DIY Personal & Retirement Financial Planning

Do-It-Yourself financial and investment planning Excel spreadsheet software

If Personal Finance is Difficult – Carefully Hire a Good Advisor

If personal finance is difficult for you, carefully hire a good financial and investment adviser A previous financial article, “The Solution – ONLY follow financial strategies that are scientific, passive, diversified, savings focused, risk controlled, low cost, and tax efficient,” suggested that investors are much better off with a well-considered financial plan. A stable set […]

Advisor Costs and Strategies Determine Your Return on their Services

Financial advisor costs and the value of their investment strategies determine your return on investment from these investment advisor services A previous financial article, “The Solution – ONLY follow financial strategies that are scientific, passive, diversified, savings focused, risk controlled, low cost, and tax efficient,” suggested that investors are much better off with a well-considered […]

Tax-Advantaged Retirement Investing Is Good for Most People

Tax-advantaged investing is very good for most people at most times A previous article, “The Solution – ONLY follow financial strategies that are scientific, passive, diversified, savings focused, risk controlled, low cost, and tax efficient,” suggested that individuals are much better off with a well-considered financial viewpoint. A stable set of financial beliefs can help […]

Never Invest Solely Because of Superior Past Investment Fund Performance

Never invest solely because of superior past mutual fund or ETF performance Superior past fund performance does NOT predict superior future performance. Summary: A previous article, “The Solution – ONLY follow financial strategies that are scientific, passive, diversified, savings focused, risk controlled, low cost, and tax efficient,” suggested that individuals are much better off with […]

Searching for Superior Investment Fund Managers is a Waste of Your Time

Searching for superior investment fund managers is a waste of your money and time A previous article, “The Solution – ONLY follow financial strategies that are scientific, passive, diversified, savings focused, risk controlled, low cost, and tax efficient,” suggested that individuals are much better off with a well-considered financial viewpoint. A stable set of financial […]

Comparing the Quicken and VeriPlan Lifetime Financial Planners

Comparing the Quicken and VeriPlan Lifetime Financial Planners The Quicken personal finances organizer application includes the Quicken Retirement Planner, which projects the personal finances of a person or family across a lifetime. VeriPlan is a comprehensive and fully automated personal financial lifecycle planner for individuals and their families. Discover Family Financial Planning Software In this […]

Passive Index Investment Strategies are Superior

Passive index investment strategies are superior, because they narrow the range of outcomes and lower your investment risk A previous article, “The Solution – ONLY follow financial strategies that are scientific, passive, diversified, savings focused, risk controlled, low cost, and tax efficient,” suggested that individuals are much better off with a well-considered financial viewpoint. A […]

Time Spent on the Wrong Financial Activities Is Bad for You

Spending your valuable time on the wrong financial activities is just plain bad for you A previous article, “The Solution – ONLY follow financial strategies that are scientific, passive, diversified, savings focused, risk controlled, low cost, and tax efficient,” suggested that individuals are much better off with a well-considered financial viewpoint. This follow-up article discusses […]

Analyze Multiple Personal Financial Planning Decisions Simultaneously with VeriPlan

VeriPlan allows you to analyze multiple personal financial decisions simultaneously Personal financial and investment decisions are complex, because so many different factors are in play simultaneously. When an integrated financial software application like VeriPlan is developed by people who understand scientific financial projection methods, all these different factors can be measured and automated on a […]

Factors Favoring Roth IRA and Roth 401k Plan Contributions – Part 2

Factors that tend to favor Roth tax-advantaged plan contributions – Part 2 (Continued from Part 1…) Personal Financial Planning Software In a recent article, “Traditional versus Roth tax-advantaged plan contributions,” The Skilled Investor discussed why the average taxpayer would tend to benefit more by contributing to traditional rather than to Roth tax-advantaged IRA and 401k […]

Factors Favoring Roth IRA and Roth 401k Plan Contributions

Factors that tend to favor Roth IRA and Roth 401k tax-advantaged plan contributions In a recent article, “Traditional versus Roth tax-advantaged plan contributions,” The Skilled Investor discussed why the average taxpayer would tend to benefit more by contributing to traditional rather than to tax-advantaged Roth IRA and Roth 401(k) retirement plans. This follow-up article in […]

A Financial Decision Tool That Becomes Increasingly Valuable Over Time

As a financial decision tool, VeriPlan becomes increasingly valuable with the passage of time Summary: While VeriPlan is an genuine bargain because of its low cost, it is an even greater bargain, when you consider that VeriPlan has no built-in obsolescence and that it can be used productively for years. We have engineered VeriPlan, so […]

Make More Optimal Tradeoffs Between Investment Risk and Return

VeriPlan helps you make more optimal decisions about the tradeoffs between investment risk, investment return, and personal savings Too often decisions about risk-adjusted investing and asset allocation are over-simplified with a few questions about your risk tolerance. Typically, this superficial process will be followed quickly by the offer of a canned, off-the-shelf asset allocation scheme […]

Excessive Investment Expenses Take 2% of Individual Investor Assets Every Year

Excessive investment expenses take 2% of individual investor’s assets every year Year after year, millions of people lose large amounts of money on unnecessary and unproductive investment costs and investment expenses. The typical investor loses about 2% of portfolio assets every year by paying too much and getting too little in return. Financial Planning Software […]

Own Investment Mutual Funds and ETFs – Not Individual Securities

Own Investment Mutual Funds and ETFs – Not Individual Securities Owning individual stock and bond securities is just a big waste of your valuable time and money Individual investors tend to be terrible investment portfolio managers. Almost everyone can hire an index fund manager to do a much better job for far less time, money, […]

Traditional IRA and 401k Versus Roth IRA and Roth 401k Contributions

Traditional IRA and 401k versus Roth IRA and Roth 401(k) plan contributions Many taxpayers puzzle over whether to contribute to traditional versus Roth tax-advantaged retirement plans. For most people, contributions to traditional tax-advantaged plans will probably provide a higher net present value over their lifetimes. Family Financial Planning Software for Home Use Given our tax-related […]

Determine the Savings You Need for Your Lifetime Financial Goals

You cannot invest without savings. How much savings are enough? … too little? … too much? Currently, the U.S. is experiencing a savings crisis. The net personal savings rate is zero or slightly negative, despite a healthy and growing economy. This situation is a prescription for millions upon millions of future personal financial disasters. (See: […]

Always Completely Diversify Your Investment Portfolio

Complete portfolio diversification is always a better idea. On average, the securities markets will not pay you to hold any skewed subset of the overall market. Doing so is just a gamble that may or may not pay off. You should not expect to be paid any more for the added risk and anxiety. Financial […]

Build Investment Asset Buffers to Protect Yourself from Market Volatility

Build Investment Asset Buffers to Protect Yourself from Market Volatility You may be just as nervous as the next person is about investment risk. However, the coverage of your future expenses by your accumulated assets will determine whether you can actually manage, when risk really happens. Family Financial Planning Software for Consumers A previous article, […]

Stay Invested in Securities Markets to Earn Risk Premiums

You must stay invested in the securities markets to earn market return risk premiums Securities markets pay risk premiums to risk takers You have to have your money invested and at risk to be paid a risk premium. Attempting to avoid risk or losses by jumping in and out to “time the markets” does not […]

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