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Product Description
The
FastAnswer™
401(k) Forecaster lets you prepare a
hands-on, personalized projection of contributions,
accumulations, tax savings, and retirement income. Fast
and accurate, this expert retirement advisor can help
you understand the real life trade-offs between high and
low contributions. Embodying the experience of a
chartered financial consultant and life underwriter with
decades of experience, the 401(k) Forecaster gives you
in-depth analysis of your 401(k) or 403(b) plan
performance. Use the 401(k) Forecaster to calculate
FICA, federal, and local taxes, and compute employer
matching contributions - whether you're single, married
filing jointly or separately, head of household, or
widowed. As with all FastAnswers™, 401(k) Forecaster is
completely button driven, and includes built-in
comprehensive help
and presentation-quality reports.
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Use the 401(k) Forecaster for all your employees,
whether they are single, married filing jointly or
separately, head of household, or widowed.
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Account for state and local income taxes so that your
401(k) results aren't distorted.
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Over a dozen pages of content gives you in-depth
analyses of your 401(k) plan's performance.
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The "clear data" button makes creating another version
simple. Just clear data, enter new data, and save.
It's simple to try out different scenarios so that you
can see which one is best for you
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Easy installation lets you just jump right in and
get started.
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Automatically computes FICA, federal, state, and
local taxes. All you need to do is update the tax
tables annually.
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The 401(k) Forecaster automatically computes the
employer matching contribution for you.
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Village Software, Inc.'s unique print dialog box
lets you print anything in the program with just two
button clicks.
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Detailed built-in help is always just a click away to
give you tips on the easiest way to complete a task.
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No need to buy extra programs - the 401(k)
Forecaster even handles 403(b) plans.
Extract from a
product review as published in PC World Magazine
Maximize Your
401(k)'s Value!
401(k) Forecaster FastAnswer does the one thing
overlooked by the big name, personal finance organizers:
charts a course for saving for retirement with a 401(k)
plan.
The 401(k) Forecaster is a retirement savings planner
that can help everyone. It is equally as useful and
important for 403(b) tax sheltered or tax deferred
annuity (TSA or TDA) plans. In use by professional
financial planners, large company benefits departments,
small company owners, and thoughtful individuals, the
401(k) Forecaster calculates the immediate and long term
benefits of saving for retirement on a tax deferred
basis.
Most companies try to help their employees understand
the value of 401(k) participation by providing a means
for projecting 401(k) benefits. Benefits like tax
savings, cash accumulations, and retirement income.
Unfortunately, employees have to make their own
projections by referring to charts or tables, lengthy
worksheets, cardboard slide rules, or graphic
calculators. These "tools" are widely available but
generally inaccurate and misleading because they are
impersonal, sometimes difficult to use, and overly
simplistic. Few companies have access to anything better
than these gadgets. Frankly, as important as 401(k)
education is to one's current and future financial well
being, employers are not able to do a very thorough job
with these materials.
The 401(k) Forecaster was developed by a professional
financial planner in the 401(k) service business. The
401(k) Forecaster combines the power and convenience of
the personal computer with the popularity and simplicity
of the spreadsheet. The result is fast and accurate
personalized answers about income tax savings, cash
accumulations over various time periods (including
company matching contributions) and projected retirement
benefits.
Use the 401(k) Forecaster with your Lotus 123, Quattro
Pro, or Excel spreadsheet to make projections easy. Open
the 401(k) Forecaster file and select Plan Setup. Enter
basic information about your 401(k) plan. This
information is available from your employer and is found
in the Summary Plan Description. Enter the name of your
401(k) plan, the normal retirement age for receiving
benefits, the company matching contribution rate, and
how often you are paid. Then enter the expected
investment rate of return on your 401(k) investments and
how much your wages will increase in the future (these
are supplied if you don't want to speculate), and
whether or not your wages are subject to state or local
income taxes. Your 401(k) or 403(b) plan is now set-up
and ready to use. Save the 401(k) Forecaster in a
separate file so it can be used over and over with this
set of information.
Next, select Input Personal Data. Enter your name,
current age, annual wages or compensation, federal tax
filing status and number of exemptions (a table is
provided), the percent of compensation you wish to
contribute, your current 401(k) account balance (if
any), and the local income tax rate (if any).
Next, select Results and examine a personalized forecast
according to four different savings scenarios. The first
scenario, saving for retirement on an after-tax basis
without a 401(k). The second scenario, 401(k) retirement
savings based on the percentage you entered.. And, the
third and fourth scenarios using the percentage you
entered plus saving 1% and 2% more each year. Each
scenario is divided into three sections. The first
section, How Taxes Affect Your Savings, includes
information about:
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The amount of your
401(k) savings contribution.
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Your estimated social
security and income taxes.
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The amount of income
tax actually deferred as a result of contributing to
your 401(k).
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The actual cost of
your 401(k) contribution after factoring in your tax
savings.
(This section is so
accurate, the Author uses the 401(k) Forecaster
throughout the year just to estimate his annual income
taxes and make sure his tax withholding is sufficient to
provide a small refund)!
The second section, How Steady Savings Will Grow,
includes additional information about:
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Your current
retirement plan balance.
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The amount of your
company matching contribution.
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The projected balance
in your 401(k) account in 5, 10 and 20 years.
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The lump sum payment
from your 401(k) account at retirement.
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The monthly income the
lump sum with provide over your life expectancy.
The third section,
Additional Information, lists:
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How much your
retirement lump sum payment will be reduced if you
do not contribute this year.
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Your actual income tax
rate before and after your contribution.
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Information from Plan
Set-Up used to make the projections, like the plan's
retirement age, the investment rate of return, and
the rate your wages will increase in future years.
Run the 401(k) Forecaster
over and over to explore the benefits of saving more for
retirement. Create different scenarios by simply
entering new information in the Input Personal Data
window. Create a letter-size printout, in either text or
graph form.
The 401(k) Forecaster is a good investment because it is
designed for use with any 401(k) or 403(b) plan,
year-after-year. As new tax rates are announced each
year, the user can update the easily accessible federal
and state tax tables. And, choose from three different
matching contribution tables that support every matching
contribution formula in use today. To get you started
and keep you going, follow the step-by-step Help and
Instructions, containing numerous examples.
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