Overview
General
Information:
The Planning Templates Excel-based products are
designed to quantify many financial planning goals and objectives.
The products are Excel workbook files containing multiple spreadsheets
(modules). These tools are primarily designed to address
the needs of those considered to be financial “accumulators”.
The use of this software is subject to the terms and conditions
in the license agreement visible on the web site and in the
software itself.
Products:
Free Sampler: An Excel
workbook file containing 3 spreadsheets. Provided to allow
a prospective purchaser to test out a few spreadsheets to gain
insight on how our products work.
Plus Version: An
Excel workbook file containing 18 spreadsheets. These
spreadsheets are primarily intended for consumers and are somewhat
scaled down from those contained in the Advisor Version.
Asset Allocation Tool: This low cost stand-alone
allocation tool is an Excel-Based file that facilitates the
process of compiling investment holdings and comparing them
with a target model portfolio. This tool does not eliminate
all manual processes, but it organizes, groups, and totals the
current holdings to help the advisor more quickly identify what
buys and sells should be recommended to move the portfolio toward
the target allocation. This tool also assists in helping a client
see why certain recommendations are being made. This tool
is a time saver!
Advisor Version:
This is a modular Excel-based workbook file containing 29 spreadsheets
with basic analysis capability; addresses– financial position,
accumulation/savings goals, education, retirement, loans, general
investment calculations, basic asset allocation, life insurance
needs, and basic estate tax calculator.
While many advisors will purchase software to address a high-end
client’s needs, in reality many clients do not need the degree
of “fire power” provided by some of the comprehensive planning
software packages. As a result, many are seeking a simpler
and less expensive tool to meet the needs of the middle market
- those clients who want to know what time it is, not how the
watch was made. Perhaps some clients desire to address a few
planning issues, rather than taking a comprehensive approach.
Planning Templates is designed to move those clients toward
financial improvement without creating the financial paralysis
that too much information can produce. The Planning Templates
Excel-based tool makes logical sense, flows smoothly, and clients
understand it. It is designed to edify the client – not just
the advisor. Planning Templates is not intended to replace
a high-end software package when that is truly needed; however,
Planning Templates is designed for use with the majority of
potential planning clients.
Other Miscellaneous Notes:
Some Planning Templates workbooks may contain macros (sub-programs).
If this is the case, when opening the file a window will appear
that invites the user to choose what to do with the macros.
Select “Enable Macros” and the file will open
with all macros functioning. Once the file has been opened you
can navigate from module to module by selecting the appropriate
worksheet tab at the bottom of the screen.
Each module or spreadsheet is set up so that data may be entered
only in appropriate cells. All other cells are locked.
We have not offered the Planning Templates files in an unlocked
fashion. We have taken this position in an effort to protect
our work as well as to maintain a level of control over the
results achieved by a product with the Planning Templates, Inc.
name on it. To move between the data entry cells simply
click on the desired cell or use the tab key to cause the curser
to advance to another data entry cell. Most
data entry cell characters appear in dark red
unless otherwise noted in the spreadsheet file. The characters
for most calculated numbers will be blue
or black.
To maximize the viewing area on the screen
while using the spreadsheets, select the "view" pull-
down menu at the top of the screen and then select “full screen”.
To reverse this setting, repeat the same sequence.
Planningtemplates.com References:
All spreadsheets have www.planningtemplates.com
references on them, however it is possible in the Advisor Version
to turn these references off if you wish. To turn the
“.com” references off go to the Overview spreadsheet
(far left tab) in the Advisor workbook, scroll to the bottom
of the page and select the check box. |
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