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Originally Posted by Seeker
I think any program will "project" into the future with static numbers. But the OP is asking for something to make a change based on an "event" that changes projections.
No program can "automatically" do that... and if it were to do so, I'm pretty sure that I would not trust it's recommendations to apply for me. My priorities would probably differ from other people's priorities.
Finance has always and will always be a personal conglomerate (for those of us married  ) of decisions. There's always going to be ideas and recommendations based on personal events. How to handle these events is up to us as individuals.
How do we "evaluate" a stock? And project it's future? If anyone or any program could do so with a high degree of certainty, they could make a fortune.
We as humans must "plan" to the best of our ability.... there's "no progam" available that can project 1/2 year into the future with any kind of certainty.
The economy constantly changes, and industries within that economy also change. Projections must be constantly adjusted. Even businesses have a difficult time with "projections."
Excel, MS Money, and all the rest of them, can compute numbers based on static premises.
But, IF we put in the time and effort, to monitor and constantly adjust these numbers, we can accomplish more with our decision-making ability in the short-term, than any program or operation that is not constantly adjusted. |
Depending on how tech-savvy you are, you can add in as much "flexibility" as you want. Will it be perfect? No ... you're right that nothing will. However, it can provide helpful information in making large financial decisions.
The spreadsheet that I use to project our finances (which projects from our current age of 22 all the way until retirement) has several "flexibility functions" built into it. For instance, I have set up breakpoints, which can be changed from 3 months all the way up to 5 years. At each breakpoint I can change our salary estimates, contribution rates, and rate of return assumptions. I can also over-ride entire account balances & let formulas project them forward (representing the impact of depleting our emergency fund to put an extra 5-10% downpayment on a house).
I also have it set up to project 5 scenarios under different interest rate assumptions covering 3 account categories: retirement savings, taxable account/market savings, and EF savings. Will it perfectly project my retirement account for 40 years? No ... but it will give me a good idea of how my decisions now will affect my retirement under different scenarios.
Even more beauty of the flexibility of Excel? I can create new tabs for separate financial decisions and link them to other exhibits or my overall summary to get a "big-picture" view. Great example was a recent decision of how much we could contribute to the Employee Stock Program. I could change one contribution rate and instantly see the impact on (1) our monthly budget; (2) our xmas present savings account in 3 months; (3) our house downpayment fund in 3-5 years; (4) our retirement account in 20 years. That time I used 3 different rate of return scenarios to see how each would be impacted (lose 5% annually, break even, gain 5% annually). What more flexibility do you want????