Online financial / lifetime planning tool

LadyTC

Hello
I posted for the first time in the mortgage thread last week because I have been advised by a family member to increase my pension contributions rather than pay down my mortgage due to my very low mortgage rate/higher tax relief. Myself (56) and my partner (55) hope to both pack up at lest full-time work in 5 years time and like Frugal90 we want to do more travelling - particularly around the UK.

The same family member has recommended that I sign up with Retireeasy to do some lifetime planning and it costs £3 per month which is pretty low. Has anyone on here used Retireeasy and it is any good, worth the money etc? Are there any similar tools out there - I can't find any on google.

I'd prefer to DIY rather than have the expense of an adviser if I could find a decent online tool.

Grateful for any help.

Lady T

EdSwippet

Why not try the free 'Basic' version , and see how you get along with it before upgrading to any paid version?

I use Retireeasy from time to time. It's a handy way to bring together all the strands of retirement finance planning, and run some projections about what could happen to your finances into the future.

Like any such tool, though -- and any IFA for that matter -- this is not a "fail-safe crystal ball" option. Projections come from (adjustable) estimates of future returns, inflation, and so on, and those estimates might turn out to be wrong. The further out the projection (to 40 years, say), the larger the cumulative error at the end. The trick would be to keep on top of this by adjusting estimates every now and again, but without over-tweaking or overthinking. And that can be quite a hard balance to find.

An adviser might do this last step for you. But then, no adviser has a fail-safe crystal ball either.

tgon

I used RE for a time before they started selling their premium product. The basic version was okay for a rough snapshot of retirement planning but I found it a bit buggy.

bostonerimus

A popular tool in the US is FIREcalc (just google it). You'll have to do a bit of translation of US terms (ie Social Security would be State Pension) and the projections use US market returns, but it might be useful. It's free.

ianthy

Hi
I signed up with RE a few months ago but I paid for 12 months in advance instead of monthly instalments. I was working across a number of spreadsheets and really wanted to see all of my retirement plans in 1 place. I have found it helpful in focussing my thinking about expenditure, investment outcomes and also how best to fund the big expenses that occur even in retirement - e.g. new car, care costs, home maintenance etc., I think the best feature is that the tool will indicate where you could run out of funds/capital. As suggested why not play around with the basic model before signing up. Finally, like any of these tools you will need to commit considerable time up front entering the info/data - to create the reports etc.,

chiram2015

Hi Lady T

We have been using Retireeasy for almost 5 years now and we are big fans. We have found it so helpful for seeing how kids house deposits and possible home downsizes could affect our future finances. It really is a fantastic tool, the monthly subscription is not expensive for what you get and the best bit for us is plotting various what-if scenarios and being able to save and compare them.

You will also receive a monthly newsletter which is a good read - they don't seem to be afraid to give their opinions on a number of issues and it is worth checking out their Facebook page.

I hope this helps and good luck with your planning

Chris

westv

The only thing that RE doesn't show but sites like cfirsim and firecalc do is the effect of market volatility on your pension pot during drawdown.

AnotherJoe

Another vote for RE. I'm effectively on a paid version (but joined before it was payable so I'm grandfathered in) but I would pay the £3/mo, it lets you put everything in one place and get a good perspective on your finances.
As said by others, firesim/firecalc do let you have a look at volatility and one of those (I forget which) also allows you to model new sources of income come onstream as well (such as state pension).

LadyTC

Thanks to everyone.

Signed up for the premium plan on Friday and it really is an excellent tool and great value for money. The email support service is also a great help although we managed to work through most of it ourselves.

Thanks again

Lady T