MoneyGuidePro Financial Planning Software Review, Evaluation, and Comparisons

In technical terms, their snapshots and projections are not linked in any way - they're two separate entities - totally disconnected from each other. With actual financial plan software, current snapshots are linked to the future projections via annual cash flow surpluses and deficits (which include replacement costs).

The following mumbo jumbo from one of their PDFs is all total BS just to get you to capitulate and accept the usage of their "fake" financial plan software: "Since 1999, MoneyGuidePro (MGP) has strived to change advisors� expectations of financial planning software. We constantly seek to improve on it our philosophy, which incorporates a hybrid of goal-based planning with cash flow after retirement. We believe the industry�s assumption software is either goal-based OR cash flow-based is a confusing and misleading way to view financial planning software. All financial planning software has goals. The software may not refer to them as goals (expenses or outlays are more common terms), but there are always fields for entering amounts of money clients will spend. In addition, all software produces results including some level of annual cash flow. The real difference is in the level of detail in assumptions and the granularity of the results. By convention, financial planning software incorporating the most detail has been referred to as �cash flow� software. For many years, most advisors assumed �cash flow� software was more sophisticated and more accurate than goal-based software. Before MoneyGuidePro, that might have been true. For the past ten years, we�ve been showing advisors that including more detailed inputs and assumptions does not produce better plans. More and more advisors have embraced our planning philosophy. ... Next, let�s consider rates of return. In retirement, over a period of 30 to 40 years, small changes in rates of return can have a huge impact on a client�s plan. The best we can do is to construct a portfolio and make some estimates about how it will perform. If we predict an annual return of 8%, and the clients receive an overall return close to 8%, we�re doing great. Instead, advisors often input every stock, every mutual fund, and every bond, and predict the return for each of these securities over 30 years including growth rates, dividend yields, tax treatment, tax rates, and other complex calculations. That�s a different level of detail. It actually makes the end result of the plan LESS meaningful because we�ve created even more assumptions, which will most likely prove to be inaccurate. MoneyGuidePro focuses on the most significant factors. Since no one can guarantee the accuracy of any assumption, we limit the assumptions to those most reasonable to predict. With returns, for example, we believe is the long-term return on a portfolio, rebalanced annually is much more meaningful than trying to predict the performance of individual holdings. Focusing on clients� savings and its relation to their current lifestyle is more reasonable than trying to predict their actual income and expenses for the next 30 years. Many people cannot budget for a year, or manage their life to a budget. It�s better to focus on what they save. Look at client�s income this year, and see what they�re saving and/or contributing to a 401(k) or IRA. Then, if the clients aren�t saving enough or don�t know how they�re spending their money, they may need to create a budget. The difference, in MGP, is you didn�t start with the budget. In the words of one of our consultants, Harold Evensky, CFP�, �full cash flow accounting prior to retirement is actually �budgeting,� and not everyone needs budgeting. For those clients who do need budgeting, it�s often not the place to begin the conversation. ... Pre-retirement, only expenses paid from assets in the clients� portfolio should be included as goals. Expenses, such as new cars and vacations, funded from the clients� current income, don�t need to be input. ... Some advisors assume higher net worth clients need detailed cash flow, and those with lower net worth (i.e., the middle market) need a simpler approach. We believe the detailed cash flow approach to long-term planning is invalid for either group. ... The need for budgeting is not correlated with net worth; it�s correlated with big expenses (or projected expenses) relative to income, and not enough savings."

All of the above is just a long string of incorrect bold-faced lies. Read the long-winded whiny text about all of this on the MPG 2012 review page.

How to Integrate Financial Planning Software Modules to Share Data