
- Desbloqueado automaticamente: as novas transações serão marcadas como "desmarcadas" por padrão;
- Descrição: um nome longo e notas para a entrada.
Quando terminar, toque / clique em "Salvar", depois em "Concluído" no formulário principal.
Você pode classificar as contas em ordem alfabética ou de acordo com sua vontade. No seu dispositivo iOS:
- Na tela Balance, toque em «Editar» no canto superior direito,
- A nova tela exibida protege as contas por classes: contas de pagamento, cartões de crédito, outros ativos, outros passivos.
- Há um ícone de três listras à direita de cada conta. Pode ser chamado de ícone de mobilidade de conta.
- Toque e arraste o ícone de três listras da conta necessária para o lugar certo na lista de suas contas.
- Repita esta operação com outras contas também. Observe que você pode alterar a ordem das contas somente dentro de uma determinada classe (contas de pagamento, cartões de crédito, etc.).
Depois de fazer a ordem certa no seu dispositivo iOS, você poderá transferi-lo para a versão do Mac, sincronizando.
OFX, importação CSV.
Você pode baixar seu extrato bancário no site do seu banco (arquivos suportados:.ofx e. csv). Use o iTunes para fazer upload de arquivos no iPhone e no iPad:
- conecte o dispositivo ao iTunes;
- acesse a guia Aplicativos na seção Compartilhamento de arquivos;
- arraste e solte arquivos na lista de documentos;
- os arquivos ficarão disponíveis para importação.
Toque em / clique em "Importar ícone", selecione a conta em que as informações serão importadas e selecione o arquivo que deseja importar.
No formulário aberto, selecione as categorias apropriadas para as transações (se necessário). O Money Pro aprende como você classifica as transações e prevê categorias para as transações que estão sendo importadas. Somente as transações "Novas" serão importadas. As transações importadas anteriormente permanecerão intactas.
Ao importar o arquivo. csv, você deve especificar o tipo de informação para cada coluna individualmente, caso o aplicativo não tenha determinado isso automaticamente. Você pode aprender mais detalhes sobre a importação do csv no seguinte artigo.
Reconciliação de conta.
Você pode gravar transações e desmarcá-las mais tarde. O saldo disponível e o balanço esgotado são calculados automaticamente. Você pode usar a reconciliação de contas para qualquer uma de suas contas. Vá para a guia Equilíbrio, toque / clique em "Editar", selecione a conta que você precisa e ative "Reconciliar".
Para conciliar os saldos de suas contas com um extrato bancário, compare a lista de transações (Nome do saldo / conta) com as da declaração impressa da sua instituição financeira. Quando uma transação coincide, use um menu de contexto para marcá-la - Limitada. Para iPhone e iPad, use um deslize esquerdo para marcar uma transação ou você pode colocar uma marca de seleção no campo "Limitada" ao adicionar ou editar uma transação (no formulário de transação principal, veja "Contas e transações").
Ajustando o saldo da conta.
No caso de você não ter entrado as transações há algum tempo e, por algum motivo, você não quer entrar as informações ignoradas, você pode ajustar o saldo da sua conta.
Excluindo uma conta.
Para excluir uma conta, vá para "Equilíbrio", toque / clique em "Editar", depois selecione uma conta e, no menu aberto, escolha "Excluir". Você será oferecido a "Ocultar" ou "Excluir" a conta.
Orçamentos.
O Money Pro pode lidar com todas as suas necessidades de orçamento. O orçamento é uma das principais ferramentas para controlar suas despesas, de modo a economizar dinheiro extra para uma grande compra planejada no futuro, para sair da dívida ou acumular riqueza.
Categorias, subcategorias.
Para tornar esta ferramenta eficiente, você deve primeiro pensar na estrutura do seu orçamento. Pense em todas as categorias de despesas possíveis nas quais você pode colocar todas as suas despesas. Tenha em mente que as categorias podem ter uma estrutura hierárquica dupla no aplicativo. Portanto, existem categorias e subcategorias. Lembre-se, uma vez que você tenha configurado um orçamento, você deve usar as mesmas categorias ao registrar suas despesas.
Se você quiser remover as transações e manter todas as categorias inalteradas, você pode excluir suas contas. Neste caso, as transações da conta serão removidas automaticamente enquanto todas as categorias permanecerão inalteradas.
Lembre-se de que só é possível excluir uma categoria com a reatribuição de suas transações para outra categoria.
Configurando um orçamento.
Vá para a seção Orçamento para criar um orçamento. Você pode configurar vários orçamentos (um por cada categoria / subcategoria). O limite de orçamento para a categoria que tem subcategorias é calculado automaticamente como uma soma dos limites de orçamento para as subcategorias. Da mesma forma, o orçamento das despesas é calculado automaticamente como uma soma dos orçamentos de despesas individuais. Da mesma forma funciona o orçamento do rendimento. O total é calculado como a diferença entre Renda e Despesas.
Toque em / clique em "Editar" e defina números de orçamento para suas categorias de renda: salário, renda comercial, dividendos, etc.
Em seguida, estabeleça números de orçamento para suas despesas: utilidades, restaurantes, combustível, mantimentos, cuidados infantis, hipotecas, etc.
Você pode configurar o seu orçamento usando as categorias predefinidas ou adicionar novas categorias pressionando “ + ” no final da lista.
Quando a categoria for selecionada, preencha o restante dos campos para a entrada do orçamento:
- Periodicidade ("Mensalmente" por padrão): a periodicidade é configurada especialmente para esta entrada de orçamento. Você pode configurar o seu orçamento para repetir "Todos os dias", "Todas as semanas", "Todas as 2 semanas", "Todos os meses", "Todos os anos", etc.
- Valor: o valor máximo que você está disposto a gastar nesta categoria (neste orçamento).
- Data inicial e data final: se a data final estiver vazia ou suficientemente alta para incluir vários períodos, essa entrada orçamentária torna-se recorrente e será gerada automaticamente com a periodicidade selecionada.
- Moeda: você pode usar moedas diferentes para suas entradas de orçamento.
- Rollover: esta opção transfere as restrições do período atual para o próximo período orçamentário.
Toque em / clique em "Salvar" e configure outras entradas de orçamento de forma semelhante.
Seguindo um orçamento (widget de orçamento)
O widget na parte superior da tela mostra o progresso do orçamento ao longo do tempo.
Direito acima das barras, você pode ver um filtro de tempo que exibe o período selecionado. Use o filtro para alterar a periodicidade (dia, semana, mês, etc.). Para navegar entre os períodos, toque / clique nas barras.
As barras podem ser azul ou amarelo. Para entender melhor o gráfico, imagine que as barras azul e branca são separadas pelo eixo horizontal. Assim, as barras azuis estão acima do eixo horizontal e têm valores positivos, as barras amarelas estão abaixo do eixo horizontal e têm valores negativos.
As barras azuis mostram que sua renda excede suas despesas no período determinado (ou seja, nesse mês). Em outras palavras, barras azuis indicam seu ganho. Barras amarelas, pelo contrário, testemunham que gastou mais dinheiro do que você fez. As barras amarelas indicam sua perda.
A linha branca semitransparente mostra o ganho (renda menos despesas) que você planejou receber para cada período de tempo. Isso ajuda a entender melhor seu comportamento de gastos. Isso mostra se você atuou de acordo com seu plano de orçamento ou se afastou.
O número no canto superior esquerdo reflete o maior bar. Em outras palavras, é a maior quantia de dinheiro obtida em um dos períodos na periodicidade escolhida.
Logo abaixo do widget, você pode ver suas categorias com indicadores individuais de progresso do orçamento. As categorias são exibidas somente se tiverem limites de orçamento definidos ou tiverem transações reais para o período selecionado.
Para cada categoria, você pode ver:
- Valor real gasto (amarelo) ou obtido (azul).
- Montante que você planejou gastar ou ganhar no orçamento (branco semitransparente).
Toque / clique na categoria que deseja analisar e examine um gráfico de tendências de orçamento gerado para essa categoria. Se a categoria tiver subcategorias, você as verá abaixo.
Excluindo um orçamento.
Para excluir uma entrada de orçamento, vá para Orçamento, selecione a categoria de orçamento que você precisa e selecione um período de orçamento da lista. No formulário aberto escolha "Excluir"> "Excluir todos os futuros orçamentos". Mesmo que você exclua o orçamento, a categoria ainda pode ser exibida na tela devido a gastos reais nesta categoria. Basicamente, significa que você tem limite de orçamento definido como zero.
Alternativamente, você pode excluir a categoria em si. Vá para Orçamento, selecione "Editar" e toque / clique no botão cruzar no canto superior da categoria.
Bills & amp; transações.
Ao simplesmente dar uma olhada na seção Hoje, você saberá instantaneamente quantas transações vencidas e atrasadas você tem. Diferentes cores contêm informações:
- A cor laranja é usada para transações em atraso.
- A cor branca é usada para transações planejadas (agendadas).
- A cor verde é usada para transações reais (pagas).
O Money Pro pode prever as transações que podem ser repetidas por você em um determinado dia. Essas transações estão listadas em Repetição de transações na aba Hoje. Use-os para uma entrada rápida e como uma lembrança amigável de algo que você pode ter esquecido de agendar manualmente.
Se você tocar na data no canto superior esquerdo da tela do iPhone, uma exibição de calendário aparecerá. Use o gesto de deslize para alterar meses nos dispositivos iOS. Abaixo do calendário você verá a lista das transações para o período escolhido (ou o mês inteiro).
Uma grande exibição de calendário é apresentada com todos os seus pagamentos marcados como pontos. Deslize para cima e para baixo (ou para a esquerda e para a direita para iPhone) para mudar meses. A lista mostra suas transações durante todo o mês ou para o dia selecionado se você selecionar uma data específica. Se você escolher o dia atual, você verá todas as suas dívidas vencidas e futuras. Funciona de forma semelhante à vista Hoje no iPhone.
Haverá também um ícone de pesquisa para pesquisar uma transação específica. Para pesquisar uma determinada transação, use qualquer parâmetro: valor, número de verificação, agente, notas de descrição, etc.
Se você quiser ver as transações de uma determinada conta, escolha essa conta enquanto estiver na seção Saldo.
Para ver todas as despesas / rendimentos para um orçamento específico, vá para a seção Orçamento, selecione um determinado período e escolha o orçamento necessário. No formulário aberto toque / clique em "Mostrar lista de transações" na parte inferior.
Tipos de transações: renda, despesa, transferência de dinheiro e outros.
As transações são suas operações financeiras atuais ou agendadas (planejadas). Existem três tipos básicos de transações:
- Transação de renda. Quando você recebe dinheiro de outra pessoa como cheque de pagamento, participação nos lucros, dividendos, presentes, etc.
- Transação de despesas. Quando você paga para outra pessoa em troca de uma compra ou serviços.
- Transação de transferência de dinheiro. Quando o seu dinheiro passa de uma das contas da sua conta para outra. F. e. você tira um determinado valor da sua conta corrente para usá-lo como dinheiro.
No entanto, na seção Mais, você também encontrará alguns tipos adicionais de transações:
- Compra de ativos. Quando você compra um novo recurso e adiciona-o à sua lista de Outros ativos na seção Saldo.
- Venda de ativos. Quando você vende um ativo e exclua-o da sua lista de Outros ativos na seção Saldo.
- Aquisição de responsabilidade. Quando você toma um empréstimo e adiciona-o à lista de seus Passivos na seção Saldo.
- Descarga de responsabilidade. Quando você paga seu empréstimo ou fecha seu cartão de crédito.
Criando uma transação.
Vá para a seção Hoje, toque / clique em "+" no canto superior direito.
O tipo de transação padrão é "despesa". Altere o tipo de transação, se necessário. O tipo escolhido influenciará os outros campos no formulário. Preencha os campos necessários para cada caso particular.
- Categoria: atribuir uma categoria à despesa deve ser fácil se sua estrutura orçamentária for bem pensada.
- Conta: a conta da qual você pagou por esta compra.
- Valor: um valor específico na moeda da conta usada.
- Data: junto com a data em que você pode inserir o horário exato da compra. Se você definir uma data futura ao criar uma nova transação, a transação se tornará "Planejada" automaticamente (aprenda mais abaixo).
- Limitada: você pode conciliar essa transação. (Esta opção está disponível para transações pagas se a reconciliação da conta estiver ativada para a conta selecionada)
- Informações adicionais (opcional): descrição, anexos de fotos, check #, agente (payee), classe da transação (empresa, pessoal ou qualquer outra classe personalizada).
- Categoria: uma categoria apropriada para o rendimento.
- Conta: a conta, que receberá o dinheiro do rendimento.
- Valor: um valor específico na moeda da conta selecionada.
- Data: juntamente com a data em que você pode inserir a hora exata da transação.
- Limitada: você pode conciliar essa transação.
- Informações adicionais (opcional): descrição, anexos de fotos, check #, agente (payee), classe da transação (empresa, pessoal ou qualquer outra classe personalizada).
Transação de transferência de dinheiro:
- Conta: a conta da qual você está transferindo dinheiro.
- Conta (para): a conta para a qual você está transferindo dinheiro.
- Valor: o valor que transferiu da primeira conta. Ele deve ser inserido na moeda da primeira conta.
- Valor recebido: o valor recebido pela conta para a qual você está transferindo dinheiro. Ele será preenchido automaticamente, mesmo que as duas contas tenham moedas diferentes (consulte "Conversor de moeda"). Mas se a quantidade recebida for diferente da que você transferir, corrija-a manualmente.
- Data: junto com a data em que você pode inserir o horário exato da transferência.
- Informações adicionais (opcional): descrição, anexos de fotos, check #, agente (payee), classe da transação (empresa, pessoal ou qualquer outra classe personalizada).
A compra de ativos é essencialmente uma despesa paga por algum recurso que você gostaria de listar em seu balanço patrimonial. Todos os campos são semelhantes ao que você tem para uma transação de despesas. Dois campos adicionais são:
- Ativo: você precisa adicionar um novo ativo à lista existente de ativos. Para fazer isso, toque / clique em "Editar" no canto superior direito, depois toque / clique em "Adicionar". Preencha os parâmetros do recurso. Salve as alterações e toque / clique em "Concluído". Depois disso, selecione o recurso recém-adicionado da lista aparente.
- Aumentar o saldo: se você ativar, o saldo do ativo será aumentado no valor da transação. Esta opção pode ser útil quando você deseja pagar sua compra em várias parcelas. Dessa forma, o valor de seu ativo aumentará após cada uma das suas transações.
A venda de ativos é semelhante a uma transação de renda. Dois campos adicionais são:
- Ativo: o ativo que você vende. Selecione-o na lista dos ativos e será apagado.
- Venda parcial: você pode vender o ativo de uma vez ou diminuir seu valor no valor da transação.
A aquisição de responsabilidade também é semelhante a uma transação de renda, pois você recebe dinheiro. Dois campos adicionais são:
- Responsabilidade: você precisa adicionar uma nova responsabilidade à lista existente. Para fazer isso, toque / clique em "Editar", depois em "Adicionar". Preencha os parâmetros de responsabilidade. Salve as alterações e toque / clique em "Concluído". Depois disso, selecione o passivo recém-adicionado da lista aparente.
- Aumento do saldo do passivo: o saldo do passivo será aumentado no valor da transação.
A descarga de responsabilidade é quase como uma despesa. A única diferença é que diminui o saldo de um passivo. Campos adicionais são:
- Responsabilidade: selecione o passivo da lista de suas responsabilidades.
- Juros: quanto juros serão deduzidos da sua conta sem o pagamento da responsabilidade.
- Principal: será deduzido de sua conta e sua responsabilidade.
- Pagamento extra: o valor que você paga pela cobrança antecipada da sua responsabilidade. Também será deduzido de sua conta e sua responsabilidade.
Quando você terminar os detalhes da transação, toque / clique em "Salvar" e uma nova transação será criada.
Quando a sua transação inclui Ativos / Passivos, você pode especificar a categoria. Neste caso, a transação será levada em consideração ao resumir seu orçamento e fazer todos os relatórios, incluindo o relatório "Ingresso / Despesas". Caso contrário, não será contado no seu orçamento e não será refletido no relatório "Ingresso / Despesas". No entanto, todos os outros relatórios ("Fluxo de Cores", "Excesso de equilíbrio", "Transações", "Vale de Rede", "Apontações / Responsabilidades", incluirão as informações sobre esta transação.
Excluindo uma transação.
Você pode excluir qualquer transação pressionando "Excluir" na parte inferior do formulário de edição (o formulário com detalhes da transação). Você pode abrir o formulário de edição escolhendo a transação enquanto trabalha em qualquer uma das seções: Transações, Equilíbrio, Orçamento.
Conversor de moeda.
Quando você insere um valor durante a criação de transações ou planeja seu orçamento, você pode usar o conversor de moeda incorporado. O conversor ajuda a operar com moedas diferentes. Toque no botão de moeda e selecione a moeda de que você deseja converter. Em seguida, insira o valor na moeda selecionada. O valor será convertido automaticamente para a moeda da conta selecionada para a transação.
Se você transferir dinheiro de uma conta com uma moeda para uma conta com outra moeda, basta inserir o valor transferido da primeira conta para o campo "Valor". O campo "Valor recebido" (para a segunda conta) será calculado automaticamente na moeda correspondente.
O orçamento e todos os relatórios são exibidos na moeda padrão. Para alterar a moeda padrão em dispositivos iOS, vá para a guia Mais> Moeda e selecione a moeda que você precisa, para a versão Mac, abra o Menu Principal> Editar> Moeda.
Além disso, você pode tocar / clicar no botão "i" para corrigir a taxa de câmbio e torná-la favorita.
Contas planejadas e recorrentes.
As transações recorrentes são despesas planejadas e rendimentos que ocorrem com uma certa periodicidade em uma base regular.
Contrariamente às transações reais, as transações planejadas não influenciam o saldo de suas contas e você pode agendar uma transação para qualquer dia de antecedência.
Depois de configurá-lo, ele será gerado automaticamente em uma base regular. Isso ajuda no caso de você ter pagamentos regulares com a mesma quantia de dinheiro (aluguel, hipoteca, seguro e etc.).
Para criar uma transação planejada, vá para a seção Hoje e toque / clique em "+" no canto superior direito. Altere o tipo de transação para "Planejado" (toque / clique no ícone perto da data) e preencha os detalhes da transação:
- Automático: a transação será paga automaticamente na data e hora especificadas. Se estiver desligado, você terá que pagar a transação manualmente.
- Repetir: o período que você inserir determinará a freqüência com a qual a transação será repetida. Pode ser "Todos os dias", "Todas as semanas", "Todas as 2 semanas", "Todos os meses", "Todos os anos", etc. Você também pode configurar a "Data final", após o que as transações deixarão de ser geradas . Se você precisar de uma transação única, defina Repeat to "Never".
O resto dos campos é preenchido como para transações regulares descritas acima.
Para fazer uma transação paga em dispositivos iOS, deslize-a para a esquerda e toque / clique em um ícone de marca de seleção verde, para Mac selecione “Mark as Paid” no menu de contexto. A data da transação mudará a cor para verde. Para reprogramar uma transação planejada, use um ícone de relógio branco. Você pode copiar ou excluir a transação usando o mesmo menu de deslize.
Se você cometeu um erro, abra o formulário de detalhes da transação e toque / clique no ícone de marca de seleção verde novamente para fazer a entrada planejada novamente.
Widget de hoje.
O widget Money Pro permite marcar as transações agendadas como pagas ou reprogramadas no Centro de notificação (o menu suspenso) sem ter que iniciar o aplicativo. Além disso, a partir do iOS 10 (MacOS Sierra), o widget permite adicionar uma nova transação rapidamente. As categorias exibidas no widget são escolhidas como as categorias mais utilizadas. Selecione uma categoria específica tocando nela e escolha uma conta e insira um valor.
Para ativar o widget, desça o Centro de notificações, toque / clique em "Editar" e adicione "Money Pro".
Notificações e alertas.
Para configurar opções de notificação para as transações planejadas em dispositivos iOS, vá para Configurações iOS & gt; Money Pro, para Mac, abra o Menu Principal & gt; Money Pro & gt; Configurações. Certifique-se de que as Notificações estão ativadas e especifique quando você deseja ser notificado (1 dia antes, na data de vencimento, etc.).
Você receberá a notificação no dia especificado (2 dias antes, na data de vencimento, etc.).
Além disso, toda vez que ligar o seu dispositivo, no ícone do aplicativo, você encontrará o número das transações planejadas que estão atrasadas. O número no ícone não desaparecerá até você marcar as contas pagas.
Quando você receber uma notificação sobre sua transação planejada, esteja ciente de que você tem a capacidade de pagar / atrasar / excluir esta transação sem iniciar o aplicativo. Para fazer qualquer uma dessas operações, abra a lista de detalhes da notificação (usando swipe ou force touch) e pressione o botão que você precisa.
Relatórios.
O Money Pro fornece todas as informações importantes sobre o seu estado financeiro através de uma série de relatórios detalhados descritos abaixo. Vá para Relatórios e selecione o relatório que você precisa. O relatório será gerado para o mês atual por padrão. Você pode ajustar as datas de início e término diretamente no formulário de relatório.
O Money Pro oferece opções avançadas de filtragem para seus relatórios. Toque / clique no ícone do filtro no canto superior direito do formulário de relatório e selecione os parâmetros necessários. Por exemplo, você pode escolher uma conta e determinadas categorias de despesas. Combinando vários filtros juntos abre grandes oportunidades para a análise de suas finanças pessoais.
Você pode filtrar transações por período conforme descrito acima.
Você pode filtrar transações por categoria e subcategoria:
- Todas as categorias / subcategorias.
Você pode filtrar transações por conta:
- Todas as contas.
Você pode filtrar transações por conciliar o status:
- Todas as transações.
Você pode filtrar transações por tipo de transação:
- Descarga de responsabilidade.
Você pode filtrar transações por classe:
- Todas as aulas.
Pode ser conveniente no caso de você precisar rastrear as despesas de viagem de negócios separadamente de suas despesas pessoais.
Você pode filtrar transações por agente (beneficiário):
É especialmente útil quando você deseja analisar onde você faz compras com mais freqüência.
Além disso, você pode selecionar uma opção de agrupamento apropriada para seus relatórios:
- Agrupar por categoria.
Relatório de rendimentos / despesas.
Aqui você pode encontrar informações detalhadas sobre sua estrutura de renda / despesas. Você pode escolher um gráfico de pizza ou uma representação de histograma de seus dados. Toque / clique em uma barra ou um setor para obter mais informações. Ao selecionar uma determinada categoria, você receberá o relatório com as subcategorias incluídas.
No nível superior, você verá a receita agregada e as despesas agregadas. No próximo nível, você receberá uma estrutura de sua renda ou despesas (que você seleciona). O próximo nível conterá uma estrutura de subcategorias para uma categoria específica (se houver). No nível mais baixo, você verá a lista de transações para a categoria / subcategoria selecionada.
Relatório de ativos / passivos.
Este relatório mostra a relação entre seus ativos e passivos. Você também pode ver aqui a estrutura de seus ativos e passivos. Escolha "Ativos" ou "Passivos", depois toque / clique no botão do gráfico de pizza no canto superior direito.
Relatório de fluxo de caixa.
O gráfico mostra seu fluxo de caixa para o período selecionado. Isso explica quando e quanto dinheiro você acumulou (ou gastou) ao longo do tempo. Se o gráfico aumentar, você ganha mais do que gastou. O gráfico ascendente significa aumentar sua riqueza. Se derrubar durante certos períodos, significa que sua despesa foi maior do que seus ganhos durante esses períodos.
Relatório de saldo projetado.
O relatório mostra saldos históricos e saldos projetados para cada uma de suas contas. Levará em consideração suas transações planejadas agendadas para os períodos futuros. Se não houver futuras transações planejadas, haverá linhas retas para cada uma das suas contas após a data de hoje.
Relatório de valor líquido.
O valor líquido mostra a diferença entre seus ativos e passivos em cada data específica.
Relatório de transações.
Ele mostra a lista de transações por tipo (despesa, receita, transferência de dinheiro, compra de ativos, venda de ativos, aquisição de passivo, quitação de responsabilidade) por um período escolhido.
Primeiros passos - Contas - Orçamentos - Contas - Relatórios - Mais (backup, perfis, sincronização) - Suporte.
Backup é um instantâneo do seu histórico financeiro feito para preservar seus dados. A melhor maneira de proteger os dados que você inseriu é fazer backup regularmente. O Money Pro copia automaticamente seus dados em todos os momentos críticos. Para criar um backup de seus dados manualmente, vá para Mais & gt; Backup (para Mac, vá para o Menu Principal & gt; Arquivo & backup). Em seguida, pressione "Adicionar" no canto superior direito. Será criado um novo backup. Para excluir um backup em dispositivos iOS, deslize-o para a esquerda e toque um lixeira. Para excluir um backup no Mac selecione "Deletado" no menu de contexto.
Se você precisar restaurar seus dados de um arquivo de backup, selecione o backup necessário. Os dados atuais serão substituídos pelos dados do backup selecionado.
Salve os arquivos de backup gerados no iPhone ou no iPad no seu computador usando o compartilhamento de arquivos do iTunes:
- conecte o dispositivo ao PC e inicie o iTunes;
- acesse a guia Aplicativos na seção Compartilhamento de arquivos;
- encontre o Money Pro na seção Compartilhamento de arquivos;
- encontre arquivos de backup sob a seção “Money Pro Documentsâ €;
Para importar arquivos de backup para o aplicativo iOS, acesse a seção “Money Pro Documents "e" Adicione "os arquivos necessários.
Para importar o arquivo de backup para a versão Mac do Money Pro, vá para "Backup". Clique em "Importar" no canto superior esquerdo da tela, selecione o arquivo, que você precisa importar, clique nele e selecione “Restore ".
Proteção de senha.
Se você não quer que ninguém tenha acesso aos seus registros do Money Pro, proteja seus dados configurando uma senha. Uma senha pode ser definida para cada perfil separadamente.
Para fazer as configurações necessárias, vá para Mais & gt; Perfil (para Mac, vá para o Menu principal & gt; Money Pro & gt; Profiles), pressione o botão "i" ao lado do nome do perfil e toque em "Definir senha". No formulário aberto, defina a senha para o perfil selecionado e sua confirmação.
No mesmo formulário, você pode colocar um tic-tac contra o comando "Permitir redefinição de senha". Caso você esqueça a senha, você poderá reiniciá-la digitando a data, o valor e o nome da conta de uma das suas últimas transações. Se os parâmetros inseridos estiverem corretos, a senha será cancelada.
Touch ID permite desbloquear o Money Pro automaticamente com uma tecnologia de autenticação de impressão digital biométrica em vez de inserir uma senha manualmente. É uma maneira conveniente e altamente segura de acessar seus dados.
Você pode criar perfis separados no aplicativo para manter registros contábeis separados. É conveniente, se você possui uma pequena empresa e quer gerenciar suas despesas comerciais e pessoais separadamente. Será uma gestão financeira completa de dois objetos financeiros diferentes. Você poderá fazer relatórios detalhados para cada perfil e definir senhas separadas para cada um deles.
Para criar um novo perfil no iPhone ou iPad, vá para Mais & gt; Perfil, toque em "Adicionar", digite o nome do seu novo perfil, defina uma senha (se necessário) e salve as alterações. Para criar um novo perfil no Mac, vá para o Menu Principal & gt; Money Pro & gt; Perfis.
Para excluir um perfil, toque / clique no botão "i" ao lado do nome do perfil e "Excluir". Certifique-se de selecionar outro perfil como o atual. O perfil atual não pode ser excluído.
Sincronização do iCloud.
Você pode transferir os dados automaticamente via iCloud. A sincronização de dados com iCloud é feita automaticamente quando o aplicativo é iniciado. Os dados são sincronizados em perfis semelhantes, o que significa que ele só irá atravessar de um dispositivo para outro se ambos tiverem os mesmos perfis.
Se o iCloud estiver ativado, os dados serão atualizados automaticamente em todos os seus dispositivos. Se você recuperar um backup em um de seus dispositivos, ele será recuperado em todos os seus dispositivos usando a mesma conta iCloud automaticamente. Além disso, se você excluir um dos seus perfis em um dispositivo, ele será excluído em todos os dispositivos automaticamente.
Para ativar o iCloud, vá para Mais & gt; Sincronize e ative "Use iCloud". Para Mac, vá para o Menu Principal & gt; Money Pro & gt; Preferências.
Para as configurações corretas do iCloud em todos os seus dispositivos, use as instruções recomendadas. Assim que o iCloud estiver configurado, espere por algum tempo para que a informação seja atualizada.
- iOS 8 em seus dispositivos ou mais tarde.
- OS X Yosemite em seus computadores ou mais tarde.
Transforme o iCloud Drive on for Money Pro em todos os seus dispositivos iOS: configurações iOS & gt; iCloud Drive & gt; Money Pro & gt; Em.
Transforme o iCloud Drive on for Money Pro no seu Mac: Preferências do Sistema & gt; iCloud & gt; iCloud Drive & gt; Opções & gt; Money Pro & gt; Em.
Sincronização de nuvem familiar.
O Family Cloud Sync é uma opção perfeita para trocar dados financeiros com os membros da sua família / parceiros que possuem sua própria ID da Apple. Com Family Cloud Sync você receberá notificações atualizadas sobre cada transação adicionada por outros usuários.
Caso você tenha configurado vários perfis, compartilhe o caminho certo com seu parceiro. Para iniciar o Cloud Cloud Sync, por favor.
- Vá para Mais & gt; Sync & gt; Family Cloud Sync & gt; Compartilhando e escolha o Perfil correto.
- O aplicativo irá gerar e mostrar no QR-código da tela.
- O seu membro da família / parceiro deve ir para Mais & gt; Sync & gt; Family Cloud Sync > Accept Invitation.
- Now your family member/partner should point his camera to your QR-code and wait for a while (usually about 5-15 seconds). Don’t turn the app on your device off while the connection is taking place.
If your family member/partner cannot use the camera on his device or he is not near by at the moment, send him an invitation by any of the ways: SMS, email, Messenger or etc. If you want to share the profile with a few people, please send a separate invitation with the unique QR-code to each one of them.
You can manage your profile subscription by adding other Family Cloud Sync users or deleting them. Just go to More > Sync > Family Cloud Sync > Sharing.
Bluetooth / Wi-Fi Sync.
Family budget sync allows to transfer the data between two devices with different iCloud ID. Connect two devices over bluetooth/wifi and sync your data directly.
In order to start syncing, go to More > Sync, press the Bluetooth icon in the right upper corner on both of your devices. If it is your initial sync, you will be asked whether you want to merge or replace your data. During subsequent sync sessions the data will be merged automatically.
3D Touch Support.
You’re able to use 3D Touch in Money Pro if your device supports this technology. For instance, if you peek at one of your accounts or a specific category, you’ll see the transactions list preview. Press little harder and you’ll get a full view of the list. Peek at a report name and you’ll get a quick view of its chart or graph, press harder and the full report view will fill out the screen.
Besides, 3D Touch allows to do a number of Quick Actions without launching the app. Quick Actions refer to quick menus that areВ availableВ when squeeze an app icon. For instance, after pressing on Money Pro icon you can quickly add a new transaction.
Money Pro in different colors (Themes)
You can change the background of the app at any moment. For your convenience there are 10 themes you can pick from. Shape your mood by choosing the colors appealing to you and never get bored while managing your finances. Go to More/Themes.
Apple Watch.
Money Pro can work on Apple Watch as well.
- Today screen. Here you can see all your planned and overdue transactions that you can pay/delay/delete. Besides, you can add a new transaction (income, expense, money transfer) on this form.
- Balance screen. It shows the list of your accounts with their balances. Here you can look through the last transactions of a particular account by tapping it.
- Month screen. It shows the budget progress for the current month (above) and the Net Worth (Assets minus Liabilities) graph for the last 30 days (below).
- Expenses screen. It shows the expense dynamics for the current month and the budget progress for each expense category. Tap a category you need and learn about your last transactions assigned to it.
- Income screen. It shows the income dynamics for the current month and the budget progress for each income category.
Add a couple of complications on your Apple Watch clock face to stay up to date with your financial matters. The round complication shows your budget progress for the current month. The text complication shows your overdue and upcoming planned transactions. Learn more details how to customize your Apple Watch clock face here.
Apoio, suporte.
If after reading this guide you still have questions, just tap/click the question mark button in the bottom right corner of this page and send us a message. Have an idea how we could improve the app? Nos informe! Your ideas can gain traction through community input and voting. We monitor feature requests from our user community to consider functionality changes.
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Perguntas frequentes.
Technology Related.
MoneyGuidePro ® is compatible with the following platforms/devices:
MoneyGuidePro ® is compatible with the following web browsers:
Microsoft Internet Explorer: version 11 (must not be used in compatibility mode) Microsoft Edge: latest version Mozilla Firefox: latest version Google Chrome: latest version Apple Safari: latest version.
Browser settings that must be enabled:
Browser plug-ins required:
Adobe Acrobat Reader or other pdf reader.
This means you need to allow the use of third party cookies. To do this follow the steps below:
In Internet Explorer.
Click "Tools" on the Menu Bar at the top of your browser. Select "Internet Options" Open "Privacy" tab Press "Sites" button If trying to launch MoneyGuidePro ® through your broker dealer's website, in the text box labeled "Address of website:" enter the url of your broker dealer's website and press the "Allow" button In the text box labeled "Address of website:" enter "moneyguidepro" and press the "Allow" button Press "OK" in "Per Site Privacy Actions" window Press "OK" in "Internet Options" window.
Overview of the MoneyGuidePro ® Planning System.
MoneyGuidePro ® (MGP) combines sophisticated financial planning with ease-of-use (for advisors) and clear, concise results (for clients). We believe that's a winning combination. MGP is the only comprehensive financial planning package that is completely web-based, and is the only goal-based planning system sophisticated enough to produce a high quality Financial Plan.
We developed the MoneyGuidePro ® (MGP) financial planning software for the "real world" where you and your clients live. We believe that the proper focus for financial planning software is the client, and our design philosophy and planning approach centers on what is most important to clients. Our mission is to assist you in providing reliable, complete, and understandable Plans for your clients.
We begin with what's most important to clients -- their goals. Clients want to know how they can use their financial resources to accomplish their goals. Next, we focus on presenting results that are clear and understandable. If clients don't understand their results, they are less likely to take action, and more likely to be dissatisfied with recommendations.
Third, we provide What If Scenarios so that you and your clients can explore multiple alternatives, and can see how sensitive a Plan is to tax changes or increased longevity. Fourth, we provide "Stress Testing" and Risk Management so that the client can see what might happen to a Plan across a range of real world uncertainties (e. g., down markets, premature death, or the need for long-term care).
Finally, MGP is interactive—you can make adjustments during a client meeting, clients can be involved in the creation of their Plan, and clients can access their Plan, via the web, from their home or office.
In the MoneyGuidePro ® Planning System, you can create Financial Plans (goal-based planning, including risk management), Asset Allocation Plans, and Lifetime Income Plans (Monte Carlo simulations on a single income stream). MoneyGuidePro ® Planning also has a uniquely powerful "sharing" capability that allows you to collaborate with your client or with other advisors over the internet. The key features of MoneyGuidePro ® Planning are provided below.
Overall Planning One version of the system for both advisors and clients. Simple enough for clients to use, sophisticated enough for the range and complexity that advisors need in comprehensive financial plans. Plans can be copied and modified, so creating multiple plans is quick and easy Configuration options for advisors include use of historical and/or projected returns, selection of asset classes, input of model portfolios.
Goal Planning Either single or multiple Goals can be in a Plan Shows how all Goals interact Funds Goals in Priority Order, which may be different than chronological order Initial entries are defaulted for ease and speed Flexible entry of assets - in summary or detail Flexibility in assigning assets to specific Goals, using assets in Priority Order, or both.
College Planning Can include one child or all children in a Plan Includes average estimates for Public, Private, 2-year, and 4-year schools Includes Peterson's college cost database Identifies alternate funding sources (loans, scholarships, etc.) used to offset costs.
Retirement Planning Can be used alone or with other Goals Three expense periods Realistic life expectancy default calculation Allows adjustments to future expenses Allows fixed expenses (e. g., no inflation) Allows for change in state of residence, which affects state taxes Automatic calculation of Social Security Allows unlimited other Retirement Income Sources (pension, alimony, rental, part-time work, etc.)
Post Retirement Planning Unique capability separates basic living expenses from discretionary expenses (e. g. Travel, Major Purchases) Focuses on the clients' needs and goals to help them create the retirement they want.
Other Goal Planning Can include single or multiple Goals in any Plan Supports periodic goals (annual, biennial, every five years, etc.)
Assets Supports all standard Employer Retirement Plans (ERPs) and IRAs Limits contributions on each ERP and IRA based on current tax laws Allows selection of "maximum" contribution for Traditional and Roth IRAs Supports all types of tax-deferred, tax-free, and taxable asset types Supports Coverdell IRAs and 529 Plans Supports qualified, tax-deferred, taxable, and tax-free lump sum additions Includes personal and business assets, and selection of whether to use to fund goals Supports both current and future Deferred Compensation plans Includes robust Stock Options module that compares results when varying exercise scenarios and return assumptions.
Goal Planning Results Capability to see Results for one Goal or multiple Goals combined Option for graphs and detailed charts Extensive What If capability allows for different scenarios, quickly and easily Each What If Plan allows assumption changes in rates of return, inflation, goals, and savings What If Plans allow new investments or retirement incomes What If Plans show sensitivity to longevity, taxes, and SS retirement income Monte Carlo simulation includes additional features -- compares two What If Plans, supports expense adjustments, and allows elimination of lower priority goals Historical Back-test and Historical Rolling Periods Stress Tests show Plan Results if returns going forward were like historical returns Bad Timing Stress Test shows Plan Results with "low returns" in one or two years Class Sensitivity Stress Test shows Plan Results if one or more asset classes get lower than expected returns Goal Funding Strategies allow you to show the impact of:
- converting investment assets to an immediate annuity.
- establishing a 72(t) distribution.
- utilizing NUA strategies.
Insurance Needs Analysis Illustrates life insurance, disability, and long-term care insurance needs Defaults initial values for ease of use Uses Goal Plan goals and assets (e. g., fully integrated with Goal Planning) Can illustrate multiple scenarios for each type of insurance LTC analysis includes city and state cost estimates for Nursing Homes, Assisted Living, and Home Health Care Shows how purchasing an LTC policy would affect the Goal Plan (i. e. can client afford to purchase an LTC policy)
Net Worth Supports entry of all liabilities Supports entry of personal and business assets. Any of these may be sold and used to fund goals or held. Provides summary Net Worth Statement Detailed balance sheet with asset ownership.
Estate Planning Determines clients' needs for estate planning Shows how By-Pass Trusts, Life Insurance Trusts, and Gifting increase liquidity, save taxes, and provide larger estates to heirs Fully integrated with Goal Planning, illustrating how funding trusts and gifting strategies will affect the Goal Plan.
Asset Allocation Uses same asset entry as Goal Planning Provides for Lump Sum or Full Allocation Includes standard Risk Tolerance Questionnaire and nine Model Portfolios Allows advisor to create a Custom Portfolio for a specific client Allows advisor to by-pass Risk Tolerance Questionnaire Uniquely shows trade-off between Risk and Return Shows changes needed to match Target Portfolio.
Lifetime Income Uses same asset entry as Goal Planning and Asset Allocation Provides Monte Carlo simulation for single income stream Shows range of possible results using the historical returns of the selected portfolio in random sequences.
Client Reports Prints clear, useful reports that clients can use to make decisions Standard Reports are included in the system Advisor can create customized Report templates Reports can be saved in "Report History" Allows advisor to control whether clients can print Reports.
Advisor Options Allows Advisors to configure their version of MoneyGuidePro Advisors can create their own asset classes and model portfolios Advisors can use Historical Returns (by selecting indices and a historical period), Projected Returns (by entering returns for each asset class), or both Advisors can enter disclosure information that will print on Client Reports.
Sharing Unique Sharing Feature allows collaborative planning All Plans can be shared on the Internet between Advisor and Client, or between Advisor and Advisor Two Sharing Modes (View Only, Update All) so that Advisor controls what information can be changed.
Technology Web-based. Advisors need only IE 8+, Safari 6+, or the latest version of Firefox or Chrome on their computer. Adobe Acrobat Reader needed for display and printing of Client Reports.
The Asset Allocation portfolios were created for MoneyGuidePro ® by Harold Evensky, CFP, who is an advisor to PIEtech℠. Harold has thoroughly documented his process for portfolio development in his book, Wealth Management (Irwin, 1997). Chapters 7, 8, and 9 (titled Investment Theory, Asset Allocation, and Optimization, respectively), pp. 175 - 279, provide an in-depth explanation of the underlying theories and Harold's application of those theories to the practicalities of real-world investing.
The Advisor Options section (accessed from the Main Menu page) provides the capability for you to configure your version of MoneyGuidePro ® . In Advisor Options, the "Create Portfolios" section allows you to change (i. e., add, delete, or rename) the asset classes and model portfolios. Also in this section, you can enter "projected" return and correlation information if you want to use the MoneyGuidePro ® projected (rather than historical) returns feature.
Monte Carlo Card Game.
Sim. The Monte Carlo Card Game is included with the MoneyGuidePro ® Planning System. The Card Game is an interactive, educational investment concept that helps an advisor explain how variability of returns affects clients' results. Deena Katz's book, Tools and Templates for Your Practice (Bloomberg Press, 2001) features the Card Game in Chapter 6, Client Education.
In her introduction to the Card Game, Deena says, "It is not easy to explain many of the investment concepts so important to the well being of our clients in a way that's meaningful. While we can explain the issues, and our clients may intellectually understand concepts such as market volatility and real cash flow, getting idea across at an emotional level is really tough. Over the years, I've learned that as much as we would like a client to know how he will react in volatile times, he does not. No matter how you pose the question, he is only guessing at how he will feel when his investment drops.
"Our friends from PIEtech℠ worked with us to write the Monte Carlo Card Game, a program to demonstrate returns, risk, and volatility in a manner that allows our clients to experience how these attributes might feel in the future. The Monte Carlo Card Game comes closer than anything I have seen to giving the client a sense of virtual volatility." (page 131)
For more information refer to Deena Katz's book Tools and Templates for Your Practice .
The Company - Who Is PIEtech℠
PIEtech℠, Inc. is a privately-owned corporation whose sole commitment is to the development of great financial planning software. That has kept us a focused, committed group of people. Our key designers and developers have a total of sixty years of service with us, averaging 12 years apiece. We're a competitive team. We know that we are miles ahead of our competition and are determined to stay that way.
We've built our business the old-fashioned way: with our own money. In recent years, while most tech companies were focusing on raising tons of money and spending it faster, we were concentrating our energy and income on product development. At the height of the dot frenzy in the late 1990s, our classic business model may have seemed out-of-date. In the 2000s, it has proven wise.
In the end, we are doing what most of you are doing: providing a better product and service, while seeking a reasonable return on our investment.
We're techies so you don't have to be. We obsess over the details of calculations. We extensively debate the relative merits of alternative ways of presenting information. We continually review our user interfaces, looking for ways to keep the inputs and results streamlined and straight-forward while not compromising accuracy and sophistication. We test everything intensively to verify both mainstream and off-the-wall scenarios.
We live, eat and breathe this stuff! And have since 1985! We're not rookies. MoneyGuidePro ® is our fifth generation of software. You benefit from that evolution, team continuity and obsession with accuracy.
The acronym PIE stands for Plan - Invest - Enjoy. We believe that the main purpose of financial planning is to assist clients with their financial needs in a way that frees them from worry, and allows them to go enjoy their lives. Hence, "Plan" better, "Invest" smarter, then "Enjoy" life more.
Harold Evensky and Deena Katz, our advisors, both, talk about financial planning as a periodic - not daily - process. They encourage their clients to periodically review their plan and their investments, and then go on with enjoying their lives. We think that makes good personal and financial sense.
The partners in the firm are Robert D. (Bob) Curtis, who's the founder and President, Antonio (Tony) Leal, who's CTO and Karla B. Curtis, who's Vice President of Operations.
Robert D. Curtis - Founder, President and CEO of PIEtech℠, Inc. - Designer of MoneyGuidePro ®
Bob has over 25 years experience as an innovator in the software industry. For the past 24 years, Bob has designed financial planning software for the financial services industry, and has been a leader in developing easy-to-use, interactive software for use by advisors, together with their clients.
In 1997, Bob founded PIEtech℠, Inc. As President and CEO of PIE, Bob oversees product development, business development and the day to day operations of the company. In addition, he serves as lead designer of the MoneyGuidePro ® financial planning system.
MoneyGuidePro ® was one of the first financial planning programs created for interactive web-based use. In May of 2005, MGP was selected by Forrester Research as one of the top three financial planning software programs. Today, MoneyGuidePro ® is used by over 21,000 financial service professionals.
Prior to forming PIETech, Bob served as President and CEO of 2 organizations; Compulife, Inc., an investment and insurance marketing firm, and Compulife Investor Services, a registered broker/dealer. Through its work with bank brokerage firms, Compulife became one of the top 10 marketing organizations in the industry, and was a consistent leader in its use of sales technology. It was while leading Compulife, that Bob and his development team began creating the first generation of MoneyGuidePro ® financial planning software.
Before joining Compulife, Bob owned and operated a software development company, providing accounting software for small businesses.
Bob has a B. S. in Finance from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA and is also the author of "Monte Carlo Mania," published in Retirement Income Redesigned: Master Plans for Distribution, published by Bloomberg Press in 2006.
Tony has 23 years experience designing and implementing computer systems for client companies. Tony has technical and management responsibility for all software product development in PIE. In this role, Tony manages the development of the MoneyGuidePro ® systems, and is the system architect for all customized versions of our products.
Tony joined Compulife, Bob's prior company, in 1991, where he also had responsibility for product development. Tony began his current role at PIEtech℠ in 1997.
Prior to joining Compulife, Tony was a System Engineer and Technical Project Manager for Unisys Corporation. His expertise included troubleshooting, resolving issues and gaining customer satisfaction with Unisys large systems accounts.
Tony has a B. S. in Computer Science and Information Systems from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC.
Karla has managed the development and deployment of computer systems in various business environments for over twenty years. As Vice President of Operations for PIEtech℠, Karla is responsible for product quality assurance, internal operations and staff support.
Karla joined PIEtech℠ at its inception in 1997, after working as a Project Manager for Compulife for the previous two years. Prior to joining Compulife, Karla owned a successful training and consulting business, whose clients included IBM Corp., The Library of Congress, and the U. S. Marine Corps.
Karla was a Program Manager for IBM Corp. in the Washington, D. C. metro area from 1979-1990, responsible for overall development and customer satisfaction for a range of state-of-the-art computer systems.
Karla has a B. S. in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Missouri, and a M. S. in Organizational Development from American University in Washington, D. C.
Evensky and Katz are consultants to PIEtech℠. We first met Harold and Deena in 1995 as we were seeking in-depth consulting on financial planning processes and practices. It was quickly apparent that we shared a common set of values as well as similar perspectives of what is important in financial planning products and services.
They are successful and nationally well-respected. Their knowledge, experience and philosophy are reflected throughout MoneyGuidePro ® .
Security of Data and Privacy.
PIEtech℠, Inc., the developer of moneyguidepro, is committed to protecting your clients' privacy and ensuring the security of their information on our web site.
PIEtech℠ will never disclose or share clients' personal information with any third party, unless required by law to do so (for example, to comply with a subpoena).
We use secure server software (SSL) encryption, which is the industry standard for secure data transfer software, to ensure data transmitted through the Internet is protected against unauthorized access. The secure server software (SSL) encrypts all information you and your client input before it is sent to us, and all data we collect is protected against unauthorized access. This technology helps ensure that clients' personal and financial information remains safe and private.
For a more detailed explanation, see the Privacy Policy and Security Information for MoneyGuidePro ® .
If a client feels uncomfortable having their data "out on a web site," the first accommodation to make is to not enter their Social Security number (in the Client Profile). The SSN is not a required field; it's there for an advisor's convenience to uniquely identify clients. Without a SSN, the only identifiable information is the clients' name and their state of residence.
If they're still uncomfortable, offer to enter them into MoneyGuidePro ® using an "assumed" last name. (If you do this, please remember that the "assumed" last name is the name that will print on the Client Reports.) You might even put their actual last name in the Notes field (also in the Client Profile), so you can remember who they really are.
Finally, there are probably some clients who just won't be comfortable with having their data "out there on some web site," and there may be nothing you can say that will make a difference.
If you want to maintain your own copy of information that you've entered into MoneyGuidePro ® and/or presented to your client, you can save copies of Client Reports to your own computer. When you create a Client Report, it is displayed as a PDF, with the Adobe Acrobat Reader control bar just above the Report. Click on the "diskette" icon, and you can enter the directory, folder, and file name where you'd like to save the Client Report. This electronic file is stored on your computer and you can access it at any time.
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Are you on track to meet your retirement goals?
That simple question haunts many American workers. Depending on which survey you read, roughly two-thirds of Americans don’t have a financial plan, which makes it unlikely they’re on a path for a financially secure retirement.
Perhaps you’re among those who would struggle to answer the “on track” question, either because you’ve never defined your retirement goals, or you don’t know whether your current financial preparations are sufficient to meet them. If so, we have good news for you: MoneyGuidePro ® , considered by many advisors to be the best financial-planning software on the market, is now available to SMI premium members (see Personalized Financial Planning Is Now Within Your Reach for details). This article will introduce you to MoneyGuidePro's ® many benefits and teach you how to use it.
MoneyGuidePro ® can help you eliminate uncertainty, seize control of your retirement preparation, and accomplish your most important financial goals. And we must confess that it is a far superior retirement-planning tool to the worksheets in The SMI Handbook or our old online Retirement Calculator!
Why planning is so essential.
Developing a personalized financial plan offers multiple benefits.
Having a plan relieves anxiety about the future. Most people have little idea how much money they’ll require to meet their needs in retirement. Going through the planning process and seeing everything in black-and-white eliminates the vagueness and uncertainty that haunts many people. It’s always easier to face a challenge when it’s clearly defined.
Getting started with your personalized retirement planning.
This offer is available to SMI premium members, so if you’re not yet a premium member, your first step is to sign-up (or upgrade your account) at SoundMindInvesting.
After becoming a premium member, or if you already are one, here’s how to gain access to MoneyGuidePro ® :
(Note that you must maintain your SMI Premium Membership to have continued access to your MoneyGuidePro ® plan.)
Using this software doesn’t make you a client of SMI Advisory Services, an affiliated, but separate company from the SMI newsletter and website. Naturally if you want to work with them at some point down the road, they’ll be happy to do that. But there’s no obligation or any expectation of that. In fact, at the end of the walkthrough that follows, we’ll explain how non - aggressive they are going to be and how aggressive you’ll need to be if you want to work with them more closely.
One final note on your relationship with SMI Advisory Services, should you choose to take advantage of this offer. Because MoneyGuidePro ® is designed for advisors to use with their clients, there’s no way to grant access to an individual investor without his or her information being visible to the advisor who licenses MoneyGuidePro ® . This means that your data will be in SMI Advisory’s system — there’s no way around that given the way MoneyGuidePro ® works.
Importantly, this does not mean they are your advisor or that you have any relationship with them other than they are granting you access to this software through their license. Obviously, this isn’t an arrangement we would agree to with any other advisor, but we’re willing to do so in this case because of our absolute trust in and long history working with the SMI Advisory team (SMI Advisory has managed the SMI Funds since their inception in 2005).
Introducing the Lab process.
Once you’re registered, you’ll be asked to select a “Lab,” which is a video-guided walkthrough of the software. There are three Lab types: for those already retired, within 10 years of retirement, or more than 10 years away from retirement. Choose the one that is most appropriate. All three Labs give you full access to the program, but each tailors the presentation a bit more to your circumstances.
After you select a Lab type, you’ll be given the option to either “Start Now” or enroll for a future Lab time. Select what works best for you, and don’t worry about having your financial records handy. You can enter estimates the first time through and return for fine-tuning later. Once you accept the terms of service, the Lab will begin.
Repeat after me: “Chat is my friend!”
As you go screen-by-screen through the Lab, videos will play that explain each step of the process and guide you as to how to input your information. The videos are immensely helpful and make the entry process easy and non-intimidating. The whole process moves at whatever pace you desire, so there’s no pressure — you don’t even have to finish it all at once. I recommend you listen to the whole video for each section before you fill in any information.
I also suggest you maximize the window so it fills your whole monitor — this will give you the most room to work with. The first video explains how to re-size the various parts of the screen. As I worked with the program, I would drag the vertical blue bar to the left initially, to make the video larger while I watched it. When the video finished, I’d drag the bar back to the right to make the input area of the page larger.
Even though the video training is excellent and the program is easy-to-use, you may have occasional questions. For those, use the “Chat” feature, which is manned by trained MoneyGuidePro ® personnel. You can access it by clicking on the “Live Support” or “Chat” links in the bottom, right-hand window. Their staff will respond and be available to answer your questions and help you move on to the next step. In my experience, their chat support was excellent. Note that the MoneyGuidePro ® staff can't answer advice-oriented questions; rather, they are experts in how the software works and how to get your information input correctly into the system. (SMI staff cannot answer questions about MoneyGuidePro ® , but we have set up a MoneyGuidePro ® section on the SMI Member Forum so SMI members can share information and help each other out.)
The first time through, simpler is better.
Here’s a tip to boost your enjoyment of the MoneyGuidePro ® process: Don’t worry about entering every financial detail your first time through the Lab . It’s easy to get bogged down in the details, especially when you don’t know the process and wonder if you’ll be able to easily add more information later. You will be able to go back and add/edit details after you complete the Lab. In fact, you’ll almost certainly want to do so.
My recommendation is to think of the planning process as moving along in stages. The first time through the Lab, your main goal is to familiarize yourself with the program, see what it’s doing, learn the terminology it’s using, and understand what the process and endgame look like. If you approach it that way, you’ll get to the fun stuff a lot quicker, which is hugely motivating!
While the Lab videos provide most of the instructions you’ll need to input your information, it’s helpful to have a roadmap of the various stops along the journey to help you gauge where you are in the process at any given time (see nearby table).
Once you see all that MoneyGuidePro ® can do for you, we think you’ll be hooked. But if you’re trying to input every single detail up-front, it’s possible to get bogged down. This can lead to fatigue, frustration, and quitting before you reach the finish line. Don’t do that! Instead, take a more laid-back approach your first time through the Lab process. Once you’ve been through it all and see how all the pieces fit, you can go back through some of your entries and fine-tune them.
There’s another reason not to sweat every detail immediately: Next month we’re going to explain how to connect to your actual investment accounts through MoneyGuidePro ® so that your plan can update in real time! If you have multiple investment accounts and/or detailed holdings, you definitely will save a lot of time if you keep your initial inputs general now and wait for that functionality.
Beyond the ease of getting assets entered into the system, that functionality will assist you in making wise decisions following future market declines. You’ll immediately be able to see the impact of recent market events on your long-term plan. Since people tend to overestimate the impact of current events, this aspect of MoneyGuidePro ® can help you manage your emotions , which is where most investing mistakes are made.
Following are some details pertaining to selected sections of MoneyGuidePro ® that can be helpful for SMI members.
This section exists to get you thinking about what you want in retirement, as well as how your plan can address common issues. This is also the first place you’ll run into a “How could I know that?” question — how long you think you’ll live. This is a great place to start practicing the rule of not getting bogged down! Use the tools provided to come up with your best guess and move on. As you’ll see later, you’ll have ample opportunity to play with this age input and see the financial impact of dying earlier or later.
This is a fun part of the Lab, where you’re encouraged to dream a little. You’ll select goals and drag them into the appropriate groups. Are they Needs, Wants, or Wishes? Then you click on each goal to enter some relevant details. Categorizing them in this way will help later when you work through various trade-offs and options. For example, maybe an annual trip to the Bahamas won’t work, but a less expensive trip to Florida would (or going to the Bahamas every other year). More importantly, these goals will allow you to later distinguish between the must-haves and the nice-to-haves within your plan. For now, go ahead and list them all.
There’s a very simple input screen for this early in the Lab, which is going to be fine for most people at this point (the program presents some great Social Security analysis later in the process). Those who want to enter all of their details can click the Advanced button to do so, but for most, just sticking with the basic inputs is fine for now. Don’t worry if you don’t know what age is optimal to claim benefits — the program will help you figure that out later. Your best guess is fine for now.
This is where you’ll soon have the ability to import data directly from your actual accounts, so don’t spend a lot of time on that now. (That feature isn’t available until your plan is ported over from this entry-oriented version of myMoneyGuide ® into the full version of MoneyGuidePro ® , which will happen roughly 30 days after starting the Lab. We’ll explain this process in detail next month.)
This page has three sections: a risk score, a portfolio that roughly corresponds to that level of risk, and the loss you would have experienced in that portfolio during the bear market of the Great Recession.
To a degree, MoneyGuidePro ® is customizable for the advisors that use it. However, certain features are “hard-wired” into the software and cannot be tailored to advisors’ unique situations. So it is with the “Great Recession Loss” section on this page, and this presents a problem with the data MoneyGuidePro ® presents to any SMI member using our Dynamic Asset Allocation strategy.
You’ve made it to the fun part! Or at least the interesting part — it may not be “fun” depending on the numbers you’re working with. But this is where the program will run 1,000 trials of your situation to see how likely you are to be able to fund all of your goals without running out of money. If the probability of success doesn’t look great, don’t panic. You’re about to get to work on possible solutions.
This is where the real planning work happens, as you begin to work with the variables and trade-offs that will affect your plan. You may notice that the probability of success for your Recommended Scenario is different now from what it was on the prior screen (your Current Scenario). This is because the current scenario uses your present asset allocation, whereas the recommended scenario uses the average returns of the portfolio you just selected on the risk page. You’ll have the opportunity to make adjustments to that in a moment.
The Social Security option will run an analysis that can help you optimize the best time to begin receiving your benefits. One of the more interesting aspects of this is realizing that the method that produces the most total dollars isn’t always the method that gives you the highest probability of meeting your goals! This was a surprise to me.
This powerful section of MoneyGuidePro® takes the new Recommended Scenario you’ve just constructed and stress-tests it using six of the most common “big fears” people have about the future. You can manipulate each of these scenarios and see the impact of that particular variable on your plan’s ability to meet your basic needs , your needs & wants , as well as your full slate of needs, wants, & wishes . This is all easily seen at a glance as you adjust the variables to assess their impact. You even have the ability to combine these variables by locking one while adjusting another.
This section is another example of a hard-wired page which, unfortunately, couldn’t be altered for SMI readers. It is designed to normally lead a person into a relationship with an advisor, but as we covered earlier, that’s not the goal of SMI Advisory. In fact, even though this page says you’ll be contacted by email and gives you the opportunity to input your phone number, SMI Advisory will not be contacting you at the end of this Lab process (other than to email you a new link in a few weeks that will grant you permanent access to the MoneyGuidePro® software — stay tuned for more on this next month).
Conclusion (and a reminder)
It’s important to recognize as you go through the planning process that your object isn’t necessarily to drive the probability of plan success as high as possible. Rather, it’s to make the most of what you have — to accomplish as many of your goals as possible while keeping your plan within the confidence zone.
Some are going to find they can’t get their plan into the confidence zone without making some uncomfortable changes. While that’s obviously not ideal, it’s far better to learn that now, while you hopefully have some opportunity to make adjustments to your saving, spending, investing, and working. Use this knowledge as a motivational prod to make changes now for a better future.
Others will be excited to learn they’re in better shape than they realized. Ótimo! Hopefully, any anxiety you’ve felt about the future will ease as you see that the probability of hitting your goals is quite high. A plan that’s on track may even allow some to give themselves permission to enjoy the journey a bit more and/or to be more generous in their giving than they would otherwise feel they could afford to be. (If you’re in this last group, a great area to experiment with is to set up a separate giving goal. This can allow you to easily see the impact of boosting your giving, while still keeping an eye on some of the worst-case type threats.)
After you finish your Lab, or if you stop in the middle, you can always log back in on the mymoneyguide page and choose to replay the Lab. From there, you can navigate to the section you want via the “About You. Resultados. Finish” menus at the top of the entry pages. (Note that when you log back in to myMoneyGuide ® it will say your access to myMoneyGuide ® will expire on a specific future date. Don't worry about this — SMI Advisory Services will send you an email before that date with a link to bring your plan from myMoneyGuide ® into MoneyGuidePro ® and grant you continued access. It's just the initial guided lab experience that expires after 30 days. We'll explain all of this in detail in next month's cover article, The Next Step in Your Personal Financial Plan: Transitioning From myMoneyGuide ® to MoneyGuidePro ® .)
We know there’s a strong appetite for this type of self-directed financial-planning assistance. We’re excited that SMI Advisory Services is willing to make this powerful software available to our premium members at such a low price. We hope you will take advantage of this opportunity and benefit — financially and emotionally — from the tremendous capabilities MoneyGuidePro ® offers.
Mark Biller is Sound Mind Investing's Executive Editor. His writings on a broad range of financial topics have been featured in a variety of national print and electronic media, and he has appeared as a financial commentator for various national and local radio programs. Mark is also the Senior Portfolio Manager of the SMI Funds.
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Financial Advisor’s Guide To Choosing The Best Financial Planning Software (For You)
Sumário executivo.
Good financial planning software is an essential tool for today’s financial advisor. Yet the reality is that it’s incredibly difficult to determine what is the best financial planning software… in part because advisors vary in how they use financial planning software in the first place, which means what is the “best” software for one advisor may be a terrible match for another.
In this financial advisor’s guide to the best financial planning software, we attempt to clarify what the important criteria are in choosing financial planning software in the first place, in recognition that what might be a crucial “deal-killer” required feature for one advisor may not even matter to another. Whether it’s the distinction between goals-based and cash-flow-based retirement projections, to the ease of input, the depth of the output (especially in technical areas like detailed income and estate tax projections), available integrations to other components of the financial advisor technology stack, or the availability of account aggregation and “PFM” tools… the reality is that no financial planning software is the “best” at everything, so trade-offs must be considered.
In addition, as someone who’s seen virtually every financial planning software company in the landscape – including some that aren’t even around anymore – the end of this guide includes my own brief high-level review of each of the leading financial planning software packages (including some of the newest players, too), to give further context to each software package’s strengths and potential weaknesses. Also included are the pricing details of the various financial planning software packages, which still have a remarkably amount of variance for what are nominally “similar” financial planning software tools!
I hope this guide is helpful to you in considering whether you’re got the “right” financial planning software, or whether there may be an alternative solution out there that’s a better fit for your business and client needs!
The Challenge In Selecting The Best Financial Planning Software.
Financial planning software is an essential tool for any bona fide financial advisor, in a world where projecting the long-term impact of financial trade-offs – necessary for any consumer/client to make a good financial decision – is far too complex to be done without technology to assist. Good planning software fills the void by doing the requisite ‘number-crunching’ necessary to calculate projected outcomes, so that a client can evaluate the consequences of any particular financial trade-off or decision.
Yet the reality is that while the origin of financial planning software was simply a complex “financial planning calculator” tool, in today’s environment being able to effectively calculate projected outcomes is merely the “table stakes” that any financial planning software must be able to achieve to have a seat at the table. The real differentiators for financial planning software in today’s marketplace are about what can be accomplished when using the tool live, collaboratively, in real time with a client. And financial planning software companies are always trying to come up with the next new differentiating feature and approach.
However, because not every advisor serves the same types of clients, focuses on the same types of problems, or has the same approach to analyzing financial planning situations and presenting them to clients, it’s actually remarkably difficult to simply identify one clear “best” financial planning software. Instead, choosing the best financial planning software is really about finding the best for you , the types of clients you work with, and how you will choose to integrate the software into the process (and possibly integrate it to the rest of your technology as well).
Factors To Consider When Choosing Financial Planning Software.
Goals Based vs Cash Flow Based Financial Planning Software.
For nearly 20 years, “goals-based” vs “cash-flow-based” has been one of the key differentiators amongst the types of financial planning software. The distinction refers to detailed assumptions regarding how a household’s total cash flows are handled in the software.
Goals-based financial planning software captures dollars that are allocated towards a specific goal (or multiple goals), and projects whether the goal(s) will be achieved. Thus, for instance, if a household had committed $20,000/year towards saving for retirement, and $5,000/year in college savings, goals-based software would evaluate whether those savings, plus assumed growth rates, are likely to achieve the goal. This might be projected on a straight-line (“linear”) basis, or modeled to account for uncertainty with a Monte Carlo analysis (see further discussion below on “modeling”). Notably, though, with goals-based planning, there isn’t necessarily any tracking of what the household earns in total, and where all the dollars are going; instead, the approach simply assumes that dollars to be allocated towards specific goals that have been determined already, and then projects those outcomes. Whether the household can even afford to achieve that targeted savings goal is up to the advisor to figure out with the client in the first place.
By contrast, cash-flow-based financial planning software typically aims to account for every dollar in the household – combining all the total inflows from various sources (income from wages and self-employment, portfolio income, etc.), and ensuring that they fully match the total outflows (whether to some form of spending or allocated to saving). Thus, for instance, a household that has $100,000 of income might allocate $20,000/year towards saving for retirement and $5,000/year in college savings, but the software would also make allocations for the household’s spending in various categories, its tax obligations, etc. In other words, the analysis doesn’t just include the cash flows towards particular goals , it tracks all the cash flows. Notably, this means if the client’s spending and saving goals add up to more money than the household has in cash flow, the software will reflect a deficit in recognition of the shortfall (which wouldn’t typically be included in a goals-based analysis).
Historically, the challenge with cash-flow-based planning software – for which NaviPlan was long the leading platform – is that accounting for and projecting out “every” cash flow allows for the most thorough analysis, but can be a very tedious process (especially for software in the past that wasn’t very user-friendly). On the other hand, MoneyGuidePro has been the leading proponent and champion of the goals-based planning approach, recognizing that often tracking “every” cash flow for the “most thorough” analysis isn’t really necessary, and that the planning process can be greatly expedited by reducing the focus from tracking every cash flow in the household to just capturing “the ones that matter” towards specific goals instead.
Notably in today’s environment, the dividing lines between “cash flow based” and “goals based” financial planning software have blurred, as goals-based users of platforms like MoneyGuidePro often include many goals (so many, that virtually all cash flows are accounted for anyway), while cash-flow-based platforms like NaviPlan increasingly focus not just on the cash flows themselves but the goals towards which they’re being allocated.
Nonetheless, from a perspective of software design and focus, goals-based vs cash-flow-based financial planning software is still a very meaningful distinction. Those who prefer to delve into the details of long-term cash flow projections, particularly in situations with significant wealth and complexity, or simply where those details are important, will likely be unsatisfied by goals-based software. On the other hand, those who want to focus on how planned savings/allocations towards particular goals project in the long run – but don’t necessarily want to account for the minutia of every household cash flow (over a multi-decade time period!) – may strongly prefer goals-based planning software.
Financial Planning Software Models: Straight Line vs Monte Carlo And What-If Scenarios.
Another important distinction in financial planning software is how it models the projections themselves. Does the software simply project on a “linear” straight-line basis – e. g., projecting a flat annual return of 6%, 8%, or whatever assumptions are entered? Or does the software project a wider range of returns using Monte Carlo analysis?
Similarly, what is the capacity of the software to project and analyze various alternative or “What-If” scenarios? Can the financial planning software easily provide side-by-side comparisons of potential trade-offs that a client might be considering? Is the software able to project a “bad returns” scenario and show the client how spending must be adapted to stay on track? Does the software make it easy to vary the inputs to the plan, to show how the plan outcome(s) may be more sensitive to some planning assumptions or inputs versus others (so the client understands what is truly driving the outcome)?
A related issue also of concern to at least some advisors (and some clients) is whether the software is a “black box” or whether the calculation engine can validate the numbers that the software produces as output. Some financial planning software, like MoneyTree, provides a detailed “audit trail” that can be used to verify the source and calculation of every number produced in the output reports, while other software is notorious for being difficult to reproduce the calculated results (e. g., MoneyGuidePro).
How financial planning software models taxes in particular also varies greatly from one software package to the next. Some tools will only allow for a basic assumption regarding effective tax rates (perhaps split into an effective tax rate during working years and a different one in retirement), while others will actually do detailed year-by-year tax projections based on the actual tax brackets and projected income, along with the actual rules and limitations for various deductions. Financial planning software tools also vary greatly in their ability to capture state-specific income tax rules (or not).
Financial Planning Software Output – Interactive Tools Vs Printed Reports.
In the past, the primary output of financial planning software was “the” financial plan – an extended series of report printouts, potentially numbering dozens of pages, detailing the projections of the software and their results. Some financial advisors would add to these printouts several additional pages of the plan deliverable for clients, with their own analysis and commentary, along with action items and perhaps an executive summary. But the whole thrust of the “financial planning process” was about gathering data, inputting it into the software, and producing a report – “the plan” – from the output.
In today’s environment, most financial planning software is still capable of providing printed report outputs, but as financial planning software increasingly shifts from just being a “calculator” tool for the advisor to a collaborative tool to be used with the client, there is an increasing focus on whether and how the software can be used “interactively” with clients as well. In other words, rather than simply gathering client data, inputting it into the software, and printing the reports for clients, the data is added to the software and the advisor-and-client together take the plan for a “test drive” and see how it will handle under various conditions.
Why this matters from the perspective of selecting planning software is that, simply put, some software looks a lot better in front of clients than other tools. And not all financial planning software is built to accommodate such a process of changing the inputs on the fly to see the impact on the outcomes. For instance, to test an alternative scenario with a client like “what if I tried to save another $10,000/year to retire 2 years earlier”, software built for an interactive collaborative financial planning experience with clients might have some handy sliders to “drag” the retirement age and savings levels up and down to see the outcome, while other tools might require the planner to delve back into the guts of the software’s input screens to adjust these underlying assumptions (a far less appealing experience for the client sitting there watching the advisor dig around for where to change the software inputs!).
Ease Of Input And Flexibility Of Financial Planning Software Assumptions.
In addition to the focus on the output of financial planning software, as the financial advisor who will use the software, the ease and flexibility of the financial planning software input process matters, too. Ease of input can impact everything from the raw time it takes to put client data into the plan, to the steepness of the learning curve to get up to speed on how to use the software in the first place (as the harder and more complex the input process, the more training it takes on how to do it properly!).
To some extent, the “ease of input” for financial planning software is simply driven by the quality of its design process in the first place. Some tools have a more natural layout and flow to inputting the data, while others require more digging. Beyond that, the reality is that the more “detailed” the software is – e. g., if it’s intensively cash-flow based – the more input work there tends to be up front (and the reduced data input burden has been one major reason for the popularity of “goals-based” financial planning software).
Also relevant for many planners is the flexibility of the software’s assumptions , with constraints that will vary greatly from one financial planning software platform to the next. In some cases, the software will “force” you to use pre-set inputs determined by the software makers – which may be a welcome expediency for those who are happy with the default assumptions, but a deal-killer for those who prefer to use their own inputs. In the context of investment/portfolio assumptions in particular, some tools will allow a broad-based average return (and standard deviation), while others will allow inputs at the asset-class or individual investment level. Some only allow for return (and/or standard deviation) assumptions to be changed, while others allow the advisors to set an entire cross-correlation matrix to run a robust Monte Carlo projection.
Modular Financial Planning Tools.
Nonetheless, many clients do have needs in other modular areas of financial planning, from evaluating insurance coverage to making a decision about the timing of when to start Social Security. Different financial planning software programs vary greatly in the financial planning modules they include beyond just the core accumulation/distribution projections, but may include:
& # 8211; Life Insurance . Performs a capital needs analysis to determine whether the current amount of life insurance coverage is sufficient, based on projected other income, spending goals, and available assets.
& # 8211; Disability Insurance . Evaluate whether there is sufficient disability income insurance to cover spending needs in the event an earner becomes disabled.
& # 8211; Long-Term Care Insurance . Illustrate the consequences of a long-term care event on the retirement plan, and then show how long-term care insurance may help to fill the gap (along with the impact of paying the premiums).
& # 8211; College Savings . This module may include both projecting the accumulation of college funds based on current savings, and whether there will be “enough” to cover future college costs. More robust versions of college planning tools may include a database of most/all US colleges, and their costs (both tuition, and also room and board) to more easily determine required college saving based on particular target schools.
& # 8211; Social Security Timing . How is the plan impacted depending on whether the retiree starts Social Security early or late, and what are the opportunities to coordinate the timing of Social Security claiming with a couple (which still matters, even with the elimination of File-and-Suspend and the wind-down of Restricted Application)? Some Social Security calculator tools will also help determine projected Social Security benefits based on continued work in the years leading up to (or even in) retirement. (Other popular stand-alone tools for advisors analyzing Social Security claiming strategies include Social Security Timing, Social Security Solutions, and SSPro.)
& # 8211; Retirement Drawdowns . While virtually all financial planning software at least illustrates the basic impact of taking net withdrawals from the portfolio, not all tools can do sophisticated modeling of tax-sensitive drawdowns from various types of retirement accounts, or incorporate the impact of annuitization or taking life insurance policy loans. (This is another area where several stand-alone tools for illustrating strategies have become popular, including Income Discovery, RetireUp, and Wealth2k.)
& # 8211; Stock Options and Executive Compensation . Illustrate both the tax and investment consequences of various liquidation strategies of qualified and nonqualified stock options (and restricted stock). (Notably, there is arguably still no financial planning software capable of doing this kind of analysis in the depth of standalone specialized tools like StockOpter.)
& # 8211; Tax Planning . Analysis of specific tax planning opportunities, such as the impact of tax-sensitive retirement spenddown strategies, systematic partial Roth conversions, etc. Historically, most planning software has been very limited in its ability to illustrate tax planning strategies, leading advisors to adopt standalone tools like BNA Income Tax Planner, although a new breed of financial planning software solutions like RightCapital are delving into illustrating tax strategies as financial advisors become less product-centric and more focused on delivering value-added advice.
Client PFM Portals.
As financial planning software continues its transition from being an “advisor calculator” into a holistic “financial planning experience” for clients, an increasingly important aspect of financial planning software is the “portal” or personal financial management (PFM) dashboard provided to clients. And although historically financial planning software has been very light on PFM tools for clients, an increasing number are either building their own solutions (pioneered by eMoney Advisor, and a key reason that Fidelity acquired the company in 2018), or at least are partnering with third-party PFM providers like Wealth Access who offer client-facing solutions hat capture the client’s full financial planning picture.
Despite some progress in this area, though, the capabilities of financial planning software PFM tools for clients still vary greatly. Some are little more than a login portal for the client to view their current plan, while others give clients full access to the planning software itself. Many are still focused primarily on the retirement accumulation/decumulation projections and the household balance sheet, but are light on helping clients manage and monitor cash flow, while others are building out increasingly robust household-cash-flow tracking capabilities (so clients don’t have to track their own spending to understand their financial position).
Notably, for some planning software, the ability to offer a client portal also creates the opportunity for clients to do some of their own data input, either to update key numbers if the situation changes, or even to facilitate the entire data entry process when onboarding a new client (i. e., clients are able to key in all of their own data directly to the software!). For financial planning software that doesn’t have an online data input capability for clients, some at least partner with third-party solutions like PreciseFP that facilitate the process through available APIs.
Automatic Client Data Updates Through Account Aggregation And Other Integrations.
In addition to the availability of a PFM portal for clients to access their plan, another related feature in financial planning software is whether it uses account aggregation to draw in the latest account balances, which obviates the need for at least some of the otherwise-manual data input to update the plan and even makes it possible for the plan to be “continuously” updated.
For planning software that has a PFM portal for clients, it’s typically a given that the software’s account aggregation tools will feed that data into the core financial planning software engine as well. However, for planning software that doesn’t have its own PFM solution, the question arises of whether it has any third-party integrations to maintain these planning data updates, either pulling the data from account aggregation tools like ByAllAccounts, Albridge, or CashEdge, or at least drawing in investment account balances directly from the advisor’s RIA custodian through platforms like TD Ameritrade’s Veo.
Notably, while advisors often ask for “all software to be integrated to other software”, in practice financial planning software often is not integrated to anything besides one of the aforementioned account aggregation tools to feed in account data, or perhaps a data input tool like PreciseFP. To the extent that financial planning software providers announce their “integration” to other types of software, it’s often nothing more than a Single-Sign-On solution that allows the advisor to click through from another piece of software (e. g., the CRM or portfolio accounting software dashboard) into the financial planning software, but doesn’t actually entail the integration and movement of relevant client data that would really drive advisor efficiencies.
Other Add-On Tools And Services From Financial Planning Software Companies.
Although usually more of an “add-on” than a deal-breaker, many financial planning software companies offer add-on tools beyond the core financial planning software, that may be relevant for the financial advisor. Some are arguably more “tangential” to the core financial planning software itself – such as the Advisor Briefcase content marketing solution from Advicent (makers of NaviPlan software), or the MyMoneyGuide marketing solution from MoneyGuidePro, or the RetireLogix mobile app prospecting tool from FinanceLogix. Others are more directly integral, such as the client portal from eMoney Advisor or Advicent’s soon-to-be-launched (at the time of this writing) Narrator Clients solution.
From the decision-making perspective, the reason that these add-ons become appealing is that, because they’re made by the financial planning software company, they tend to be more deeply integrated into the software. For instance, MyMoneyGuide’s marketing solution ends out getting the client to input all their own data into a self-guided module, which comes to the advisor as a pre-populated financial plan ready for client advice!
Still, for most advisors, the driving decision will be whether the core financial planning software itself is appealing, and only then will these other add-on services be considered, especially since many of the leading providers are all building their own end-to-end solutions (e. g., most but not all leading platforms now provide everything from financial planning software to a client PFM portal with account aggregation and also some form of advisor marketing tools and support).
A Review Of The Financial Planning Software Landscape.
So given these dynamics, how do the various financial planning software solutions stack up? Because the overall direction of the industry is towards more comprehensive and engaging platforms, in general the solutions with the widest adoption already tend to have the widest feature set as well (due to the fact that their large paying user base gives them more resources to iterate and add the most features).
That being said, the overall focus of the software – goals-based versus cash-flow based – remains a meaningful way to distinguish the platform, and a number of newcomers are now trying to make their mark on the landscape as well. This chart provides an overall view of the financial planning software landscape, based on the software’s goals-based vs cash flow orientation, and the latest industry tech survey data on advisor adoption.
For a brief financial planning software review and details of financial planning software pricing for each of the companies, see below for further details! (We plan to follow up further in the coming year with more in-depth financial planning software reviews for each company’s solutions.)
MoneyGuidePro Review And Pricing.
MoneyGuidePro (MGP) is the market leader in financial planning software adoption, as measured by reported usage from surveys of actual financial advisors. With robust usage amongst both large-firm enterprises, and independent advisors, MoneyGuidePro is recognized as the company that put “goals-based financial planning” on the map, when it emerged onto the scene in 2000. MGP was also one of the first financial planning software platforms to already be operating from the cloud in the early 2000s, giving it a breakout lead amongst its competitors (from which their competitors have never recovered!).
The MoneyGuidePro software has a long history of steady iteration and development, with an increasingly strong focus on client experience, and is generally viewed as software that is “easier to use” than many of its leading competitors, thanks in large part to its straightforward goals-focused orientation.
MoneyGuidePro is just coming out with its major version 4.0 release, dubbed G4. Notably, it is one of the few financial planning software platforms that does not have its own PFM portal for clients; as a result, advisors must generally purchase a separate solution to fill this gap (such as Yodlee PFM, Wealth Access, or even the recently unbundled eMx Select portal solution from “competitor” eMoneyAdvisor).
MoneyGuidePro Pricing: $1,295/year for a solo license (multi-advisor and enterprise discounts available, along with discounts through numerous membership associations).
eMoney Advisor Review And Pricing.
eMoneyAdvisor is by most surveys the second-most-widely adopted financial planning software, and generally competes head-to-head with MoneyGuidePro. To the extent that MGP is recognized as “the” goals-based financial planning software, eMoney Advisor is known for being the financial planning software with “the” leading client PFM portal.
In fact, eMoney Advisor built its own client portal with account aggregation from scratch over the past 10 years, far in advance of any its competitors, and the strength of its portal allowed the company to vault into second place amongst planning software adoption.
The financial planning software itself has more of a cash-flow-based orientation than MoneyGuidePro, though not as “extreme” in its cash flow focus as some others, reducing the time for input and working with the software to analyze a client plan (though on the street, eMoney still has a reputation for being somewhat complex and time-consuming to use).
The software’s interactive capabilities for doing live collaborative financial planning have also improved greatly in recent years, with the rollout of its emX Decision Center, and the company continues to reinvest into what is already arguably an industry-leading client experience, and now has the full resources of Fidelity to leverage since it was acquired in 2018 (though eMoney remains independent and still available to all advisors, not just those on the Fidelity platform).
eMoney Advisor Pricing: While eMoney Advisor is certainly a highly capable financial planning platform, the company is well aware of its market position, and prices accordingly. The full emX Pro platform is more expensive than any other financial planning software around, starting at $3,888/year (priced at $324/month). A “light” version of the portal plus “basic” planning capabilities is available for $2,592/year ($216/month). Discounts are hard to come by, as eMoney Advisor has a notorious reputation for being difficult to negotiate with on pricing. For those who just want the eMoney client portal (and intend to pair the portal together with another financial planning software solution like MGP), the portal is available on a standalone basis for $1,944/year (paid as $162/month).
NaviPlan Review And Pricing.
NaviPlan’s roots are serving as the quintessential cash-flow based financial planning software, the counterpart to MoneyGuidePro’s goals-based software. In fact, in the early years MoneyGuidePro differentiated itself by not being as tedious and detail-intensive to do data input as NaviPlan (though for those who preferred in-depth cash flow analysis, this is exactly what kept them with NaviPlan throughout).
Fortunately, NaviPlan’s transition to the cloud several years ago gave it the opportunity for at least a partial re-design, and the company made significant strides in improving the time to enter data and create a financial plan. Notably, though, in the transition to the cloud NaviPlan reduced some detailed cash flow features and alienated long-standing users, many of whom went to eMoney Advisor as the closest cash-flow based alternative. In addition, its slow transition to the cloud – NaviPlan only began developing a web-based version late last decade, and didn’t fully dial down its desktop version until 2018 – contributed to further losing market share. And three different company ownerships in the past 5 years haven’t helped, either.
Nonetheless, NaviPlan is still well recognized as the leading cash-flow based financial planning software. And its parent company, Advicent, appears to have newfound stability, aided by new leadership, which seems to be back on the development path again. The company also still has an incredibly robust base of advisors through their enterprise clients, including the majority of the top North American banks, broker-dealers, and insurance companies, giving it substantial resources to continue iterating future development.
Notably, Advicent also continues to support the Financial Profiles financial planning software (which has its roots in life insurance companies that did financial planning to show clients how underinsured they were), and recently acquired and rolled out Figlo financial planning software (reviewed separately below). (Advicent is also developing a full-fledged client PFM portal solution called Narrator Clients, but that is currently only available with Figlo.)
NaviPlan Pricing: Unfortunately, NaviPlan does not disclose its pricing on its website, and instead forces those interested to go through a demo process first. But the software is reportedly available for an individual license cost of $2,195/year – though in practice most advisors affiliated with a larger firm will have access to the software through their company’s enterprise pricing arrangement. Some discounts via advisor membership associations are also available, as well as discounts for buying a multi-year license.
FinanceLogix Review And Pricing.
Because it is so often used as a private “white label” platform by large banks and other enterprise firms, many advisors who use FinanceLogix don’t even realize they’re using FinanceLogix.
Nonetheless, FinanceLogix has been around since the late 1990s, and founder Oleg Tishkevich has long pushed the envelope on financial planning software – FinanceLogix was the first to begin using interactive sliders to dynamically show alternative What-If scenarios for clients back in the early 2000s, and was early to adopt a client portal and offer a standalone mobile app for prospecting as well.
The FinanceLogix software itself is quite capable in tracking client cash flows as comprehensive planning software, but still manages to have a strong interactive and collaborative client interface, with a broad set of advisor and client tools and integrations (including its own PFM portal solution with account aggregation via Yodlee).
As with eMoney Advisor, FinanceLogix was also acquired in 2018 – by Envestnet – but remains available to non-Envestnet advisors as well.
FinanceLogix Pricing: Annoyingly, FinanceLogix does not disclose its advisor pricing on its website, and instead forces you to submit your contact information to their Sales team just to get a quote. But financial planning software and client portal capabilities are reportedly available for an individual license annual cost of $1,200, although notably getting the account aggregation data feed to actually power the software is an additional $1,500/year, bringing the total cost to $2,700. Notably, though, most FinanceLogix users do not buy independently, but instead have the software made available to them through their large-firm enterprise agreement. As with most platforms, multi-advisor discounts are available as well.
MoneyTree Review And Pricing.
One of the longest-standing financial planning software platforms around, MoneyTree originated in 1981 and has a strong industry reputation for not only the accuracy of its calculation engine but the fact that the software output includes an audit trail to allow every number in the planning output to be reconstructed.
The core MoneyTree software is split into three tiers, which can be purchased separately or as a part of their “TOTAL” planning package: the Silver Financial Planner tool is meant for ‘basic’ planning with quick data input and simplified output; Easy Money covers everything that Silver does but provides a more comprehensive financial planning tool on top; and Golden Years allows for the most robust level of detailed cash flow projections (particularly around retirement liquidations and spend-down strategies).
Notably, MoneyTree was one of the longest-standing desktop platforms, and their TOTAL Online solution wasn’t even released until late 2018, which unfortunately has left the company playing “catch-up” on the web-based capabilities of some of its larger competitors; its financial planning capabilities are in line with its competition, but its client portal and account aggregation capabilities are just not as robust or flexible as solutions like eMoney Advisor, FinanceLogix, or Advicent’s Narrator Clients.
MoneyTree Pricing: The cost for MoneyTree software depends on which module(s) you purchase. Silver is $495 for the first year and $371/year thereafter, while Easy Money is $895/year and $649/year thereafter, and Golden Years is also $895/year and $649/year thereafter. Alternatively, advisors can buy Total ONLINE, which combines Easy Money and Golden Years (and thus effectively the entire MoneyTree suite) for $1,342/year. Desktop versions of the software are also still available, for the same upfront purchase but a lower cost for the subsequent renewals (since the advisor becomes responsible for hosting all client data).
GoalGami Pro Review And Pricing.
A common criticism of comprehensive financial planning software is that it’s too time-consuming to enter all the data and do the requisite analysis, so Advisor Software created GoalGami Pro to facilitate a “simpler” planning process with streamlined data entry to quickly reach some basic financial planning projections and results. The process can be further expedited by sending clients to the Collaboration Connect portal to enter their own data and plan details, so time with the advisor goes directly to the results and implementation stage.
GoalGami Pro is also somewhat unique in that it takes a strong focus on a “Household Balance Sheet” approach, pioneered by its founder (and former co-founder and chairman of Barra) Andrew Rudd. The Household Balance Sheet is a version of Liability-Driven Investing (LDI) applied in an individual context, where planned future spending is converted into a present value liability on the balance sheet to compare against current and future savings (and show clients a form of “funded ratio” for whether they’re on track or not).
In practice, GoalGami Pro is most commonly known for its use in bank and large-firm channels with brokers who are primarily focused on product implementation, but want an expedited version of financial planning software to at least introduce and explore some financial planning concepts with clients. While the software is reasonable for this purpose, and some financial planners who don’t want to go that in depth may find the software of interest for “smaller” clients, experienced advisors who like to go in-depth will likely prefer other solutions that can do expedited planning as necessary, but that also have the capabilities to go deeper if necessary for a particular client situation.
InStream Review And Pricing.
InStream Solutions is a financial planning software company founded by Alex Murguia, a principal in a wealth management firm of his own who set out to create better financial planning software that would be relevant for firms like his that do comprehensive financial planning and manage relationships on an ongoing basis.
A goals-based platform, InStream actually started out as a free financial planning software solution, with the vision of collecting enough advisors using the platform for free to surface big data insights that could then be sold back as recommendations for advisors (“other advisors with clients in a similar situation did this…”) or other interested parties. However, the company ultimately pivoted to a more “traditional” financial planning software company model of charging advisors for an annual licensing fee to use the platform.
Nonetheless, InStream is somewhat unique in its focus on not just the upfront financial planning process, but tracking and monitoring client plans over time, allowing advisors to set alerts that inform the advisor when something notable has occurred – e. g., a critical wealth threshold has been reached – for a particular client plan. The software features a central Advisor Dashboard intended to be the central point for the comprehensive financial planner to manage and monitor all clients and their progress towards their goals.
InStream is also aiming to make its mark in the world of retirement planning by adding popular retirement researcher Wade Pfau as its Chief Financial Planning Scientist to help better incorporate the latest financial planning research into the software.
To date, though, InStream has still struggled to expand its market share in the highly competitive marketplace for financial planning software, although its users do include a deep relationship with mega-RIA Buckingham and BAM Alliance.
InStream Pricing: Instream Wealth is available for $115/month for independent advisors, or a slightly discounted $1,260/year for those paying the annual fee instead. Discounted rates apply for multi-advisor licenses.
WealthTec Review And Pricing.
Amongst those who work with high net worth clients, who have complex needs ranging from exercising stock options and liquidating restricted stock, NUA distributions and complex Roth conversions, to evaluating the benefits of complex estate planning strategies from CRTs to rolling GRATs and more, WealthTec is arguably the go-to software.
WealthTec is not merely a cash-flow-based financial planning software solution, but a deeply analytical tool for financial planning, tax, and estate planning, for those serving ultra HNW clients – and accordingly, is used primarily by private banks and trust companies as their software of choice.
The big caveat, however, is that WealthTec has not been transitioned to the cloud – instead, it is the last holdout that still operates in a desktop environment, specifically as a series of Excel spreadsheet add-ons that do all the analytics and heavy lifting, and produce reports (which can then be outputted to. pdf format for a client’s written plan). As a result, the software cannot leverage most of the benefits of today’s online solutions, from client portals to account aggregation for data updates, and its interactive collaboration features are limited by the capabilities (or lack thereof) in Excel.
Nonetheless, for the complex needs of the ultra-high-net-worth client, WealthTec arguably has no competitors for its capabilities to illustrate the most complex financial, tax, and estate planning strategies. In fact, the company even offers a WealthTec PlanXPRT service (for a separate additional cost) for those who need additional support in fully utilizing the software’s capabilities to analyze client scenarios.
WealthTec Pricing: An annual license to WealthTec costs $1,495/year, with discounts available for multi-advisor licenses.
FinanceWare Review And Pricing.
FinanceWare was the first financial planning software company to offer a web-based Monte Carlo analysis tool back in the late 1990s, and is still recognized for its capabilities to simulate potential wealth accumulation subsequent spenddown strategies modeled via both Monte Carlo and historical scenarios.
Notably, though, FinanceWare’s WealthCare software is really focused primarily on “just” projecting the accumulation and decumulation of wealth. It is not built to model tax planning scenarios, estate planning, or other aspects of financial planning. In practice today, it is used most commonly in firms that are focused around assets under management and want to illustrate goals-based saving and retirement spending strategies in the context of how much portfolio risk to take in order to maximize the probability of achieving the client’s goals. The software is not widely used by independent advisors, but is still a pillar in some very large brokerage firms.
FinanceWare Pricing: Unlike most tools that simply charge advisors a flat annual license, FinanceWare actually prices based on the number of active clients in the system, with an “introductory” rate of $90/year per client. As a web-based tool, a white label co-branded client-friendly version of the platform is available for a one-time setup fee of $750.
SunGard WealthStation Review And Pricing.
WealthStation is part of the broader SunGard suite of technology tools designed to be a ‘one-stop shop’ for enterprises aiming to equip their advisors with the entire advisor technology stack. The platform includes both financial planning software, CRM, portfolio accounting and rebalancing tools, and a client portal. However, SunGard also offers WealthStation CompAct, a more simplified standalone goals-based version of the financial planning software.
As financial planning software, WealthStation is not quite as “in-depth” as tools like NaviPlan, but does offer the ‘usual’ suite of comprehensive financial planning tools, including both goals-based savings, retirement decumulation, college funds, and the impact of different investment portfolios on accomplishing those goals.
In practice, most SunGard users buy not just WealthStation CompAct or even just the full WealthStation financial planning software, but the entire WealthStation suite, so advisors tend to be “all in” or “all out” on the WealthStation suite. Given this dynamic, it is used most commonly by enterprises, particularly banks and broker-dealers, that wish to leverage the comprehensive WealthStation suite, rather than be responsible for managing all the individual components of the advisor technology stack.
WealthStation Pricing: The full Wealthstation suite costs $2,500/year, with “lighter” versions of the software available at lower price points, and a few specialized add-ons available as well (including SunGard’s popular AllocationMaster tool). Or advisors can purchase the simpler WealthStation CompAct on a standalone basis for $475/year.
Figlo Review And Pricing.
Figlo is a financial planning software company based in the Netherlands, with a strong presence in the advisor marketplace throughout Europe. The company first made a push to bring their tools to the US nearly five years ago, but had very limited success in the hypercompetitive US environment, where most enterprises are already locked up into multi-year deals and gaining traction amongst independent financial advisors is slow.
In late 2018, however, Figlo was acquired by Advicent, the makers of NaviPlan, as Figlo had done extensive work developing a modern web-based financial planning software platform (with the flexibility to easily be adapted and deployed into various large-firm advisor enterprises) and Advicent was still trying to “catch up” after a slow cloud transition of NaviPlan and multiple ownership changes.
Advicent’s Figlo itself is a goals-based financial planning software platform, that is built around the concept of a client’s “financial lifeline” – a visual timeline of the client from now until the projected end of life, that variously turns red, yellow, or green based on the success or failure of the client’s plan. In this context, Figlo is very much built to be a collaborative and interactive financial planning experience.
Figlo also includes its own account aggregation and client PFM portal capabilities – called Narrator Clients – and increasingly appears to be the core platform that Advicent will build around, and into which it will likely eventually merge its legacy Financial Profiles clients (which in turns allows NaviPlan room to re-focus once again as a deep cash-flow-based financial planning software tool to compete with the likes of WealthTec).
Figlo Pricing: As with NaviPlan, unfortunately Advicent does not list pricing directly on its website, but Figlo is reportedly available for an annual cost of $1,495/year, which includes both the Figlo package, and Narrator Clients (and the underlying account aggregation, which is facilitated via Quovo).
Advizr Review And Pricing.
Founded in 2018 by former financial planner Hussain Zaidi and his partners, Advizr is one of the newest financial planning software companies, trying to make its mark in a crowded marketplace.
The software includes in its core many features that have only been recent incremental add-ons to other tools, including a client portal with account aggregation to automate updates (and allow clients to enter their own data), an easy-to-navigate modern interface, and tools built to be used collaboratively with clients live in a meeting. More recently, the company also launched Advizr Express, a self-directed retirement planning tool that prospects can use via an advisor’s website as a “pre-engagement” tool to get them interested in a full financial planning engagement.
In terms of the core financial planning engine itself, Advizr takes a goals-based planning approach similar to tools like MoneyGuidePro and GoalGami Pro, allowing for retirement accumulation and decumulation projections (with some capability to go deeper on projecting cash flows), but is not built for doing detailed tax analyses.
More recently, Advizr announced a partnership with XY Planning Network to be offered as a core part of their platform, in combination with focusing the software more directly at the unique issues of working with “younger” Gen X and Gen Y clientele (where topics like Student Loan planning are critical, but poorly served by any other financial planning software), and is expected to expand further in the direction of being “financial planning software for younger clients” with relevant modules.
Advizr Pricing: The Advizr software is available for $75/month, which includes the full package of financial planning software tools and also client PFM portal and account aggregation benefits.
RightCapital Review And Pricing.
The newest financial planning software of all, RightCapital launched late in 2018 with a goal of delivering the.
analytical depth of tax-sensitive tools like NaviPlan and MoneyTree, but built within a new and modern user interface.
So far, RightCapital still has a very limited user base as the “new kids” on the block, but has reportedly been building out in-depth tax planning tools to illustrate advice-based strategies like systematic partial Roth conversions and tax-sensitive retirement liquidations. From this perspective, RightCapital would be one of the most in-depth financial planning software tools for the tax-sensitive financial planner.
As with other “next generation” financial planning software tools, capabilities like a client portal with account aggregation (in the case of RightCapital, via Yodlee) are an “automatic” part of the platform, in addition to building out deeper financial planning capabilities using the latest of modern web design and UI.
RightCapital Pricing: $50/month for the financial planning software itself, or $75/month to include account aggregation capabilities.
Summary Of Financial Planning Software Pricing.
In summary, the total annual cost for financial planning software varies significantly from one provider to the next, although most commonly the software falls in the range of about $900 – $1,500/year. In some cases, the differences in pricing are driving by differences in features, while in other scenarios companies may be “aggressively priced lower deliberately to gain market share as a newcomer.
Overall, the “center of gravity” for financial planning software is dictated by market leader MoneyGuidePro, which prices at $1,295/year, and most other financial planning software companies are priced in a manner to compete or contrast with MGP. The primary exceptions are NaviPlan, which prices at nearly $2,200/year on the basis of its in-depth cash-flow-based planning capabilities, and eMoney Advisor, which prices ‘uniquely’ based on its incomparable client PFM portal capabilities.
Notably, the total price of financial planning software will vary for multi-person firms, as some companies assign a price for a single advisor and allow the license to be shared, while others require each advisor to get their own license. Some companies even require associate financial planners or “assistants” to have their own license (sometimes at a reduced price), while eMoney Advisor is notorious for requiring every registered advisor in the firm (e. g., every registered person listed on an RIA’s Form ADV) to pay for their own license, even if there wasn’t any intention for every one of those advisors to use the software.
Ultimately, firms that are interested should obtain a quote directly from the software company pertaining to their specific situation. And as noted earlier, be certain to check if discounts may be available, either through your large-firm environment (if you’re affiliated with a broker-dealer or RIA custodian), or through association groups that offer members affiliate discounts, like the Financial Planning Association’s Member Advantage program.
Então, o que você acha? What is your financial planning software of choice? Do you have a suggestion not listed here? Or some feedback about your own financial planning software experience that you’d like to add in? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
Excellent summation of both the requirements advisors should look at, and the available players in the market! This helps solidify my upcoming migration to a new FP package included in your article.
Thanks (as always)!
Espero que ajude! Happy to be of service! 🙂
Thank you Michael for the indepth analysis. Is there some analysis on FP softwares for the indian market. Or any above FP software you recommend to use in Indian context A response would be appreciated. Obrigado!
Excellent summary Michael!
Do you know an independent service that will help an advisory firm assess their needs and recommend the best solution for them?
Excellent Summary. Have you or might you do a similar review of portfolio performance software?
I’ll see what I can do on portfolio performance software. I need to get through follow-up and more in-depth reviews of the financial planning software first, so this may take some time. But I’ve got it on my list now! 🙂
Grande artigo Michael! I trialed Advizr, and am currently trialing Right Capital and both have great UI’s. I will say, thus far I am enjoying Right Capital the most out of the platforms I’ve used.
Thanks for sharing Cooper!
Indeed, it’s pretty striking to see how nice the “modern” UI is for platforms like Advizr and RightCapital, built on today’s current technology, compared to most of the other players that are still using design elements from 1-2 prior generations of design.
What is it that you’re “enjoying” the most out of RightCapital? Simply the UI interface? Or other aspects of the software as well?
The UI is excellent, but I feel the features in comparison to Advizr are more comprehensive. To me it feels as if, as far as complexity goes, Right Capital took the ease of use of Advizr and matched it with some of the more in depth features of Emoney and MGP. That being said, I’m still not FULLY acquainted to the software, so my thoughts could change in the future.
This was my experience as well when comparing Advizr and RightCapital last year. I really felt RightCapital had the best of both worlds. I’ve been using RC close to 9 months now. What stood out to me as I tested along the way is how I was able to design my entire client service experience around it. For me it’s so much more than a planning tool. It took over most of my numerical data gathering, and also allow me to have real-time planning and ongoing client communication. I guess the risk for me is if they go out of business, I’ll have to find several tools to replace what I’ve built for my process. There are some planning “glitches” that I found here and there, but they usually are resolve fairly quickly, or I can find ways to work around it.
I used MGP for a couple of years when I decided to formalize my financial planning process. I recently switched to RightCapital several months ago for a number of reasons and have no regrets thus far. I have used and tried different financial planning software companies and I believe RightCapital has a great UI as some others have mentioned. I believe the outputs are similar to other products with what looks to be a little more robust in the tax side of things. More importantly I believe their product is built on an engine that will allow for changes and upgrades that will not be like trying to turn a battleship around. I don’t prefer it when software companies release 2.0 and 3.0 products and hold back improvements until release (software is not a car!) I actually look forward to the fact that they make upgrades almost every single week. You can tell these upgrades are often made by listening to advisors. The team seems very responsive for a small company and from personal experience they have made some upgrades a few days after I mention something.
One of the things I really like is that the entire planning experience feels white labeled for your business. As an example your logo is placed at the top of each webpage (no extra charge like some) and clients receive an email with your logo for signups to the planning portal or any other action items. RightCapital logo is nowhere to be found. Clients do not shop for advisors because of a certain brand financial planning software…smart move on their part.
One of the other features that I find great is the ability to create tasks for yourself and for the client that they can see online and complete. I am sure this may exist in other software but at a $50 dollar month to month price point I doubt it. I believe one of the most important parts to financial planning process is not the charts and graphs (as great as they are) but the summary the advisor provides of what all the outputs mean and a description of some of the issues and nuances that the client might face or need to be thinking about. In other words YOUR advice. RightCapital creates a spot under each section of the plan to write detailed notes section by section. (Sometimes it is the simple things)
I have found a number of items along the way that RightCapital needs to improve upon, but the nice thing about this is that I get the impression that they know it and that it might even be on the next list of upgrades.
Hi Russ! I’m looking to switch over to RightCapital from MGP, too! I’m concerned that it’s going to be complicated to move my existing client data out of MGP and into RightCapital. Do you have any tips on how to make that transition as easy as possible?
Spot on! Very relevant, since I’m looking at financial software, right now. Obrigado!
Michael, great reviews; thanks for all the research! I’m guessing you and your firm have not found a satisfactory tax planning/projection too that integrates some planning. For example, enter a mortgage and the interest expense is automatically calculated rather than inputting info year by year as you have to do in BNA. We’ve built out tax planning software in Excel but it’s a pain to use and keep up to date. An example of what we do is showing the long term benefit of deferred comp, loading up on DAF contributions in the few years prior to retirement by donating appreciated securities, etc. What do you and your firm use for tax planning (long term too; not just year by year)?
We use BNA Income Tax Planner (mentioned in the article above) for our tax projections as well, for single-year and multi-year projections. It’s not the prettiest tool, but it’s very capable for getting the job done.
I still find it a huge struggle to graph and analyze very-long-term tax planning strategies, as most planning software either isn’t granular enough to do the long-term tax analysis, or isn’t flexible enough to model sophisticated strategies (e. g., dynamic partial Roth conversions). : /
Obrigado Michael. Unfortunately that’s what I thought. It’s such a shame that tax modeling is not available in the software; it would seem it wouldn’t be that hard to build into it. The other piece they really need to build in is being able to bend inflation rates (like slowing inflation for many expenses as clients approach 80-85 years old).
This is one of the reasons as to why I like to use MoneyTree. It has a fairly robust tax module that can be customized easily.
Thanks Kyle, good to hear from you! Interesting software; watched a couple of the YouTube videos. Pretty robust compared to most FP software. How much customization is available with withdrawal strategies (amount from after-tax accounts, Roths, tax deferred, etc.) and planned giving? Does it integrate with anything? You all use the full Tamarac suite right (rebalancer, Advisorview and the CRM)?
eMoney has everything you just mentioned. It calculates taxes for you and applies the relevant deductions. For instance, if you enter a $200,000 mortgage with 5% interest, eMoney calculates the payments and deducts the mortgage interest from their taxes for the advisor. eMoney is hands down the best software for handling taxes that I have used.
I’m curious as to what your thoughts are on RetireUp. It’s not super comprehensive, but easy to use in front of a client.
After having tested most financial planning software and I found the RightCapital to have nice user interface and has some great tools for tax planning.
Thank you Michael for the indepth analysis. Is there some analysis on FP softwares for the indian market. We are grappling with poor quality SWs for lack of choice in this market, mainly due to pricing issues. A response would be appreciated. Obrigado!
Alas, nothing I’m aware of on FP software providers in India. : /
Ótimo artigo. I just bought Naviplan for $1800/yr (single user). I tested eMoney which appeared virtually the same and “looked” prettier but I decided the extra cost was for the client facing stuff that would never be used since I don’t manage money. I’ve used MGP in the past but the goals based approach never made sense to me and it was hard to determine where MGP was deriving its numbers from.
One issue I’m having with Naviplan is that it’s monte carlo seems off. For example, I tested a mortgage refinancing (from 7% to 4%, 15 yrs, no closing costs) and the probability of plan success decreased 5%! I was told that it was its MC engine is truly random and that randomness was larger than the refinance impact. Frustrante. For years I used Integrate and I know that its MC would show a higher probability in that case.
In interesting study would be to show the MC results produced by these products for the same case.
I concur with you that Monte Carlo result sounds off. It doesn’t matter how “random” the randomness is. If you enter a mortgage with a rate materially lower than the long-term borrowing rate (e. g., a 3.25% mortgage) for a client whose plan otherwise finishes with money on average, the Monte Carlo success results should (slightly) increase. I’d be very curious for NaviPlan to further explain this very ‘odd’ result you’re reporting. : /
My bad. As it turns out, I ran one case with 500 runs and another with 1000. When I run both at 1000 the plan success rate went up 1.5%.
Excellent review. I appreciate your comments and guidance on this issue and many others. I am currently using eMoney but am considering a change to MoneyGuidePro as I desire a more concise, simpler presentation with the ability to actively collaborate with clients.
Michael — Do you have any recommendations for an individual who wants to manage these issues for himself? I am approaching retirement. I have a math/software background, and I would like to manage my own finances as long as I can. I have been looking at ESPlanner, which appears to handle incremental Roth conversions, something I plan to to pursue in the early retirement years. & # 8212; Rob.
Good grief how do you find time to do all that you do! I really appreciate this because we are at a point in our business where we feel a change in financial planning software is necessary. We want it to be more “client engaging,” not just with planning for their retirement, but also their day to day activities, e. g. Mint.
My question for you is: Other than price, what are the most significant differences between eMoney and Advizr?
I read with great interest your survey and commentary on the financial planning software landscape. In looking over the various plans, it appears that a key planning variable – how long the retirement income needs to last – is either omitted or left to a simple user input (possibly with the help of a default assumption). The financial planners I have surveyed typically use the default or a very conservative age (like 100). O que você recomenda?
Indeed, the retirement time horizon that you’re planning for is a flexible assumption in all the financial planning software packages I’m aware of (along with other ‘typical’ retirement variables like planned retirement spending and target retirement age).
My firm decided to adopt eMoney 7 years ago for comprehensive planning purposes. As it turns out, the client portal is what really has had the most impact on our success. I have received over 200 referrals from my client’s friends and family looking for this type of personal wealth management tool to have on their phones. Truly amazing technology that I would recommend to anyone in the market for game-changing software.
I would love to hear more about how your firm pulled off 200+ referrals using eMoney. I tried it once and didn’t get the adoption I hoped for.
In trying to create a presentation for a non-entity–aggregation, cash flow and asset allocation—which of these offers ‘alternative language’ when presenting to a client that is a corporation? (not geared toward somebody about retirement, for example.
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Thank you for this article Michael! I am late in joining this conversation but I wanted to comment. I work for a software company that has been designing retirement planning software for 30 years. Our software, The Retirement Analysis Kit (TRAK), incorporates many of the features discussed in this article.
Michael, have you ever reviewed our software? I would be interested to hear your comments. We have a free demo of our Deluxe version you can download at AskTRAK.
A few quick details:
TRAK is designed to be used interactively with a client and give you the ability with features like dragging sliders to quickly illustrate changes in the plan. TRAK produces great looking reports that you can print or save as a PDF. The Deluxe version of the software has over 20 tools for doing a Gap Analysis, Social Security strategy, paycheck and contribution analysis, pension maximization, split annuities, batch processing and many more. You can also illustrate tax-wise distribution strategies and include nearly any type of outside asset into the plan.
For advisors working with 401(k) plans we have a number of batch processing tools to run batch gap and contribution analysis reports for plan participants as well as participant benchmark reports for plan sponsors. You own the data rather than relying on a plan provider who might change on you after a few years.
For 403(b) and 457 advisors, TRAK has over 600 public pension plans built in to easily and accurately illustrate pension benefits and allowing for pension maximization strategies. We have plans from all 50 states, many local plans as well as FERS, CSRS and CSRS with offset.
We have a desktop version and a cloud-based application, TRAK Online. We are priced very competitively.
Obrigado por compartilhar!
I haven’t demo’ed your software in the past, but will try to do so in the coming months, once my conference travel schedule settles down a bit! 🙂
Michael, have you had the time to review TRAK yet?
Michael, have you (or any other thread readers) come across a software that can adequately model indexed annuities used purely as an asset class? MoneyGuide Pro allows it to be added as an asset, but doesn’t allow me to specify the index, zero percent floor, and the annual cap.
I’m a little confused here. Do you mean model indexed annuities as an asset CLASS? Or you mean model the exact provisions of any/every indexed annuity by modeling the precise index, floors, caps, spreads, participation rates, etc.?
A little of both. Asset class in the sense of only looking for cash accumulation & withdrawals; no income riders or extraneous stuff that costs money. But also being able to specify participation rates and caps for at least the price history of S&P 500.
We are in search of a tool that will illustrate a more detail (flow chart) of the distribution of assets at death. Most tools will go as far as “Survivor, Taxes, Heirs etc.”. Are you aware of a tool that will go further in detail, actually naming the beneficiaries of trusts, charities as well as other individual beneficiaries?
4 months old and this column is still one of the best reviews for the current financial planning software landscape! I’ve used or test driven 80% of these providers and after much debate decided to go with RightCapital. Without question the movement is towards real time web based applications. I needed planning software that was intuitive to the end user, efficient and fully integrated with my website. They seemed to check all those boxes and frankly were on the lower end of the cost spectrum. Also very impressed with how much the listen to the advisor community, and the speed at which they roll out enhancements in the 6 months or so since I’ve been using them.
After test-driving a few of these, I went for Right Capital and have never regretted it.
Main Pros: The price is right, data entry options are excellent and simple, clients love the output and the interface as well as the fact that they can play around with scenarios themselves, it’s highly intuitive and customizable (the college planning module is a service product of its own). #1, though, is the responsiveness of the management and developers to questions and suggestions.
Main Con: No estate planning module of any consequence, although I understand something is in the works.
As mentioned in the article, but not touched on in the reviews, which software(s) would go into depth regarding college planning? ie. In state vs out of state, by-name college tuition and room/board.
Money Guide Pro.
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We have been using RightCapital for about a year now and it is a great mix of power and ease of use. Input is quick and intuitive, especially with the TD Ameritrade integration, yet it is powerful enough to simulate complex scenarios. I especially like how it incorporates tax obligations based on real calculations into the projections – many planning programs do a poor job of estimating future tax liabilities. And it keeps getting better with each release.
I had the opportunity to try out a bunch of different planning software to figure out which one works for Gen X and Gen Y. These clients may be concerned about retirement, but it may be much lower on the priority list than buying a 1st or 2nd home, paying off student loans, establishing a decent emergency savings, figuring out RSUs and stock options, saving on taxes and saving for kid’s college. I found that cash-flow based software works MUCH better for helping clients to balance their multiple goals. It is also handy for clients nearing retirement to be able to see the detailed cash flows so you can tweak the withdrawal strategy. I evaluated about 10 different financial planning softwares and decided on RightCapital. It has a beautiful interface, it is easy to do the planning and to show various scenarios on the fly. The client portal is intuitive. Using Right Capital has significantly cut down on my time to do the data gathering, the plan building and the action item follow-up. I would highly recommend scheduling a demo if you are shopping software.
Do you have a similar article or know of another source that reviews and provides pricing for portfolio management and reporting systems?
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great article and in-depth analysis. Obrigado por compartilhar!
By any chance, do you know whether these softwares are accessible for independent financial advisors based in Europe?
I know that Advicent (NaviPlan and Figlo) has a presence in Europe. But I’m not aware of any of the others with localizations for Europe.
Love your work! Obrigado. Right now I’m trying to decide between emoney for aggregation with MGP for planning or Rightcapital to handle both. Are there any updates since this article that would be a vote for or against either of the above routes?
RightCapital not only has the best interface for the price, they have the best staff. I’ve been able to communicate with them and truly be heard out about things that I’d like to be implemented. They weren’t just blowing smoke because I’ve already seen the results. My clients love using it as their planning software and their portal.
Bear in mind that RightCapital is still a startup with relatively few users (at least compared to the others). Having fewer users naturally means it’s easier as a user to reach the company and provide suggestions that they immediately implement.
The challenge for RightCapital – as with any software company – is to be able to sustain that kind of rapid iteration and feedback process as the user base scales. For better or worse, RightCapital hasn’t had to cross that bridge yet.
Michael, I use Jim Otar’s calculator-available at retirementoptimizer. I’m guessing he would be considered a “contrarian” in terms of his philosophy. First exposed to it when my financial advisor used it. Would love to hear your comments about it….thanks!
Michael, I have used the OTAR retirement calculator (retirementoptimizer/). First encountered it when my financial advisor gave me reports utilizing the software. It does seem different from other software, at $100, not much risk. I am looking at purchasing Money Guide PRO based on your comments and those from another newsletter I get. Would appreciate your thoughts on OTAR’s apparently “contrarian” approach….thanks!
I recently joined a firm that uses eMoney and one of their complaints about it is that it doesn’t track the client’s progression e. g. net worth. Is there a planning software that captures a client’s net worth and keep it in the system year after year?
Is this your most popular post (based on comments)? Any chance you might do an update now that it has been over a year?
I myself have referred to it a half a dozen times or so. So good!
Excelente artigo. Obrigado. Do you know which of the companies have software in spanish? do you know which software does PErsonal Capital uses?
Alas, I’m not aware that any of the financial planning software solutions have translations for spanish-speaking clients (or advisors). : /
Personal Capital wrote/created their own software from scratch. They don’t use any of these industry tools.
I was looking for something that will work in the Canadian market but found that this is hard to find. worked with Naviplan in the past and now looking for an alternative.
Same here have been road testing Snap Projections and Razor Plan. As an advisor Snap is better but from a clients view point Razorplan is friendlier reports.
Its really quite pathetic what we have up here. Naviplan keep adding on extras ( none of which I want ) and have bumped fees 15% in 2 years so whatever I am done with it next month.
Is anyone on here really good with Naviplan? We use it (Canadian version) and it is relatively easy to use, but the process for producing the final report for the client is quite labor intensive. We like showing clients the detailed cash flow projections, but the prebuilt reports that the software uses are not detailed enough. We end up downloading cash flows into a separate word doc (10 years per chart) then cutting and pasting all the tables into another word doc that we use as a template. If we make a mistake, it changes all the numbers and we have to do the whole download the word doc, cut and paste the table process again. Does anyone know and easier way to systematize this process to build accurate and detailed reports faster after the plan is done?
Great article Michael. One suggestion for the follow up is to look further afield. Lots of stuff happening in the Australian market, which has been dealing with the impact of constant regulatory change for 10+ years. IMO software systems of the future will be built on the following key pillars. Quality CRM, Customisable, Business Intelligence, (Ecosystem) Integration/Interoperability and Data Security. The system we use (FinPal) is built on top of Dynamics 365, Power BI and Azure. Felicidades.
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Financial Advisor’s Guide To Choosing The Best Financial Planning Software (For You)
Sumário executivo.
Good financial planning software is an essential tool for today’s financial advisor. Yet the reality is that it’s incredibly difficult to determine what is the best financial planning software… in part because advisors vary in how they use financial planning software in the first place, which means what is the “best” software for one advisor may be a terrible match for another.
In this financial advisor’s guide to the best financial planning software, we attempt to clarify what the important criteria are in choosing financial planning software in the first place, in recognition that what might be a crucial “deal-killer” required feature for one advisor may not even matter to another. Whether it’s the distinction between goals-based and cash-flow-based retirement projections, to the ease of input, the depth of the output (especially in technical areas like detailed income and estate tax projections), available integrations to other components of the financial advisor technology stack, or the availability of account aggregation and “PFM” tools… the reality is that no financial planning software is the “best” at everything, so trade-offs must be considered.
In addition, as someone who’s seen virtually every financial planning software company in the landscape – including some that aren’t even around anymore – the end of this guide includes my own brief high-level review of each of the leading financial planning software packages (including some of the newest players, too), to give further context to each software package’s strengths and potential weaknesses. Also included are the pricing details of the various financial planning software packages, which still have a remarkably amount of variance for what are nominally “similar” financial planning software tools!
I hope this guide is helpful to you in considering whether you’re got the “right” financial planning software, or whether there may be an alternative solution out there that’s a better fit for your business and client needs!
The Challenge In Selecting The Best Financial Planning Software.
Financial planning software is an essential tool for any bona fide financial advisor, in a world where projecting the long-term impact of financial trade-offs – necessary for any consumer/client to make a good financial decision – is far too complex to be done without technology to assist. Good planning software fills the void by doing the requisite ‘number-crunching’ necessary to calculate projected outcomes, so that a client can evaluate the consequences of any particular financial trade-off or decision.
Yet the reality is that while the origin of financial planning software was simply a complex “financial planning calculator” tool, in today’s environment being able to effectively calculate projected outcomes is merely the “table stakes” that any financial planning software must be able to achieve to have a seat at the table. The real differentiators for financial planning software in today’s marketplace are about what can be accomplished when using the tool live, collaboratively, in real time with a client. And financial planning software companies are always trying to come up with the next new differentiating feature and approach.
However, because not every advisor serves the same types of clients, focuses on the same types of problems, or has the same approach to analyzing financial planning situations and presenting them to clients, it’s actually remarkably difficult to simply identify one clear “best” financial planning software. Instead, choosing the best financial planning software is really about finding the best for you , the types of clients you work with, and how you will choose to integrate the software into the process (and possibly integrate it to the rest of your technology as well).
Factors To Consider When Choosing Financial Planning Software.
Goals Based vs Cash Flow Based Financial Planning Software.
For nearly 20 years, “goals-based” vs “cash-flow-based” has been one of the key differentiators amongst the types of financial planning software. The distinction refers to detailed assumptions regarding how a household’s total cash flows are handled in the software.
Goals-based financial planning software captures dollars that are allocated towards a specific goal (or multiple goals), and projects whether the goal(s) will be achieved. Thus, for instance, if a household had committed $20,000/year towards saving for retirement, and $5,000/year in college savings, goals-based software would evaluate whether those savings, plus assumed growth rates, are likely to achieve the goal. This might be projected on a straight-line (“linear”) basis, or modeled to account for uncertainty with a Monte Carlo analysis (see further discussion below on “modeling”). Notably, though, with goals-based planning, there isn’t necessarily any tracking of what the household earns in total, and where all the dollars are going; instead, the approach simply assumes that dollars to be allocated towards specific goals that have been determined already, and then projects those outcomes. Whether the household can even afford to achieve that targeted savings goal is up to the advisor to figure out with the client in the first place.
By contrast, cash-flow-based financial planning software typically aims to account for every dollar in the household – combining all the total inflows from various sources (income from wages and self-employment, portfolio income, etc.), and ensuring that they fully match the total outflows (whether to some form of spending or allocated to saving). Thus, for instance, a household that has $100,000 of income might allocate $20,000/year towards saving for retirement and $5,000/year in college savings, but the software would also make allocations for the household’s spending in various categories, its tax obligations, etc. In other words, the analysis doesn’t just include the cash flows towards particular goals , it tracks all the cash flows. Notably, this means if the client’s spending and saving goals add up to more money than the household has in cash flow, the software will reflect a deficit in recognition of the shortfall (which wouldn’t typically be included in a goals-based analysis).
Historically, the challenge with cash-flow-based planning software – for which NaviPlan was long the leading platform – is that accounting for and projecting out “every” cash flow allows for the most thorough analysis, but can be a very tedious process (especially for software in the past that wasn’t very user-friendly). On the other hand, MoneyGuidePro has been the leading proponent and champion of the goals-based planning approach, recognizing that often tracking “every” cash flow for the “most thorough” analysis isn’t really necessary, and that the planning process can be greatly expedited by reducing the focus from tracking every cash flow in the household to just capturing “the ones that matter” towards specific goals instead.
Notably in today’s environment, the dividing lines between “cash flow based” and “goals based” financial planning software have blurred, as goals-based users of platforms like MoneyGuidePro often include many goals (so many, that virtually all cash flows are accounted for anyway), while cash-flow-based platforms like NaviPlan increasingly focus not just on the cash flows themselves but the goals towards which they’re being allocated.
Nonetheless, from a perspective of software design and focus, goals-based vs cash-flow-based financial planning software is still a very meaningful distinction. Those who prefer to delve into the details of long-term cash flow projections, particularly in situations with significant wealth and complexity, or simply where those details are important, will likely be unsatisfied by goals-based software. On the other hand, those who want to focus on how planned savings/allocations towards particular goals project in the long run – but don’t necessarily want to account for the minutia of every household cash flow (over a multi-decade time period!) – may strongly prefer goals-based planning software.
Financial Planning Software Models: Straight Line vs Monte Carlo And What-If Scenarios.
Another important distinction in financial planning software is how it models the projections themselves. Does the software simply project on a “linear” straight-line basis – e. g., projecting a flat annual return of 6%, 8%, or whatever assumptions are entered? Or does the software project a wider range of returns using Monte Carlo analysis?
Similarly, what is the capacity of the software to project and analyze various alternative or “What-If” scenarios? Can the financial planning software easily provide side-by-side comparisons of potential trade-offs that a client might be considering? Is the software able to project a “bad returns” scenario and show the client how spending must be adapted to stay on track? Does the software make it easy to vary the inputs to the plan, to show how the plan outcome(s) may be more sensitive to some planning assumptions or inputs versus others (so the client understands what is truly driving the outcome)?
A related issue also of concern to at least some advisors (and some clients) is whether the software is a “black box” or whether the calculation engine can validate the numbers that the software produces as output. Some financial planning software, like MoneyTree, provides a detailed “audit trail” that can be used to verify the source and calculation of every number produced in the output reports, while other software is notorious for being difficult to reproduce the calculated results (e. g., MoneyGuidePro).
How financial planning software models taxes in particular also varies greatly from one software package to the next. Some tools will only allow for a basic assumption regarding effective tax rates (perhaps split into an effective tax rate during working years and a different one in retirement), while others will actually do detailed year-by-year tax projections based on the actual tax brackets and projected income, along with the actual rules and limitations for various deductions. Financial planning software tools also vary greatly in their ability to capture state-specific income tax rules (or not).
Financial Planning Software Output – Interactive Tools Vs Printed Reports.
In the past, the primary output of financial planning software was “the” financial plan – an extended series of report printouts, potentially numbering dozens of pages, detailing the projections of the software and their results. Some financial advisors would add to these printouts several additional pages of the plan deliverable for clients, with their own analysis and commentary, along with action items and perhaps an executive summary. But the whole thrust of the “financial planning process” was about gathering data, inputting it into the software, and producing a report – “the plan” – from the output.
In today’s environment, most financial planning software is still capable of providing printed report outputs, but as financial planning software increasingly shifts from just being a “calculator” tool for the advisor to a collaborative tool to be used with the client, there is an increasing focus on whether and how the software can be used “interactively” with clients as well. In other words, rather than simply gathering client data, inputting it into the software, and printing the reports for clients, the data is added to the software and the advisor-and-client together take the plan for a “test drive” and see how it will handle under various conditions.
Why this matters from the perspective of selecting planning software is that, simply put, some software looks a lot better in front of clients than other tools. And not all financial planning software is built to accommodate such a process of changing the inputs on the fly to see the impact on the outcomes. For instance, to test an alternative scenario with a client like “what if I tried to save another $10,000/year to retire 2 years earlier”, software built for an interactive collaborative financial planning experience with clients might have some handy sliders to “drag” the retirement age and savings levels up and down to see the outcome, while other tools might require the planner to delve back into the guts of the software’s input screens to adjust these underlying assumptions (a far less appealing experience for the client sitting there watching the advisor dig around for where to change the software inputs!).
Ease Of Input And Flexibility Of Financial Planning Software Assumptions.
In addition to the focus on the output of financial planning software, as the financial advisor who will use the software, the ease and flexibility of the financial planning software input process matters, too. Ease of input can impact everything from the raw time it takes to put client data into the plan, to the steepness of the learning curve to get up to speed on how to use the software in the first place (as the harder and more complex the input process, the more training it takes on how to do it properly!).
To some extent, the “ease of input” for financial planning software is simply driven by the quality of its design process in the first place. Some tools have a more natural layout and flow to inputting the data, while others require more digging. Beyond that, the reality is that the more “detailed” the software is – e. g., if it’s intensively cash-flow based – the more input work there tends to be up front (and the reduced data input burden has been one major reason for the popularity of “goals-based” financial planning software).
Also relevant for many planners is the flexibility of the software’s assumptions , with constraints that will vary greatly from one financial planning software platform to the next. In some cases, the software will “force” you to use pre-set inputs determined by the software makers – which may be a welcome expediency for those who are happy with the default assumptions, but a deal-killer for those who prefer to use their own inputs. In the context of investment/portfolio assumptions in particular, some tools will allow a broad-based average return (and standard deviation), while others will allow inputs at the asset-class or individual investment level. Some only allow for return (and/or standard deviation) assumptions to be changed, while others allow the advisors to set an entire cross-correlation matrix to run a robust Monte Carlo projection.
Modular Financial Planning Tools.
Nonetheless, many clients do have needs in other modular areas of financial planning, from evaluating insurance coverage to making a decision about the timing of when to start Social Security. Different financial planning software programs vary greatly in the financial planning modules they include beyond just the core accumulation/distribution projections, but may include:
& # 8211; Life Insurance . Performs a capital needs analysis to determine whether the current amount of life insurance coverage is sufficient, based on projected other income, spending goals, and available assets.
& # 8211; Disability Insurance . Evaluate whether there is sufficient disability income insurance to cover spending needs in the event an earner becomes disabled.
& # 8211; Long-Term Care Insurance . Illustrate the consequences of a long-term care event on the retirement plan, and then show how long-term care insurance may help to fill the gap (along with the impact of paying the premiums).
& # 8211; College Savings . This module may include both projecting the accumulation of college funds based on current savings, and whether there will be “enough” to cover future college costs. More robust versions of college planning tools may include a database of most/all US colleges, and their costs (both tuition, and also room and board) to more easily determine required college saving based on particular target schools.
& # 8211; Social Security Timing . How is the plan impacted depending on whether the retiree starts Social Security early or late, and what are the opportunities to coordinate the timing of Social Security claiming with a couple (which still matters, even with the elimination of File-and-Suspend and the wind-down of Restricted Application)? Some Social Security calculator tools will also help determine projected Social Security benefits based on continued work in the years leading up to (or even in) retirement. (Other popular stand-alone tools for advisors analyzing Social Security claiming strategies include Social Security Timing, Social Security Solutions, and SSPro.)
& # 8211; Retirement Drawdowns . While virtually all financial planning software at least illustrates the basic impact of taking net withdrawals from the portfolio, not all tools can do sophisticated modeling of tax-sensitive drawdowns from various types of retirement accounts, or incorporate the impact of annuitization or taking life insurance policy loans. (This is another area where several stand-alone tools for illustrating strategies have become popular, including Income Discovery, RetireUp, and Wealth2k.)
& # 8211; Stock Options and Executive Compensation . Illustrate both the tax and investment consequences of various liquidation strategies of qualified and nonqualified stock options (and restricted stock). (Notably, there is arguably still no financial planning software capable of doing this kind of analysis in the depth of standalone specialized tools like StockOpter.)
& # 8211; Tax Planning . Analysis of specific tax planning opportunities, such as the impact of tax-sensitive retirement spenddown strategies, systematic partial Roth conversions, etc. Historically, most planning software has been very limited in its ability to illustrate tax planning strategies, leading advisors to adopt standalone tools like BNA Income Tax Planner, although a new breed of financial planning software solutions like RightCapital are delving into illustrating tax strategies as financial advisors become less product-centric and more focused on delivering value-added advice.
Client PFM Portals.
As financial planning software continues its transition from being an “advisor calculator” into a holistic “financial planning experience” for clients, an increasingly important aspect of financial planning software is the “portal” or personal financial management (PFM) dashboard provided to clients. And although historically financial planning software has been very light on PFM tools for clients, an increasing number are either building their own solutions (pioneered by eMoney Advisor, and a key reason that Fidelity acquired the company in 2018), or at least are partnering with third-party PFM providers like Wealth Access who offer client-facing solutions hat capture the client’s full financial planning picture.
Despite some progress in this area, though, the capabilities of financial planning software PFM tools for clients still vary greatly. Some are little more than a login portal for the client to view their current plan, while others give clients full access to the planning software itself. Many are still focused primarily on the retirement accumulation/decumulation projections and the household balance sheet, but are light on helping clients manage and monitor cash flow, while others are building out increasingly robust household-cash-flow tracking capabilities (so clients don’t have to track their own spending to understand their financial position).
Notably, for some planning software, the ability to offer a client portal also creates the opportunity for clients to do some of their own data input, either to update key numbers if the situation changes, or even to facilitate the entire data entry process when onboarding a new client (i. e., clients are able to key in all of their own data directly to the software!). For financial planning software that doesn’t have an online data input capability for clients, some at least partner with third-party solutions like PreciseFP that facilitate the process through available APIs.
Automatic Client Data Updates Through Account Aggregation And Other Integrations.
In addition to the availability of a PFM portal for clients to access their plan, another related feature in financial planning software is whether it uses account aggregation to draw in the latest account balances, which obviates the need for at least some of the otherwise-manual data input to update the plan and even makes it possible for the plan to be “continuously” updated.
For planning software that has a PFM portal for clients, it’s typically a given that the software’s account aggregation tools will feed that data into the core financial planning software engine as well. However, for planning software that doesn’t have its own PFM solution, the question arises of whether it has any third-party integrations to maintain these planning data updates, either pulling the data from account aggregation tools like ByAllAccounts, Albridge, or CashEdge, or at least drawing in investment account balances directly from the advisor’s RIA custodian through platforms like TD Ameritrade’s Veo.
Notably, while advisors often ask for “all software to be integrated to other software”, in practice financial planning software often is not integrated to anything besides one of the aforementioned account aggregation tools to feed in account data, or perhaps a data input tool like PreciseFP. To the extent that financial planning software providers announce their “integration” to other types of software, it’s often nothing more than a Single-Sign-On solution that allows the advisor to click through from another piece of software (e. g., the CRM or portfolio accounting software dashboard) into the financial planning software, but doesn’t actually entail the integration and movement of relevant client data that would really drive advisor efficiencies.
Other Add-On Tools And Services From Financial Planning Software Companies.
Although usually more of an “add-on” than a deal-breaker, many financial planning software companies offer add-on tools beyond the core financial planning software, that may be relevant for the financial advisor. Some are arguably more “tangential” to the core financial planning software itself – such as the Advisor Briefcase content marketing solution from Advicent (makers of NaviPlan software), or the MyMoneyGuide marketing solution from MoneyGuidePro, or the RetireLogix mobile app prospecting tool from FinanceLogix. Others are more directly integral, such as the client portal from eMoney Advisor or Advicent’s soon-to-be-launched (at the time of this writing) Narrator Clients solution.
From the decision-making perspective, the reason that these add-ons become appealing is that, because they’re made by the financial planning software company, they tend to be more deeply integrated into the software. For instance, MyMoneyGuide’s marketing solution ends out getting the client to input all their own data into a self-guided module, which comes to the advisor as a pre-populated financial plan ready for client advice!
Still, for most advisors, the driving decision will be whether the core financial planning software itself is appealing, and only then will these other add-on services be considered, especially since many of the leading providers are all building their own end-to-end solutions (e. g., most but not all leading platforms now provide everything from financial planning software to a client PFM portal with account aggregation and also some form of advisor marketing tools and support).
A Review Of The Financial Planning Software Landscape.
So given these dynamics, how do the various financial planning software solutions stack up? Because the overall direction of the industry is towards more comprehensive and engaging platforms, in general the solutions with the widest adoption already tend to have the widest feature set as well (due to the fact that their large paying user base gives them more resources to iterate and add the most features).
That being said, the overall focus of the software – goals-based versus cash-flow based – remains a meaningful way to distinguish the platform, and a number of newcomers are now trying to make their mark on the landscape as well. This chart provides an overall view of the financial planning software landscape, based on the software’s goals-based vs cash flow orientation, and the latest industry tech survey data on advisor adoption.
For a brief financial planning software review and details of financial planning software pricing for each of the companies, see below for further details! (We plan to follow up further in the coming year with more in-depth financial planning software reviews for each company’s solutions.)
MoneyGuidePro Review And Pricing.
MoneyGuidePro (MGP) is the market leader in financial planning software adoption, as measured by reported usage from surveys of actual financial advisors. With robust usage amongst both large-firm enterprises, and independent advisors, MoneyGuidePro is recognized as the company that put “goals-based financial planning” on the map, when it emerged onto the scene in 2000. MGP was also one of the first financial planning software platforms to already be operating from the cloud in the early 2000s, giving it a breakout lead amongst its competitors (from which their competitors have never recovered!).
The MoneyGuidePro software has a long history of steady iteration and development, with an increasingly strong focus on client experience, and is generally viewed as software that is “easier to use” than many of its leading competitors, thanks in large part to its straightforward goals-focused orientation.
MoneyGuidePro is just coming out with its major version 4.0 release, dubbed G4. Notably, it is one of the few financial planning software platforms that does not have its own PFM portal for clients; as a result, advisors must generally purchase a separate solution to fill this gap (such as Yodlee PFM, Wealth Access, or even the recently unbundled eMx Select portal solution from “competitor” eMoneyAdvisor).
MoneyGuidePro Pricing: $1,295/year for a solo license (multi-advisor and enterprise discounts available, along with discounts through numerous membership associations).
eMoney Advisor Review And Pricing.
eMoneyAdvisor is by most surveys the second-most-widely adopted financial planning software, and generally competes head-to-head with MoneyGuidePro. To the extent that MGP is recognized as “the” goals-based financial planning software, eMoney Advisor is known for being the financial planning software with “the” leading client PFM portal.
In fact, eMoney Advisor built its own client portal with account aggregation from scratch over the past 10 years, far in advance of any its competitors, and the strength of its portal allowed the company to vault into second place amongst planning software adoption.
The financial planning software itself has more of a cash-flow-based orientation than MoneyGuidePro, though not as “extreme” in its cash flow focus as some others, reducing the time for input and working with the software to analyze a client plan (though on the street, eMoney still has a reputation for being somewhat complex and time-consuming to use).
The software’s interactive capabilities for doing live collaborative financial planning have also improved greatly in recent years, with the rollout of its emX Decision Center, and the company continues to reinvest into what is already arguably an industry-leading client experience, and now has the full resources of Fidelity to leverage since it was acquired in 2018 (though eMoney remains independent and still available to all advisors, not just those on the Fidelity platform).
eMoney Advisor Pricing: While eMoney Advisor is certainly a highly capable financial planning platform, the company is well aware of its market position, and prices accordingly. The full emX Pro platform is more expensive than any other financial planning software around, starting at $3,888/year (priced at $324/month). A “light” version of the portal plus “basic” planning capabilities is available for $2,592/year ($216/month). Discounts are hard to come by, as eMoney Advisor has a notorious reputation for being difficult to negotiate with on pricing. For those who just want the eMoney client portal (and intend to pair the portal together with another financial planning software solution like MGP), the portal is available on a standalone basis for $1,944/year (paid as $162/month).
NaviPlan Review And Pricing.
NaviPlan’s roots are serving as the quintessential cash-flow based financial planning software, the counterpart to MoneyGuidePro’s goals-based software. In fact, in the early years MoneyGuidePro differentiated itself by not being as tedious and detail-intensive to do data input as NaviPlan (though for those who preferred in-depth cash flow analysis, this is exactly what kept them with NaviPlan throughout).
Fortunately, NaviPlan’s transition to the cloud several years ago gave it the opportunity for at least a partial re-design, and the company made significant strides in improving the time to enter data and create a financial plan. Notably, though, in the transition to the cloud NaviPlan reduced some detailed cash flow features and alienated long-standing users, many of whom went to eMoney Advisor as the closest cash-flow based alternative. In addition, its slow transition to the cloud – NaviPlan only began developing a web-based version late last decade, and didn’t fully dial down its desktop version until 2018 – contributed to further losing market share. And three different company ownerships in the past 5 years haven’t helped, either.
Nonetheless, NaviPlan is still well recognized as the leading cash-flow based financial planning software. And its parent company, Advicent, appears to have newfound stability, aided by new leadership, which seems to be back on the development path again. The company also still has an incredibly robust base of advisors through their enterprise clients, including the majority of the top North American banks, broker-dealers, and insurance companies, giving it substantial resources to continue iterating future development.
Notably, Advicent also continues to support the Financial Profiles financial planning software (which has its roots in life insurance companies that did financial planning to show clients how underinsured they were), and recently acquired and rolled out Figlo financial planning software (reviewed separately below). (Advicent is also developing a full-fledged client PFM portal solution called Narrator Clients, but that is currently only available with Figlo.)
NaviPlan Pricing: Unfortunately, NaviPlan does not disclose its pricing on its website, and instead forces those interested to go through a demo process first. But the software is reportedly available for an individual license cost of $2,195/year – though in practice most advisors affiliated with a larger firm will have access to the software through their company’s enterprise pricing arrangement. Some discounts via advisor membership associations are also available, as well as discounts for buying a multi-year license.
FinanceLogix Review And Pricing.
Because it is so often used as a private “white label” platform by large banks and other enterprise firms, many advisors who use FinanceLogix don’t even realize they’re using FinanceLogix.
Nonetheless, FinanceLogix has been around since the late 1990s, and founder Oleg Tishkevich has long pushed the envelope on financial planning software – FinanceLogix was the first to begin using interactive sliders to dynamically show alternative What-If scenarios for clients back in the early 2000s, and was early to adopt a client portal and offer a standalone mobile app for prospecting as well.
The FinanceLogix software itself is quite capable in tracking client cash flows as comprehensive planning software, but still manages to have a strong interactive and collaborative client interface, with a broad set of advisor and client tools and integrations (including its own PFM portal solution with account aggregation via Yodlee).
As with eMoney Advisor, FinanceLogix was also acquired in 2018 – by Envestnet – but remains available to non-Envestnet advisors as well.
FinanceLogix Pricing: Annoyingly, FinanceLogix does not disclose its advisor pricing on its website, and instead forces you to submit your contact information to their Sales team just to get a quote. But financial planning software and client portal capabilities are reportedly available for an individual license annual cost of $1,200, although notably getting the account aggregation data feed to actually power the software is an additional $1,500/year, bringing the total cost to $2,700. Notably, though, most FinanceLogix users do not buy independently, but instead have the software made available to them through their large-firm enterprise agreement. As with most platforms, multi-advisor discounts are available as well.
MoneyTree Review And Pricing.
One of the longest-standing financial planning software platforms around, MoneyTree originated in 1981 and has a strong industry reputation for not only the accuracy of its calculation engine but the fact that the software output includes an audit trail to allow every number in the planning output to be reconstructed.
The core MoneyTree software is split into three tiers, which can be purchased separately or as a part of their “TOTAL” planning package: the Silver Financial Planner tool is meant for ‘basic’ planning with quick data input and simplified output; Easy Money covers everything that Silver does but provides a more comprehensive financial planning tool on top; and Golden Years allows for the most robust level of detailed cash flow projections (particularly around retirement liquidations and spend-down strategies).
Notably, MoneyTree was one of the longest-standing desktop platforms, and their TOTAL Online solution wasn’t even released until late 2018, which unfortunately has left the company playing “catch-up” on the web-based capabilities of some of its larger competitors; its financial planning capabilities are in line with its competition, but its client portal and account aggregation capabilities are just not as robust or flexible as solutions like eMoney Advisor, FinanceLogix, or Advicent’s Narrator Clients.
MoneyTree Pricing: The cost for MoneyTree software depends on which module(s) you purchase. Silver is $495 for the first year and $371/year thereafter, while Easy Money is $895/year and $649/year thereafter, and Golden Years is also $895/year and $649/year thereafter. Alternatively, advisors can buy Total ONLINE, which combines Easy Money and Golden Years (and thus effectively the entire MoneyTree suite) for $1,342/year. Desktop versions of the software are also still available, for the same upfront purchase but a lower cost for the subsequent renewals (since the advisor becomes responsible for hosting all client data).
GoalGami Pro Review And Pricing.
A common criticism of comprehensive financial planning software is that it’s too time-consuming to enter all the data and do the requisite analysis, so Advisor Software created GoalGami Pro to facilitate a “simpler” planning process with streamlined data entry to quickly reach some basic financial planning projections and results. The process can be further expedited by sending clients to the Collaboration Connect portal to enter their own data and plan details, so time with the advisor goes directly to the results and implementation stage.
GoalGami Pro is also somewhat unique in that it takes a strong focus on a “Household Balance Sheet” approach, pioneered by its founder (and former co-founder and chairman of Barra) Andrew Rudd. The Household Balance Sheet is a version of Liability-Driven Investing (LDI) applied in an individual context, where planned future spending is converted into a present value liability on the balance sheet to compare against current and future savings (and show clients a form of “funded ratio” for whether they’re on track or not).
In practice, GoalGami Pro is most commonly known for its use in bank and large-firm channels with brokers who are primarily focused on product implementation, but want an expedited version of financial planning software to at least introduce and explore some financial planning concepts with clients. While the software is reasonable for this purpose, and some financial planners who don’t want to go that in depth may find the software of interest for “smaller” clients, experienced advisors who like to go in-depth will likely prefer other solutions that can do expedited planning as necessary, but that also have the capabilities to go deeper if necessary for a particular client situation.
InStream Review And Pricing.
InStream Solutions is a financial planning software company founded by Alex Murguia, a principal in a wealth management firm of his own who set out to create better financial planning software that would be relevant for firms like his that do comprehensive financial planning and manage relationships on an ongoing basis.
A goals-based platform, InStream actually started out as a free financial planning software solution, with the vision of collecting enough advisors using the platform for free to surface big data insights that could then be sold back as recommendations for advisors (“other advisors with clients in a similar situation did this…”) or other interested parties. However, the company ultimately pivoted to a more “traditional” financial planning software company model of charging advisors for an annual licensing fee to use the platform.
Nonetheless, InStream is somewhat unique in its focus on not just the upfront financial planning process, but tracking and monitoring client plans over time, allowing advisors to set alerts that inform the advisor when something notable has occurred – e. g., a critical wealth threshold has been reached – for a particular client plan. The software features a central Advisor Dashboard intended to be the central point for the comprehensive financial planner to manage and monitor all clients and their progress towards their goals.
InStream is also aiming to make its mark in the world of retirement planning by adding popular retirement researcher Wade Pfau as its Chief Financial Planning Scientist to help better incorporate the latest financial planning research into the software.
To date, though, InStream has still struggled to expand its market share in the highly competitive marketplace for financial planning software, although its users do include a deep relationship with mega-RIA Buckingham and BAM Alliance.
InStream Pricing: Instream Wealth is available for $115/month for independent advisors, or a slightly discounted $1,260/year for those paying the annual fee instead. Discounted rates apply for multi-advisor licenses.
WealthTec Review And Pricing.
Amongst those who work with high net worth clients, who have complex needs ranging from exercising stock options and liquidating restricted stock, NUA distributions and complex Roth conversions, to evaluating the benefits of complex estate planning strategies from CRTs to rolling GRATs and more, WealthTec is arguably the go-to software.
WealthTec is not merely a cash-flow-based financial planning software solution, but a deeply analytical tool for financial planning, tax, and estate planning, for those serving ultra HNW clients – and accordingly, is used primarily by private banks and trust companies as their software of choice.
The big caveat, however, is that WealthTec has not been transitioned to the cloud – instead, it is the last holdout that still operates in a desktop environment, specifically as a series of Excel spreadsheet add-ons that do all the analytics and heavy lifting, and produce reports (which can then be outputted to. pdf format for a client’s written plan). As a result, the software cannot leverage most of the benefits of today’s online solutions, from client portals to account aggregation for data updates, and its interactive collaboration features are limited by the capabilities (or lack thereof) in Excel.
Nonetheless, for the complex needs of the ultra-high-net-worth client, WealthTec arguably has no competitors for its capabilities to illustrate the most complex financial, tax, and estate planning strategies. In fact, the company even offers a WealthTec PlanXPRT service (for a separate additional cost) for those who need additional support in fully utilizing the software’s capabilities to analyze client scenarios.
WealthTec Pricing: An annual license to WealthTec costs $1,495/year, with discounts available for multi-advisor licenses.
FinanceWare Review And Pricing.
FinanceWare was the first financial planning software company to offer a web-based Monte Carlo analysis tool back in the late 1990s, and is still recognized for its capabilities to simulate potential wealth accumulation subsequent spenddown strategies modeled via both Monte Carlo and historical scenarios.
Notably, though, FinanceWare’s WealthCare software is really focused primarily on “just” projecting the accumulation and decumulation of wealth. It is not built to model tax planning scenarios, estate planning, or other aspects of financial planning. In practice today, it is used most commonly in firms that are focused around assets under management and want to illustrate goals-based saving and retirement spending strategies in the context of how much portfolio risk to take in order to maximize the probability of achieving the client’s goals. The software is not widely used by independent advisors, but is still a pillar in some very large brokerage firms.
FinanceWare Pricing: Unlike most tools that simply charge advisors a flat annual license, FinanceWare actually prices based on the number of active clients in the system, with an “introductory” rate of $90/year per client. As a web-based tool, a white label co-branded client-friendly version of the platform is available for a one-time setup fee of $750.
SunGard WealthStation Review And Pricing.
WealthStation is part of the broader SunGard suite of technology tools designed to be a ‘one-stop shop’ for enterprises aiming to equip their advisors with the entire advisor technology stack. The platform includes both financial planning software, CRM, portfolio accounting and rebalancing tools, and a client portal. However, SunGard also offers WealthStation CompAct, a more simplified standalone goals-based version of the financial planning software.
As financial planning software, WealthStation is not quite as “in-depth” as tools like NaviPlan, but does offer the ‘usual’ suite of comprehensive financial planning tools, including both goals-based savings, retirement decumulation, college funds, and the impact of different investment portfolios on accomplishing those goals.
In practice, most SunGard users buy not just WealthStation CompAct or even just the full WealthStation financial planning software, but the entire WealthStation suite, so advisors tend to be “all in” or “all out” on the WealthStation suite. Given this dynamic, it is used most commonly by enterprises, particularly banks and broker-dealers, that wish to leverage the comprehensive WealthStation suite, rather than be responsible for managing all the individual components of the advisor technology stack.
WealthStation Pricing: The full Wealthstation suite costs $2,500/year, with “lighter” versions of the software available at lower price points, and a few specialized add-ons available as well (including SunGard’s popular AllocationMaster tool). Or advisors can purchase the simpler WealthStation CompAct on a standalone basis for $475/year.
Figlo Review And Pricing.
Figlo is a financial planning software company based in the Netherlands, with a strong presence in the advisor marketplace throughout Europe. The company first made a push to bring their tools to the US nearly five years ago, but had very limited success in the hypercompetitive US environment, where most enterprises are already locked up into multi-year deals and gaining traction amongst independent financial advisors is slow.
In late 2018, however, Figlo was acquired by Advicent, the makers of NaviPlan, as Figlo had done extensive work developing a modern web-based financial planning software platform (with the flexibility to easily be adapted and deployed into various large-firm advisor enterprises) and Advicent was still trying to “catch up” after a slow cloud transition of NaviPlan and multiple ownership changes.
Advicent’s Figlo itself is a goals-based financial planning software platform, that is built around the concept of a client’s “financial lifeline” – a visual timeline of the client from now until the projected end of life, that variously turns red, yellow, or green based on the success or failure of the client’s plan. In this context, Figlo is very much built to be a collaborative and interactive financial planning experience.
Figlo also includes its own account aggregation and client PFM portal capabilities – called Narrator Clients – and increasingly appears to be the core platform that Advicent will build around, and into which it will likely eventually merge its legacy Financial Profiles clients (which in turns allows NaviPlan room to re-focus once again as a deep cash-flow-based financial planning software tool to compete with the likes of WealthTec).
Figlo Pricing: As with NaviPlan, unfortunately Advicent does not list pricing directly on its website, but Figlo is reportedly available for an annual cost of $1,495/year, which includes both the Figlo package, and Narrator Clients (and the underlying account aggregation, which is facilitated via Quovo).
Advizr Review And Pricing.
Founded in 2018 by former financial planner Hussain Zaidi and his partners, Advizr is one of the newest financial planning software companies, trying to make its mark in a crowded marketplace.
The software includes in its core many features that have only been recent incremental add-ons to other tools, including a client portal with account aggregation to automate updates (and allow clients to enter their own data), an easy-to-navigate modern interface, and tools built to be used collaboratively with clients live in a meeting. More recently, the company also launched Advizr Express, a self-directed retirement planning tool that prospects can use via an advisor’s website as a “pre-engagement” tool to get them interested in a full financial planning engagement.
In terms of the core financial planning engine itself, Advizr takes a goals-based planning approach similar to tools like MoneyGuidePro and GoalGami Pro, allowing for retirement accumulation and decumulation projections (with some capability to go deeper on projecting cash flows), but is not built for doing detailed tax analyses.
More recently, Advizr announced a partnership with XY Planning Network to be offered as a core part of their platform, in combination with focusing the software more directly at the unique issues of working with “younger” Gen X and Gen Y clientele (where topics like Student Loan planning are critical, but poorly served by any other financial planning software), and is expected to expand further in the direction of being “financial planning software for younger clients” with relevant modules.
Advizr Pricing: The Advizr software is available for $75/month, which includes the full package of financial planning software tools and also client PFM portal and account aggregation benefits.
RightCapital Review And Pricing.
The newest financial planning software of all, RightCapital launched late in 2018 with a goal of delivering the.
analytical depth of tax-sensitive tools like NaviPlan and MoneyTree, but built within a new and modern user interface.
So far, RightCapital still has a very limited user base as the “new kids” on the block, but has reportedly been building out in-depth tax planning tools to illustrate advice-based strategies like systematic partial Roth conversions and tax-sensitive retirement liquidations. From this perspective, RightCapital would be one of the most in-depth financial planning software tools for the tax-sensitive financial planner.
As with other “next generation” financial planning software tools, capabilities like a client portal with account aggregation (in the case of RightCapital, via Yodlee) are an “automatic” part of the platform, in addition to building out deeper financial planning capabilities using the latest of modern web design and UI.
RightCapital Pricing: $50/month for the financial planning software itself, or $75/month to include account aggregation capabilities.
Summary Of Financial Planning Software Pricing.
In summary, the total annual cost for financial planning software varies significantly from one provider to the next, although most commonly the software falls in the range of about $900 – $1,500/year. In some cases, the differences in pricing are driving by differences in features, while in other scenarios companies may be “aggressively priced lower deliberately to gain market share as a newcomer.
Overall, the “center of gravity” for financial planning software is dictated by market leader MoneyGuidePro, which prices at $1,295/year, and most other financial planning software companies are priced in a manner to compete or contrast with MGP. The primary exceptions are NaviPlan, which prices at nearly $2,200/year on the basis of its in-depth cash-flow-based planning capabilities, and eMoney Advisor, which prices ‘uniquely’ based on its incomparable client PFM portal capabilities.
Notably, the total price of financial planning software will vary for multi-person firms, as some companies assign a price for a single advisor and allow the license to be shared, while others require each advisor to get their own license. Some companies even require associate financial planners or “assistants” to have their own license (sometimes at a reduced price), while eMoney Advisor is notorious for requiring every registered advisor in the firm (e. g., every registered person listed on an RIA’s Form ADV) to pay for their own license, even if there wasn’t any intention for every one of those advisors to use the software.
Ultimately, firms that are interested should obtain a quote directly from the software company pertaining to their specific situation. And as noted earlier, be certain to check if discounts may be available, either through your large-firm environment (if you’re affiliated with a broker-dealer or RIA custodian), or through association groups that offer members affiliate discounts, like the Financial Planning Association’s Member Advantage program.
Então, o que você acha? What is your financial planning software of choice? Do you have a suggestion not listed here? Or some feedback about your own financial planning software experience that you’d like to add in? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
Excellent summation of both the requirements advisors should look at, and the available players in the market! This helps solidify my upcoming migration to a new FP package included in your article.
Thanks (as always)!
Espero que ajude! Happy to be of service! 🙂
Thank you Michael for the indepth analysis. Is there some analysis on FP softwares for the indian market. Or any above FP software you recommend to use in Indian context A response would be appreciated. Obrigado!
Excellent summary Michael!
Do you know an independent service that will help an advisory firm assess their needs and recommend the best solution for them?
Excellent Summary. Have you or might you do a similar review of portfolio performance software?
I’ll see what I can do on portfolio performance software. I need to get through follow-up and more in-depth reviews of the financial planning software first, so this may take some time. But I’ve got it on my list now! 🙂
Grande artigo Michael! I trialed Advizr, and am currently trialing Right Capital and both have great UI’s. I will say, thus far I am enjoying Right Capital the most out of the platforms I’ve used.
Thanks for sharing Cooper!
Indeed, it’s pretty striking to see how nice the “modern” UI is for platforms like Advizr and RightCapital, built on today’s current technology, compared to most of the other players that are still using design elements from 1-2 prior generations of design.
What is it that you’re “enjoying” the most out of RightCapital? Simply the UI interface? Or other aspects of the software as well?
The UI is excellent, but I feel the features in comparison to Advizr are more comprehensive. To me it feels as if, as far as complexity goes, Right Capital took the ease of use of Advizr and matched it with some of the more in depth features of Emoney and MGP. That being said, I’m still not FULLY acquainted to the software, so my thoughts could change in the future.
This was my experience as well when comparing Advizr and RightCapital last year. I really felt RightCapital had the best of both worlds. I’ve been using RC close to 9 months now. What stood out to me as I tested along the way is how I was able to design my entire client service experience around it. For me it’s so much more than a planning tool. It took over most of my numerical data gathering, and also allow me to have real-time planning and ongoing client communication. I guess the risk for me is if they go out of business, I’ll have to find several tools to replace what I’ve built for my process. There are some planning “glitches” that I found here and there, but they usually are resolve fairly quickly, or I can find ways to work around it.
I used MGP for a couple of years when I decided to formalize my financial planning process. I recently switched to RightCapital several months ago for a number of reasons and have no regrets thus far. I have used and tried different financial planning software companies and I believe RightCapital has a great UI as some others have mentioned. I believe the outputs are similar to other products with what looks to be a little more robust in the tax side of things. More importantly I believe their product is built on an engine that will allow for changes and upgrades that will not be like trying to turn a battleship around. I don’t prefer it when software companies release 2.0 and 3.0 products and hold back improvements until release (software is not a car!) I actually look forward to the fact that they make upgrades almost every single week. You can tell these upgrades are often made by listening to advisors. The team seems very responsive for a small company and from personal experience they have made some upgrades a few days after I mention something.
One of the things I really like is that the entire planning experience feels white labeled for your business. As an example your logo is placed at the top of each webpage (no extra charge like some) and clients receive an email with your logo for signups to the planning portal or any other action items. RightCapital logo is nowhere to be found. Clients do not shop for advisors because of a certain brand financial planning software…smart move on their part.
One of the other features that I find great is the ability to create tasks for yourself and for the client that they can see online and complete. I am sure this may exist in other software but at a $50 dollar month to month price point I doubt it. I believe one of the most important parts to financial planning process is not the charts and graphs (as great as they are) but the summary the advisor provides of what all the outputs mean and a description of some of the issues and nuances that the client might face or need to be thinking about. In other words YOUR advice. RightCapital creates a spot under each section of the plan to write detailed notes section by section. (Sometimes it is the simple things)
I have found a number of items along the way that RightCapital needs to improve upon, but the nice thing about this is that I get the impression that they know it and that it might even be on the next list of upgrades.
Hi Russ! I’m looking to switch over to RightCapital from MGP, too! I’m concerned that it’s going to be complicated to move my existing client data out of MGP and into RightCapital. Do you have any tips on how to make that transition as easy as possible?
Spot on! Very relevant, since I’m looking at financial software, right now. Obrigado!
Michael, great reviews; thanks for all the research! I’m guessing you and your firm have not found a satisfactory tax planning/projection too that integrates some planning. For example, enter a mortgage and the interest expense is automatically calculated rather than inputting info year by year as you have to do in BNA. We’ve built out tax planning software in Excel but it’s a pain to use and keep up to date. An example of what we do is showing the long term benefit of deferred comp, loading up on DAF contributions in the few years prior to retirement by donating appreciated securities, etc. What do you and your firm use for tax planning (long term too; not just year by year)?
We use BNA Income Tax Planner (mentioned in the article above) for our tax projections as well, for single-year and multi-year projections. It’s not the prettiest tool, but it’s very capable for getting the job done.
I still find it a huge struggle to graph and analyze very-long-term tax planning strategies, as most planning software either isn’t granular enough to do the long-term tax analysis, or isn’t flexible enough to model sophisticated strategies (e. g., dynamic partial Roth conversions). : /
Obrigado Michael. Unfortunately that’s what I thought. It’s such a shame that tax modeling is not available in the software; it would seem it wouldn’t be that hard to build into it. The other piece they really need to build in is being able to bend inflation rates (like slowing inflation for many expenses as clients approach 80-85 years old).
This is one of the reasons as to why I like to use MoneyTree. It has a fairly robust tax module that can be customized easily.
Thanks Kyle, good to hear from you! Interesting software; watched a couple of the YouTube videos. Pretty robust compared to most FP software. How much customization is available with withdrawal strategies (amount from after-tax accounts, Roths, tax deferred, etc.) and planned giving? Does it integrate with anything? You all use the full Tamarac suite right (rebalancer, Advisorview and the CRM)?
eMoney has everything you just mentioned. It calculates taxes for you and applies the relevant deductions. For instance, if you enter a $200,000 mortgage with 5% interest, eMoney calculates the payments and deducts the mortgage interest from their taxes for the advisor. eMoney is hands down the best software for handling taxes that I have used.
I’m curious as to what your thoughts are on RetireUp. It’s not super comprehensive, but easy to use in front of a client.
After having tested most financial planning software and I found the RightCapital to have nice user interface and has some great tools for tax planning.
Thank you Michael for the indepth analysis. Is there some analysis on FP softwares for the indian market. We are grappling with poor quality SWs for lack of choice in this market, mainly due to pricing issues. A response would be appreciated. Obrigado!
Alas, nothing I’m aware of on FP software providers in India. : /
Ótimo artigo. I just bought Naviplan for $1800/yr (single user). I tested eMoney which appeared virtually the same and “looked” prettier but I decided the extra cost was for the client facing stuff that would never be used since I don’t manage money. I’ve used MGP in the past but the goals based approach never made sense to me and it was hard to determine where MGP was deriving its numbers from.
One issue I’m having with Naviplan is that it’s monte carlo seems off. For example, I tested a mortgage refinancing (from 7% to 4%, 15 yrs, no closing costs) and the probability of plan success decreased 5%! I was told that it was its MC engine is truly random and that randomness was larger than the refinance impact. Frustrante. For years I used Integrate and I know that its MC would show a higher probability in that case.
In interesting study would be to show the MC results produced by these products for the same case.
I concur with you that Monte Carlo result sounds off. It doesn’t matter how “random” the randomness is. If you enter a mortgage with a rate materially lower than the long-term borrowing rate (e. g., a 3.25% mortgage) for a client whose plan otherwise finishes with money on average, the Monte Carlo success results should (slightly) increase. I’d be very curious for NaviPlan to further explain this very ‘odd’ result you’re reporting. : /
My bad. As it turns out, I ran one case with 500 runs and another with 1000. When I run both at 1000 the plan success rate went up 1.5%.
Excellent review. I appreciate your comments and guidance on this issue and many others. I am currently using eMoney but am considering a change to MoneyGuidePro as I desire a more concise, simpler presentation with the ability to actively collaborate with clients.
Michael — Do you have any recommendations for an individual who wants to manage these issues for himself? I am approaching retirement. I have a math/software background, and I would like to manage my own finances as long as I can. I have been looking at ESPlanner, which appears to handle incremental Roth conversions, something I plan to to pursue in the early retirement years. & # 8212; Rob.
Good grief how do you find time to do all that you do! I really appreciate this because we are at a point in our business where we feel a change in financial planning software is necessary. We want it to be more “client engaging,” not just with planning for their retirement, but also their day to day activities, e. g. Mint.
My question for you is: Other than price, what are the most significant differences between eMoney and Advizr?
I read with great interest your survey and commentary on the financial planning software landscape. In looking over the various plans, it appears that a key planning variable – how long the retirement income needs to last – is either omitted or left to a simple user input (possibly with the help of a default assumption). The financial planners I have surveyed typically use the default or a very conservative age (like 100). O que você recomenda?
Indeed, the retirement time horizon that you’re planning for is a flexible assumption in all the financial planning software packages I’m aware of (along with other ‘typical’ retirement variables like planned retirement spending and target retirement age).
My firm decided to adopt eMoney 7 years ago for comprehensive planning purposes. As it turns out, the client portal is what really has had the most impact on our success. I have received over 200 referrals from my client’s friends and family looking for this type of personal wealth management tool to have on their phones. Truly amazing technology that I would recommend to anyone in the market for game-changing software.
I would love to hear more about how your firm pulled off 200+ referrals using eMoney. I tried it once and didn’t get the adoption I hoped for.
In trying to create a presentation for a non-entity–aggregation, cash flow and asset allocation—which of these offers ‘alternative language’ when presenting to a client that is a corporation? (not geared toward somebody about retirement, for example.
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Thank you for this article Michael! I am late in joining this conversation but I wanted to comment. I work for a software company that has been designing retirement planning software for 30 years. Our software, The Retirement Analysis Kit (TRAK), incorporates many of the features discussed in this article.
Michael, have you ever reviewed our software? I would be interested to hear your comments. We have a free demo of our Deluxe version you can download at AskTRAK.
A few quick details:
TRAK is designed to be used interactively with a client and give you the ability with features like dragging sliders to quickly illustrate changes in the plan. TRAK produces great looking reports that you can print or save as a PDF. The Deluxe version of the software has over 20 tools for doing a Gap Analysis, Social Security strategy, paycheck and contribution analysis, pension maximization, split annuities, batch processing and many more. You can also illustrate tax-wise distribution strategies and include nearly any type of outside asset into the plan.
For advisors working with 401(k) plans we have a number of batch processing tools to run batch gap and contribution analysis reports for plan participants as well as participant benchmark reports for plan sponsors. You own the data rather than relying on a plan provider who might change on you after a few years.
For 403(b) and 457 advisors, TRAK has over 600 public pension plans built in to easily and accurately illustrate pension benefits and allowing for pension maximization strategies. We have plans from all 50 states, many local plans as well as FERS, CSRS and CSRS with offset.
We have a desktop version and a cloud-based application, TRAK Online. We are priced very competitively.
Obrigado por compartilhar!
I haven’t demo’ed your software in the past, but will try to do so in the coming months, once my conference travel schedule settles down a bit! 🙂
Michael, have you had the time to review TRAK yet?
Michael, have you (or any other thread readers) come across a software that can adequately model indexed annuities used purely as an asset class? MoneyGuide Pro allows it to be added as an asset, but doesn’t allow me to specify the index, zero percent floor, and the annual cap.
I’m a little confused here. Do you mean model indexed annuities as an asset CLASS? Or you mean model the exact provisions of any/every indexed annuity by modeling the precise index, floors, caps, spreads, participation rates, etc.?
A little of both. Asset class in the sense of only looking for cash accumulation & withdrawals; no income riders or extraneous stuff that costs money. But also being able to specify participation rates and caps for at least the price history of S&P 500.
We are in search of a tool that will illustrate a more detail (flow chart) of the distribution of assets at death. Most tools will go as far as “Survivor, Taxes, Heirs etc.”. Are you aware of a tool that will go further in detail, actually naming the beneficiaries of trusts, charities as well as other individual beneficiaries?
4 months old and this column is still one of the best reviews for the current financial planning software landscape! I’ve used or test driven 80% of these providers and after much debate decided to go with RightCapital. Without question the movement is towards real time web based applications. I needed planning software that was intuitive to the end user, efficient and fully integrated with my website. They seemed to check all those boxes and frankly were on the lower end of the cost spectrum. Also very impressed with how much the listen to the advisor community, and the speed at which they roll out enhancements in the 6 months or so since I’ve been using them.
After test-driving a few of these, I went for Right Capital and have never regretted it.
Main Pros: The price is right, data entry options are excellent and simple, clients love the output and the interface as well as the fact that they can play around with scenarios themselves, it’s highly intuitive and customizable (the college planning module is a service product of its own). #1, though, is the responsiveness of the management and developers to questions and suggestions.
Main Con: No estate planning module of any consequence, although I understand something is in the works.
As mentioned in the article, but not touched on in the reviews, which software(s) would go into depth regarding college planning? ie. In state vs out of state, by-name college tuition and room/board.
Money Guide Pro.
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We have been using RightCapital for about a year now and it is a great mix of power and ease of use. Input is quick and intuitive, especially with the TD Ameritrade integration, yet it is powerful enough to simulate complex scenarios. I especially like how it incorporates tax obligations based on real calculations into the projections – many planning programs do a poor job of estimating future tax liabilities. And it keeps getting better with each release.
I had the opportunity to try out a bunch of different planning software to figure out which one works for Gen X and Gen Y. These clients may be concerned about retirement, but it may be much lower on the priority list than buying a 1st or 2nd home, paying off student loans, establishing a decent emergency savings, figuring out RSUs and stock options, saving on taxes and saving for kid’s college. I found that cash-flow based software works MUCH better for helping clients to balance their multiple goals. It is also handy for clients nearing retirement to be able to see the detailed cash flows so you can tweak the withdrawal strategy. I evaluated about 10 different financial planning softwares and decided on RightCapital. It has a beautiful interface, it is easy to do the planning and to show various scenarios on the fly. The client portal is intuitive. Using Right Capital has significantly cut down on my time to do the data gathering, the plan building and the action item follow-up. I would highly recommend scheduling a demo if you are shopping software.
Do you have a similar article or know of another source that reviews and provides pricing for portfolio management and reporting systems?
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great article and in-depth analysis. Obrigado por compartilhar!
By any chance, do you know whether these softwares are accessible for independent financial advisors based in Europe?
I know that Advicent (NaviPlan and Figlo) has a presence in Europe. But I’m not aware of any of the others with localizations for Europe.
Love your work! Obrigado. Right now I’m trying to decide between emoney for aggregation with MGP for planning or Rightcapital to handle both. Are there any updates since this article that would be a vote for or against either of the above routes?
RightCapital not only has the best interface for the price, they have the best staff. I’ve been able to communicate with them and truly be heard out about things that I’d like to be implemented. They weren’t just blowing smoke because I’ve already seen the results. My clients love using it as their planning software and their portal.
Bear in mind that RightCapital is still a startup with relatively few users (at least compared to the others). Having fewer users naturally means it’s easier as a user to reach the company and provide suggestions that they immediately implement.
The challenge for RightCapital – as with any software company – is to be able to sustain that kind of rapid iteration and feedback process as the user base scales. For better or worse, RightCapital hasn’t had to cross that bridge yet.
Michael, I use Jim Otar’s calculator-available at retirementoptimizer. I’m guessing he would be considered a “contrarian” in terms of his philosophy. First exposed to it when my financial advisor used it. Would love to hear your comments about it….thanks!
Michael, I have used the OTAR retirement calculator (retirementoptimizer/). First encountered it when my financial advisor gave me reports utilizing the software. It does seem different from other software, at $100, not much risk. I am looking at purchasing Money Guide PRO based on your comments and those from another newsletter I get. Would appreciate your thoughts on OTAR’s apparently “contrarian” approach….thanks!
I recently joined a firm that uses eMoney and one of their complaints about it is that it doesn’t track the client’s progression e. g. net worth. Is there a planning software that captures a client’s net worth and keep it in the system year after year?
Is this your most popular post (based on comments)? Any chance you might do an update now that it has been over a year?
I myself have referred to it a half a dozen times or so. So good!
Excelente artigo. Obrigado. Do you know which of the companies have software in spanish? do you know which software does PErsonal Capital uses?
Alas, I’m not aware that any of the financial planning software solutions have translations for spanish-speaking clients (or advisors). : /
Personal Capital wrote/created their own software from scratch. They don’t use any of these industry tools.
I was looking for something that will work in the Canadian market but found that this is hard to find. worked with Naviplan in the past and now looking for an alternative.
Same here have been road testing Snap Projections and Razor Plan. As an advisor Snap is better but from a clients view point Razorplan is friendlier reports.
Its really quite pathetic what we have up here. Naviplan keep adding on extras ( none of which I want ) and have bumped fees 15% in 2 years so whatever I am done with it next month.
Is anyone on here really good with Naviplan? We use it (Canadian version) and it is relatively easy to use, but the process for producing the final report for the client is quite labor intensive. We like showing clients the detailed cash flow projections, but the prebuilt reports that the software uses are not detailed enough. We end up downloading cash flows into a separate word doc (10 years per chart) then cutting and pasting all the tables into another word doc that we use as a template. If we make a mistake, it changes all the numbers and we have to do the whole download the word doc, cut and paste the table process again. Does anyone know and easier way to systematize this process to build accurate and detailed reports faster after the plan is done?
Great article Michael. One suggestion for the follow up is to look further afield. Lots of stuff happening in the Australian market, which has been dealing with the impact of constant regulatory change for 10+ years. IMO software systems of the future will be built on the following key pillars. Quality CRM, Customisable, Business Intelligence, (Ecosystem) Integration/Interoperability and Data Security. The system we use (FinPal) is built on top of Dynamics 365, Power BI and Azure. Felicidades.
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