"I'm getting used to ESPlanner and
have used it with several clients over the past 2 months. I like the
straight-forward results Ð this is what you can spend Ð this is what you
need to save. I'm getting much more confident about the results and what
they mean. It was especially helpful this A.M. with some clients who need
to put some money into their house, but the wife also wanted to retire
at 50 (she's currently 48) - and they've been forcing themselves to pay
off their mortgage early despite setbacks in their income. With
ESPlanner I was able to show them how
much better off they would be if she would consider working to 62 and
re-finance their mortgage over 30 years. They were a classic case of eating
bread and gruel now so they could have a better standard of living in
retirement. Quite an eye opener."
- Kathleen R. Dollard, CFP(R), MBA, Nashoba Financial Planning, Boxborough, MA
"Most clients have one general desire: to find the highest sustainable
standard of living throughout their lives, and that's just what ESPlanner
does. You tell it the client's income, assets and mandatory expenditures
like housing, transportation and non-life insurance, and it computes a level
of allowable, non-mandatory spending that is constant throughout the
client's lifetime. ESPlanner refers to this non-mandatory spending as
'consumption' or 'standard of living.'"
- Charlie Ryan, research analyst, The Family Firm, Bethesda, MD
"I have been trying out ESPlanner
and find the whole approach very interesting and even revolutionary. I
am blown away by the detailed tax work in the program. This is one of
my biggest complaints about other programs out there. Some go so far
as simply to tax everything with a flat percentage such as 25%! That
kind of sloppiness is bound to create huge errors."
- Joel Nance, ClearPath Financial Planning
"Making useful well thought-out lifetime financial projections
is an inherently difficult and complex task. Having a well
thought-out academically based model is a welcomed and valuable tool.
After reviewing several financial planning software packages, ESPlanner
differentiated itself from the pack by properly framing the financial
planning process and actually solving for the dependent variable,
allowable lifetime consumption, rather than leaving it up to the advisor
or client to go through a iterative guessing process. ESPlanner is a
key tool I use in the process to create tailored investment portfolios
and strategies for my clients."
- Brian Berberet, CFA, Carrick Bend Advisors, LLC,
San Mateo, CA
"ESPlanner is by far and
away the best financial planning software I
have seen. It produces an actual plan - that is a thought out and
accurately optimized lifetime consumption budget. The facts - the ages,
income, assets, future pension and social security benefits etc. - are fit
together into a mosaic to answer the single most important financial
planning question: how much must we save per year in the coming years to
be able to continue to live as we are now living after we retire.
Mortgage payoff, children leaving the home, desired bequests or other
fixed goals - all are fit into this pattern. I believe it is the only
right way to do financial planning."
- Jim Pinney, CFP, CFA and Dean Scofied,
CFA, Pinney & Scofield, Cambridge, MA
"Sensible Financial has used ESPlanner for nearly four years.
ESPlanner's dynamic programming provides the most accurate forecasts and
projections of any financial planning product I've seen and is a key contributor to our ability to deliver
financial plans efficiently. The program is stable and there is excellent technical support.
In 2005, using this product exclusively for financial planning, we've doubled our assets under management; 3
out of 4 financial planning clients retain us to manage their investments."
- Rick Miller, Ph. D., CFPTM,
Founder and CEO, Sensible Financial Planning and Management, LLC, Cambridge, MA
"ESPlanner has forced financial planners to review the way they look
at retirement planning for their clients. Consumption-based planning could dramatically change the way we
think."
- Robert Glovsky, Director, Boston University's Program on Financial Planning and
President, Mintz-Levin Financial Advisors
"Getting your financial life in order isn't difficult. You can take a big first step by turning off your
TV for a few hours and sitting down with ESPlanner."
- Glenn S. Daily, Fee-Only Insurance Consultant, New York City
"ESPlanner stands alone in the life insurance planning field as the
only approach that provides a truly objective and sound tool for lifetime life insurance needs planning."
- Anthony Steuer, CLU, Fee-Based Insurance Advisor, Orangevale, Ca.
