Understand the current savings rate that is sufficient to meet your lifetime personal savings needs
If wealth were to be measured solely as assets currently owned, then financial and investment planning would be relatively simple. However, a much broader view is necessary. While higher income and more current assets obviously help, consumption differences between one person or family and another determine who builds sufficient assets over time and who is heading toward financial ruin.
A person with millions of dollars in current assets who spends at very high and unsustainable rates arguably is dollar wealthy now. However, will he still be wealthy in the future, and should we really consider him wealthy now, if he is headed toward financial ruin due to excessive consumption? Another person who has lesser dollar wealth now, but who spends at more modest rates that are sustainable across a lifetime, in fact, may be more “wealthy” now, because his financial plan is sustainable and does not lead to ruin.
By looking at wealth as a lifetime pattern of sustainable expenditures within one’s budget, then people who are indeed wealthy cannot be identified solely by their current assets or income. Personal wealth should, of course, measure current financial investments and other salable assets. In addition, personal wealth should also measure your ability to sustain your household budget, build up your investment portfolio, and weather potential financial risk and misfortune across your lifetime.
The need for an automated savings rate calculator to project your sustainable lifetime savings
Your intention to meet all expenses and debts across your lifetime will influence your current financial behaviors and your current financial plan — but only if you have a retirement savings calculator that can analyze and present the whole picture for you. You should consume and save across your lifetime in a balanced and conservative manner.
Since the future offers neither guarantees nor any predictability, you must further restrict your current consumption to build a substantial investment portfolio that can provide buffers for times of future difficulty, to fund your retirement, and to provide for an estate, if desired. You need a sophisticated and automated lifetime savings rate calculator and retirement withdrawal calculator for you to evaluate your sustainable lifetime savings and consumption rates.
A customer comment from the sidebar: "VeriPlan is a big help. I'm in my mid 50's and have been a diligent saver and passable investor for many years. I am going through a work transition from salaried corporate employee to independent consultant, and my aging parents are needing financial help. Financial planning is particularly important to me and my family now. Thanks for making your product available. I've recommended it to a number of folks and will continue to do so." J.H. in Portland, OR
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A customer comment from the sidebar: "VeriPlan has been a very flexible home financial planning tool. It took me a few hours on a weekend to understand what VeriPlan could do and to enter our financial data. Our family financial affairs were scattered all over, and we lacked a comprehensive picture of what the future might hold for us. I wanted a clear understanding of our projected lifetime and retirement income, expenses, taxes, debts, real estate, financial assets, college investments, retirement investments, and everything else all together." S. L. in Altadena, CA
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A customer comment from the sidebar: "You have done a great job of including the necessary instructions in VeriPlan, located close to where the modeling is happening. The thing I like about the VeriPlan User Guide is that it adds substantial additional commentary that I personally find very valuable. I was hunting for a capable and reasonably priced financial planning package, and VeriPlan is an awesome tool. The more I play around with it, the more valuable I find it. Your free user guide was what made me decide to get VeriPlan." C. A. in North Royalton, OH
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A customer comment from the sidebar: "One of the stories that VeriPlan tells me is how much of my money could be lost to excessive investment costs. I just switched to some lower cost funds in my 401k. I loved updating VeriPlan with the new cost values just to see the red bar on the Total Assets chart get significantly thinner - quite a shocking difference." M. W. in Tulsa, OK
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A customer comment from the sidebar: "I am extremely impressed with the depth of information that VeriPlan asks for and provides. VeriPlan seems much more detailed than one would expect for the very reasonable price. Although I am not a financial professional, I consider myself more financially educated than the most people of my age (62). I find that VeriPlan's depth to be just what we need for our retirement planning. I am glad I purchased it. Thanks." J. W. in Gainsville, FL
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A customer comment from the sidebar: "I have been very happy with this software. I will put VeriPlan to work to help optimize our IRA to Roth conversions, while avoiding the IRMAA penalties if we can. We are in an opportunistic window for the next several years. I have been appalled by the lack of professional knowledge available with respect to the tax burden that will fall upon us when RMDs take effect. Most of the information I have found suggests that it isn't a problem. Luckily, this software will be of great benefit to chart our course." J. S. in Louisville, KY
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A customer comment from the sidebar: "I am a recently retired engineer, and I created a cash flow Excel spreadsheet for 25 years of retirement. So, I fully appreciate the data and potential variances that must be accounted for. Yet, mine is so very simple compared to VeriPlan. I love VeriPlan's concept of total control over inputs and parameters. Veriplan's objectives are very much like mine, but it has many, many more input and control options, and the price is spot on." L. G. in Southbridge, VA
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A customer comment from the sidebar: "I've been using VeriPlan for a few weeks now, and it is everything I was looking for plus a whole lot more of what I didn't even know I needed. By simply switching VeriPlan to a state that does not have a state income tax, I can see how much I could save on traditional IRA distributions in retirement by moving to a state without income taxes. It is a real education in personal finance, and I think just about everyone would benefit from using this tool." T. H. in Silicon Valley CA
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How much you earn, spend, and save are by far the most dominant determinants of your long-term financial well-being. The VeriPlan lifetime retirement saving calculator can very capably evaluate sustainable lifetime consumption rates for you. The VeriPlan retirement planning calculator software projects the present and future value of your wealth and your potential estate in each year through age 100. This fully integrated retirement income calculator and retirement spending calculator software offers you unprecedented direct control to perform your own automated home financial planning.
VeriPlan helps you to understand your lifetime personal savings requirements and whether you current savings rate is sufficient
While most people tend not to save enough, VeriPlan is not a “you must always save more” future value projection engine and financial retirement calculator. The VeriPlan compound investment calculator projects your wealth and therefore your potential estate in each year through age 100. You can adjust your projection assumptions and decide about the balance you wish to set between your current expenditures and your projected estate (or lack thereof) in the future. The small minority of people who already save significant amounts and/or who already have substantial assets can use VeriPlan as a long term investment calculator to help decide when they are comfortable with increasing their current consumption.
This is an example of the pre-retirement savings rate graphic that VeriPlan automatically develops for all projection scenarios that you might wish to develop. The VeriPlan saving for retirement calculator automatically provides your projected total annual savings rates broken down into two components: A) your savings rate due to positive annual after-tax net earned income and B) your savings rate due to reducing the principal owed on investment-oriented debts, such as mortgage loans and college education debts.
Particularly early in many people’s adult lifes, it can seem very difficult to save. Savings is always important, and it is useful to recognize that investment-oriented debt payments are a form of savings. When such debt has been retired, then your “normal” savings rates usually will still need to increase substantially to ensure that adequate assets will be accumulated prior to retirement.
A customer comment from the sidebar: "VeriPlan's financial projection graphics simply lay out what the future might hold for my family. Also, VeriPlan is a very fast and automated financial investment calculator that allows me to change anything and to test alternate investment decisions rapidly. Its integrated documentation explains clearly how it works, and it also includes a wealth of well-researched personal finance and investment information that has been very helpful." T. F. in Muncie, IN
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A customer comment from the sidebar: "I do most of my own financial modeling, and I like the way VeriPlan generates “what if” scenarios that I like to compare, such as possibly buying a rental property, selling my house and renting, moving social security retirement age payment timing, and pulling out IRA money after taxes. Plus, I like VeriPlan for its automated projection of detailed investment costs. Thanks for making a great product." K. W. in Naperville, IL
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A customer comment from the sidebar: "I am 10 years out from retirement, and I needed to start thinking more seriously about having enough to retire on. I'm following the suggestions of you and others in opting for more hands-on retirement planning. I am also using lower cost index investing. There are too many wealth management companies out there, all ready to charge an arm and leg for what should be straightforward financial planning work." G. B. in Smith Mountain Lake, VA
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A customer comment from the sidebar: "Larry, Hello again! I've continued to work with VeriPlan, and the more I work with it the more I'm amazed at how much it does. It's an incredible decision support tool for my financial planning. Since I have already built a model of my lifetime finances, it is easy to test new ideas as they come to me. Thanks again." M. W. R. in Austin, TX
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A customer comment from the sidebar: "I first learned about the zero federal taxes on long term capital gains when under the 25% marginal income tax rate from working with VeriPlan a number of years ago. I’m no longer working but not yet receiving RMD’s or social security so my ordinary income is relatively low. So I’ve been taking full advantage of zero federal capital gains taxes by selling off my high expense ratio mutual funds which have a lot of capital gains built in since I’ve held them a long time and then I reinvest them in index mutual funds which don’t generate as much capital gains distributions. So the education that you and VeriPlan provide has saved me thousands in taxes, not to mention the expenses on high cost mutual funds. Thanks again." M. D. in El Paso, TX
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Note that the standard VeriPlan retirement planning tool savings graphic above compares your projected earned income savings and investment-oriented debt reduction progress. It does not include information about the annual growth of your investment portfolio. Additional VeriPlan graphics, which also are automatically developed for you, provide a separate and more detailed picture of the projected appreciation of your cash, bond, stock, real estate, business, and other assets developed by VeriPlan’s automated retirement planning calculators.
Because the future is completely unpredictable, your ability to modify any and all of VeriPlan’s assumptions allows you to adjust your do-it-yourself financial plan as your financial situation changes. You can change any value in VeriPlan and instantly develop a new projection. VeriPlan allows you to update all assumptions, such as tax rates, personal asset values, asset allocations, and asset growth rates.
VeriPlan is a retirement planning worksheet toolkit that can evolve as your life evolves. The VeriPlan retirement savings calculator is always ready for your next update, unlike paper plans that will increasingly grow obsolete as time passes. Furthermore, VeriPlan is far more useful that all those artificially restricted and more expensive financial planning software applications that require you to pay annual support fees and buy new versions just to keep up to date.
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See a complete list of VeriPlan's features and capabilities
See a complete list of VeriPlan's features and capabilities
See a complete list of VeriPlan's features and capabilities
See a complete list of VeriPlan's features and capabilities
See a complete list of VeriPlan's features and capabilities
See a complete list of VeriPlan's features and capabilities
See a complete list of VeriPlan's features and capabilities
See a complete list of VeriPlan's features and capabilities
See a complete list of VeriPlan's features and capabilities
See a complete list of VeriPlan's features and capabilities
See a complete list of VeriPlan's features and capabilities
See a complete list of VeriPlan's features and capabilities