retirement planning tools Archives - VeriPlan Personal Financial Planning

Financial planning Excel worksheet — VeriPlan Annual version enhancements from 2006 through 2026

2026 enhancements to the VeriPlan home DIY Excel financial planning software The annual release has incorporated: 2025 enhancements to the VeriPlan financial planning Excel worksheet software Mid-year update incorporated tax changes associated with the 2025 “OBBBA” Reconciliation Tax Package enacted July 4, 2025. Automated Affordable Care Act (ACA) cost projections, including income-related Premium Tax Credit […]

A Brief History of VeriPlan

A Brief History of VeriPlan * Under development since 2003 * Core functionality has been complete and robust since 2006 * First released for software licensing by the general public in 2006 * Annual enhancement releases that update tax and investment information since 2007 * Parameters have always been user updatable, so that upgrade purchases […]

Traditional and Roth estate planning with the SECURE Act of 2019

Traditional and Roth retirement accounts and estate planning There are trade offs in deciding how to set the proportion to contribute into Roth versus traditional accounts. In many senses, this becomes an estate planning question. When an investor’s situation and lifetime financial model indicate that he or she falls into that relatively small percentage of […]

Roth Estate Planning Strategies

Roth IRA and Roth 401k Accounts and Roth Estate Planning Strategies There are trade-offs when deciding whether to allocate contributions to Roth retirement savings accounts versus traditional retirement savings accounts that have deferred income taxation features. In the majority of personal finance situations, making 100% of allowable contributions to Roth retirement plans would probably not […]

Deciding when to begin initial Social Security retirement payments

Deciding when to begin initial Social Security retirement payments In general, whether to accept Social Security payments early, at full retirement age, or later is a social security retirement planning decision you will need to make as you approach retirement. This decision can depend upon many factors, including but not limited to your expected cash […]

Long-term compounded real dollar and inflationary returns for the U.S. cash, bond, and stock asset classes

Long-term U.S. cash, bond, and stock asset class compounded returns Many investors would like to have a better understanding of long-term historical investment returns, so that they can have a more realistic understanding of what investment returns might be in the future. This article informs interested investors about historical inflationary and real dollar returns for […]

Projecting the size of your future estate

VeriPlan’s investment growth calculator helps you to project the size of your estate in future years Your investment portfolio and other property assets are simply your evolving estate. These valuable assets could become your estate at any time. As you proceed through life and become more successful financially, you need to monitor the size and trajectory […]

Personal financial planning best practices

VeriPlan helps you to learn about scientifically valid personal financial planning and investment portfolio management practices Personal finance and investing can be baffling. You can try to learn what works and what does not work from the media or from the financial services industry, but this effort is largely futile. The media reports the financial […]

Tactical asset allocation and market timing

The best individual financial planning and investment rules and practices are enduring and should not change due to market cycles or a financial crisis. This article looks at asset allocation strategy in light of the recent credit crisis. The credit crisis was a systemic, global financial event that affected any financial or securities instrument influenced […]

Concentrated holdings increase portfolio risk

Portfolio risk increases dramatically with concentrated holdings. A significant portion of a portfolio may sometimes become concentrated in a single investment entity, which dramatically increases the overall risk of the portfolio. While generally undesirable, there sometimes are unavoidable reasons for investment concentration. Unavoidable reasons for lack of diversification can include owning a private business or […]

Roth IRA Conversion Tax Calculator Software

Roth IRA Conversion Tax Calculator Software Excel Using VeriPlan to evaluate Roth retirement account contribution and conversion trade-offs This is the third part of a three-part article on Roth IRA conversion tax calculator software and Roth IRA contribution calculators. < — Part 1) Roth IRA Conversion Calculator < — Part 2) Evaluating Roth IRA Conversions […]

Roth Conversion Planning Software Evaluation

Evaluating Roth Excel Conversion Calculator Software This is the second part of a three-part article on Roth conversion planning software, including information about Roth IRA conversion optimizer calculators and Roth IRA investment calculators. This article could help you to make a more informed decision about your family’s Roth investment strategy. Key to you making a […]

401k Fees and Expenses

401k Fees and Expenses Finding information about the costs of employer-sponsored defined contribution plans is difficult, because for years weak regulations have allowed the financial industry to obscure these costs and gouge millions of retirement plan participants. This has made it difficult for both employers and plan participants to understand the true costs of these […]

Comprehensive Retirement Calculator: How to Use the VeriPlan Financial Planner

Developing a Family Financial Plan with the advanced VeriPlan retirement calculator The detailed and advanced VeriPlan comprehensive retirement calculator is personally customizable financial planning software that helps you develop your own comprehensive lifetime financial and investment retirement plan for your family. Functioning as financial decision support software, it automates millions of integrated projection calculations behind […]

Contact Form

If you have a question or comment, we would like to hear from you. Please use the form below to get in touch with us. Thank you! Find Home Financial Planning Software The Best personal DIY retirement planning software for individuals See a complete list of VeriPlan’s features and capabilities Discover Family Financial Planning Software […]

Measure Your Investment Portfolio Diversification

Gauge the level of your portfolio’s overall diversification with this free on-line tool Whenever you invest in multiple mutual funds and ETFs, you may wonder how broadly and appropriately diversified your aggregate portfolio might be. Have your investment holdings and mutual funds that you have chosen increased the global diversification of your personal financial asset […]

Traditional Versus Roth IRA Decisions

Roth retirement investment strategies have a long payback period When financial planners, investment advisers, and brokers advise their clients to convert their traditional IRA assets into Roth assets or to make annual Roth contributions rather than make alternative tax-deductible retirement account contributions, are asking for a huge leap of faith. Such proposals suggest that it […]

The Value of Future versus Current Consumption

These are some thoughts that I provided to a client couple struggling to live within their means, while also saving and investing for their future: The most important long-term topic we discussed was how you as a couple can find a way to balance current consumption, which presently exceeds your dual incomes, against the need […]

Career Education Financial Planning

Using VeriPlan as a Mid-Career Education Financial Planning Tool VeriPlan can easily be used to analyze whether it is worth returning to school to improve one’s earnings capacity. The following example explains the steps to take to analyze the value of obtaining additional education to further one’s career by using VeriPlan as and education financial […]

Going Back to College

Evaluate the financial trade-offs associated with mid-career education VeriPlan’s personal financial planning software helps you to evaluate the financial trade offs associated with mid-career education and going back to college. VeriPlan’s personal finance software helps you to determine whether your current personal earnings, savings rate, and investment strategy could lead to a sustainable personal financial […]

Helpful Financial Planning Articles

User Praise for VeriPlan:

"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

"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

"Thank you for the update. 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

More User Praise for VeriPlan

"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

"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

"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