J&L Financial Planning Software

"Software Review: Stability is byword for 2008 retirement planning applications", by Dave McClure. Accounting Today June 2, 2008

" The J&L Retirement Planner is a fast, simple retirement toolset based on the company’s financial planning system. It’s an inexpensive solution that focuses specifically on retirement decisions, with less emphasis on pre-retirement life goals."

" The planner 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. Version 12.0, released last year, makes the software Vista-compatible and adds new capabilities for rebalancing up to five separate account groups yearly or multi-yearly; managing unlimited budgets to itemize both income and expenses; and making lump-sum or periodic payments to the principal of mortgages and loans."

" The retirement planning version includes the ability to create up to five separate budgets; the ability to track the IRS basis and implementation of college savings and early distribution programs established by the IRS, in Rule 72t; and handling of requirements for the IRS required minimum distributions at ages 59-1/2 and 70-1/2."

" The Professional version, which is only slightly more expensive than the personal version, offers more advanced planning and portfolio management capabilities, including the ability to handle unlimited budgets, real estate investments, Monte Carlo simulations, historical return analysis and asset allocation. It also allows the planner to track an i nvestment’s total returns (realized and unrealized gains, dividends, and cost basis); customize up to 24 reports and financial graphing; and export data to spreadsheets and databases."

" J&L Retirement planner is not as polished as some of its competitors, but it does handily keep pace with them in terms of its output and calculations. It provides a diversified but well-focused presentation of retirement plans at a cost that is certain to be attractive to accountants and their clients."