Flexible Retirement Planner Support Forum

Clarification Added after initial post: My input below is for the downloaded beta program.

You have created a very flexible, nice, simple, and powerful modeling tool. I love it.

That being said, here are my comments:

1. Can the calculated models be saved, or can only the input data be saved? Granted, all I have to do is pull up the file and run the scenerios again; nevertheless, it would be nice to be able to save the actual models.

2. It would be nice to be able to set a max withdraw for the various categories of monies (taxable, tax free, tax deferred) for a given year(s). The software may be able to do this, but I do not know how. If it does not allow for this, maybe you could add a "Withdraw tax deferred monies" option in the "Additional inputs/Specify additional cash flows" and set the program to defer to that value (not automatically pull the monies needed in the years that you have manually set it).

I am interested in doing this for tax deferred monies for the following reason:

According to Rule 72(t), as long as you are at least 50, it is possible to withdraw from a 401k or other like programs prior to the "minimum age" (59 1/2) Without A Penalty if you take what the IRS calls "equally substantial distributions." The equations and info on this can be found at the following URL:

Info: http://www.moneymanagment.info/72T.htm
Simulation: http://www.finance.cch.com/sohoApplets/Retire72Alt.asp

The bottom line is that before age 59 1/2, I am limited in the amount I can withdraw. Assuming $500,000 in a 401K and a 4.31% distribution percentage, the max a 50 year old could withdraw is about $28,000/year. This distribution must be taken for at least 5 years or, if you are 55 or older, until the the time you turn 59 1/2. The amount you select (per the simulator listed above) can be adjusted once in the 5 year period. It would be nice if this max could be taken into account in the Flexible retirement planner. Otherwise, it tells me that I can withdraw $80,000 (but this will force me to pay a penalty if I am younger than 59 1/2 because it is more than allowed) when all I want to withdraw is $28,000 from the tax deferred account (with no penalty).

Doug

drbrandt wrote: 1. Can the calculated models be saved, or can only the input data be saved? Granted, all I have to do is pull up the file and run the scenerios again; nevertheless, it would be nice to be able to save the actual models.

The calculated models can't be saved directly, but if you right-click on any of the tables you'll see a print and an export option that lets you save the table data in csv format. In the future I hope to add better reporting capabilities as well.

2. It would be nice to be able to set a max withdraw for the various categories of monies (taxable, tax free, tax deferred) for a given year(s). The software may be able to do this, but I do not know how. If it does not allow for this, maybe you could add a "Withdraw tax deferred monies" option in the "Additional inputs/Specify additional cash flows" and set the program to defer to that value (not automatically pull the monies needed in the years that you have manually set it).

What you're suggesting makes perfect sense, but the capability isn't in the planner yet. The planner logic will ruthlessly deplete taxable investments first, then tax deferred, and finally tax free. There's no configuration option, but as you suggest it might make sense to offer this capability.

Regards,

Jim

admin wrote:
The calculated models can't be saved directly, but if you right-click on any of the tables you'll see a print and an export option that lets you save the table data in csv format. In the future I hope to add better reporting capabilities as well.

drbrandt reply:
Great! Thanks for the info Jim

admin wrote:
What you're suggesting [added by drbrandt: see point 2] makes perfect sense, but the capability isn't in the planner yet. The planner logic will ruthlessly deplete taxable investments first, then tax deferred, and finally tax free. There's no configuration option, but as you suggest it might make sense to offer this capability.

drbrandt reply:
Again, thanks--you have created a great tool

Doug