J&L Financial Planning Software

"Evolution, not revolution, in estate/retirement planning", by Dave McClure, Accounting Today June 5, 2006

The J&L Retirement and Financial Planning Software Professional is a straightforward and easily managed financial planning tool based on a linear, chronological set of financial events that interact with a set of accounts. Its emphasis on the basics of planning provides an ideal solution for accountants handling 50 or fewer retirement/estate planning clients.

Version 11.0 of the J&L software was released in February 2006, and represents a major upgrade in such areas as the handling of reverse mortgages and periodic or lump-sum payments to mortgages.

The retirement planning version is somewhat more robust than the basic planning software, including the ability to create up to five separate budgets, the ability to track the Internal Revenue Service basis, and implementation of college savings and early distribution programs established by the IRS, Rule 72t, as well as handling the requirements for the IRS required minimum distributions at age 70-1/2.

The Professional version scales even further with the addition of unlimited budgets, real estate investments, Monte Carlo simulations, historical return analysis and asset allocation. It also allows the professional planner to track an investment's total returns (realized and unrealized gains, dividends, and cost basis); customize reports and financial graphing; export data to spreadsheets and databases; and access more reports.

Designed to be simple and straightforward, the software nonetheless handles a broad cross-section of retirement and planning chores, broken down chronologically so that the client can assess progress and events in every year of life. The program can create a scenario based on mortgage, loan, credit card debt, withdrawal, deposit and transfer events.

Each event has the option to be adjusted yearly for inflation and a separate yearly adjustment rate. The analysis output is displayed in a text format that shows the yearly effects on up to 50 accounts, including investment, tax-free, retirement, asset and equity accounts. The output may also be presented with bar, line and pie graphs.

Because of its unique timeline organization, J&L Retirement & Financial Planning Software Professional is well suited to accountants serving Baby Boomer clients who are not engaged in formal financial planning for wealth accumulation. In addition, its relatively low cost - and the free updates and upgrades - make this a top choice for accountants entering or just building their retirement-planning practices.