An Inexpensive Alternative to Retirement-Planning Software

Have you planned for your retirement yet? All too often retirement planning is easily overlooked, especially by young families who put off longterm planning until they are older. Planning for your retirement in the early years will provide you with a sense of ease over the future of your financial affairs.

These days, planning for your retirement is easier than ever. The use of retirement planning software brings point, answer, and click ease to scoping out your financial future. Many people aren't even aware that this software exists but it most certainly does and using one of these tools can put you on the path to financial security in your later years.

I can hear you now, "So what's it going to cost me?"

Good question because you are right that some retirement planning software can be quite pricey. Although they are worth every penny, many popular titles cost a little more than some people can budget for.

The good news is that there is a very inexpensive retirement planning software that is probably already on your computer. If you have Microsoft Office, then you likely have Microsoft Excel. It's not a widely known fact but Microsoft makes available templates for Excel that perform many of the same functions of higher end retirement planning software.

Microsoft Excel users can download free Excel templates that do calculations based on the information you give it. You can use it from within your Excel software much like you use any other software.

Here are a few great free Excel templates to get you started:

Retirement Budget Template

Lifetime Savings Calculator

Retirement Checklist

Using one or all of these templates will help you plan for your retirement years and understand what you have to set aside to be able to live comfortably after retirement. You can also experiment with different scenarios to determine what your best options would be. Best of all you and your spouse can do all of this for free, in the privacy of your home.

The moral of this story is not to let pricey software or a tendency towards procrastination stop you from planning for your future retirement. Unless you plan to work until your last breath, some day retirement will be a reality. Retire with confidence and enjoy your senior years by planning ahead of time for your financial future. Retirement planning software can definitely help put finances in to perspective. Even if you can't afford a pricey package, the free alternatives are a good start.