moneytrail cd-rom any good?

new

Am curious about the moneytrail cd-rom advertised on the age concern pop-up - has anyone used it, if so any good?
it says that it has useful info for retirement planning
thanks for responses!

chubb_2

Yes, it is good and costs nothing. I would recommend this to others. To get a copy of the CD ROM go to www.ageconcern.org.uk/moneytrail

johne89

I work for Age Concern and have been involved in the development of MoneyTrail, so I thought I’d say a little bit about it.

It is aimed at people of any age, who are in work, who may be concerned that they are not saving enough for their retirement. It allows you to:
· Check how much income you’ll need in retirement
· Check what retirement income you are currently on track for
· Consider your options if you are not on track

It’s got a range of calculators that allow you to change level of savings, retirement age, and target income, so you can look at different scenarios and decide what’s best for you.

It is written by Jonquil Lowe, who has written a number of retirement planning books for Which, and the content has been rigorously tested. It was launched in December, and feedback so far is very positive.

It is completely FREE, and offers independent and impartial information tailored to individual circumstances.

I encourage forum members and readers to get a copy, and give us feedback so we can further develop it, and make it as relevant and usable as possible.

More details, and an online order form, can be found at www.ageconcern.org.uk/moneytrail

new

johne89 wrote: »

I work for Age Concern and have been involved in the development of MoneyTrail, so I thought I’d say a little bit about it.

It is aimed at people of any age, who are in work, who may be concerned that they are not saving enough for their retirement. It allows you to:
· Check how much income you’ll need in retirement
· Check what retirement income you are currently on track for
· Consider your options if you are not on track

It’s got a range of calculators that allow you to change level of savings, retirement age, and target income, so you can look at different scenarios and decide what’s best for you.

It is written by Jonquil Lowe, who has written a number of retirement planning books for Which, and the content has been rigorously tested. It was launched in December, and feedback so far is very positive.

It is completely FREE, and offers independent and impartial information tailored to individual circumstances.

I encourage forum members and readers to get a copy, and give us feedback so we can further develop it, and make it as relevant and usable as possible.

More details, and an online order form, can be found at www.ageconcern.org.uk/moneytrail

I have received my CD-ROM and will feedback.
Thanks

dunstonh

Thanks for posting John.

When projecting pension plans forward, how do you calculate final salary schemes? Does it use the current salary and then working life to give a figure in todays terms or does it project in future terms?

With money purchase schemes, does it project using monetary growth basis or SMPI basis?

Also, what growth rates are used and assumptions for charges and inflation within the projections?

With regards to options considered, does it stick to generics or does it go as far as to say when its best to use an ISA, pension or other?

The reason I ask is that pension analysis software for shortfall planning is largely rubbish on the paid for calculators so it would be interesting to see how your free version stacks up.

Former_MSE_Andrea

Hi all,

Just a quick note to let you know Johne89 spoke to us before posting on here and has been added to the Companies with permission to post thread.

Andrea

johne89

Dunstonh – thanks for your question …. I’ll try to answer.

You asked about projecting pension plans forward - MoneyTrail asks users to input the projections they get in their annual statements, and use these. It gives information about how to get these statements. We avoided giving users an option of estimating what their pensions might be because of the possible pitfalls of doing so. We thought it better that users get the right information on which to base decisions about their future.

We do, however, make various assumptions about growth of non-pension savings, and about the retirement income that additional pension savings would result in if they were made. These assumptions are detailed in the software, in the “Important Information” section, and in the “How we worked it out” link from the Retirement Saving Choices calculator.

In brief, some of the assumptions are
· Price inflation will average 2.5% a year
· Where you convert your pension or other savings into an annuity at retirement, you will buy an RPI-linked annuity. We have also assumed that annuity rates when you retire will be the same as today.
· Where you make extra savings for retirement, you will increase the amount you save each year in line with an assumed rate of earnings inflation. We have assumed that your earnings will rise by 1.5% a year more than price inflation (in other words, by 4% a year on average)
· Your invested pension savings will rise by 5% a year before charges if you have said you have a pessimistic view about investment returns, 7% a year if your view is middling and 9% a year if you are optimistic.
· Your invested non-pension savings will rise by 4% a year before charges if you have said you have a pessimistic view about investment returns, 6% a year if your view is middling and 8% a year if you are optimistic.
· Charges of 1.5% a year will be deducted from your pension investments and non-pension investments.
· Except where you have the option to tell us otherwise, you use your pension savings to provide retirement income. This means even if you take a tax-free lump sum at retirement you use it to provide income.

You also asked if MoneyTrail recommends when it’s best to use an ISA, pension or other option. The answer is – no. MoneyTrail lets the user know what the options are but always recommends getting an IFA’s advice when the user is making a decision.

A couple of other points:
Figures are correct for the 2007/08 tax year, but we are currently updating it for 2008/09, which should be completed soon.

On a technical note, the CD-ROM requires a PC with Windows Explorer.

Please do try it out, and let us know what you think

Thanks

John

dunstonh

Thanks for follow up. Based on what you have said, the figures seem realistic and sensible. It should be useful for people.

Retired_I.F.A.

Too rigid a set of assunptions I reckon. The ideal 'calculator' is a spreadsheet allowing the user to input their own assumptions which give the answers to what if scenarios.