Whether you have just started thinking about it, you are on the verge of it or in it – this small tip is golden for you. Retirement planning becomes way easier when done using personal money management tools. 

What are personal money management tools?

Good retirement planning software programs are thorough financial tracking solutions and rewarding investment advice. Dodge old-fashioned, lengthy calculations with pen and paper to use these personal finance tools that will present you exhaustive information on your expenses, investments, returns in vivid graphs and charts along with helpful tools and tips to manage your money. Additionally, these personal money management tools will also feature investment portfolios for bonds, stocks, mutual funds, and other investment equipment. Now the question is which personal finance software will fit your bill – how to choose the best personal finance tools?

What should personal finance software for retirement planning have?

Different aspects need to be considered when you select your personal money management software.  Here are seven important factors for selecting your personal finance software for retirement planning. 

User-friendliness

You don’t want to be hassled by the software, so it has to be simple and easy to use for you. Check if it’s easy to do the following:

• Setup an account
• Track money transactions
• View all required reports
• Manage portfolios

Support for all types of accounts

Your personal finance software must give support for all types of accounts you need to maintain. Before you choose finance software make sure it will support the following:

• Savings account
• Check online banking accounts
• Multiple bank account management
• Credit card details can be added
• All loan details captured
• Mortgage account management
• Schedule and automation of transactions

Reporting

Good retirement planning financing tools create and send reports that you can choose to set whether you want weekly, monthly as well as yearly reports on your finances. Many of those software also offer graphical presentation of information in the form of charts, pie etc. by including specific areas of finances. Therefore, you get clear, statistical view of all types of transactions, investments, and payments to understand where you are spending most of your money and where you need to curtail your expenses to increase your savings for retirement.

Tax management

Managing taxes is one of the vital parts of your finances – hence, the personal finance software must be handy in taking care of tax related issues. Many personal finance tools offer tracking and fetching all types of tax related information to help you remember tax deduction, calculate deductions, review tax withholdings and tax returns.

Personal Investments

Investment is another significant part of your finances which is an integral part of tax calculations and future planning for retirement. That’s why you must zero in on a personal finance tool that offers all the necessary tools to setup and manage investment accounts in addition to tax calculation. Make sure the software has support for all types of investment accounts such as bonds, stocks, 401K, mutual funds and other accounts. Thus, you can use the tool to plan for the best retirement investment plans, pay premiums, purchase properties, keep track of debt and credits and achieve your financial goals without having to pay for extra finance management services.

Security

Now that you are feeding all the confidential data on your personal finances from bank accounts, tax, credit cards, loans, investments and other details, the one thing which is a must is tight security and privacy for your data. The software must protect information on your all account numbers, transaction details, credit card details, and other sensitive information which is related to your accounts such as personal identification details, addresses, employment details or your social security numbers.

Remember that the personal finance software must feature options to archive, backup, encrypt and restore your data as well as lock and unlock the entire software. 

Support

What if you face any technical glitch or issue while setting up your accounts – will you look for any other software and undergo the same retirement planning process from the scratch? That’s why you need to check out how good technical help and support the software provides in fixing an issue or to assist you in working with some features. Make sure the personal finance software you select offers for technical support that it delivers on-time solutions and instant online access to technical assistance in addition to other requisites such as user manual, online customer feedback forms and forum, online help section and email or chat support system.

With these essential tips and features in mind, you can identify the best personal finance software to gain better control over your finances, plan and financially secure your life after retirement.  Moreover, with easy-to-access insights, analysis, reports and automated transaction processes, you will be unlikely to miss important payment dues, steer your hard-earned money in the best investment products and get more returns on your investments. We also have shortlisted these five best personal finance software – why don’t you take a look at them? 

Recommended 5 personal finance software for retirement planning

1.       AARP Retirement Calculator – The best tool to manage investment savings and tells if they will last till retirement.

2.       Economic Security Planner – Lets you balance your living expenses and investments to help you lead a stable financial life now and after retirement.

3.       BankRate – Recommends asset allocations on the basis of your current asset, age, income and other essential variables so that you can define which asset you should target at which age.

4.       Fidelity Income Strategy Evaluator – Gives exhaustive assessment of investment products and strategies and a good retirement calculator.

5.       Social Security Administration Tools – A multipurpose retirement calculator to give estimate of investment benefits on the basis of your age and income structure and when you should claim the benefits. 

Additionally, you can use web services such as Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator to make an estimation of life expectancy, Brightscope.com to get ratings on 401(k) plans, FinAID.Org to plan for college education, and Dinkeytown.net to assess your overall financial life.