These programs are much more powerful than the programs typically offered by commercial financial sites. Further, they don’t have optimistic or overstated default values to make a firm look good or sell a product. They offer a real step up in planning with perspective as well as with future events and decisions you must consider. You can download them to find out which best suits your needs.

To make the programs fully operational, you will have to type in the password and accept the disclaimer. You can get just the password or a CD with the program by using the Order forms by clicking on Order Information  link located in the left frame.

We suggest that you read all of the material below before selecting the program that you believe best serves your needs. We operate on a not-for-profit basis without compensation. The charges for the items below are based on our licensing and out-of-pocket costs for things such as licenses, materials, internet service, software updates, etc.

You must have the full version of Microsoft Excel on your PC or MAC computer to use these programs. (Works and open source software don’t have enough power.) If you can download the simplest of the Free Programs on this site, you have the capability of using the most complex of the programs below. Most of the programs require less than 2 MB of memory because MS Excel carries the heavy computing load.

You can download these programs by clicking on the link and selecting Open. This is a quick way to see which program best suits you, but it is not a good way to save the program for future use. You need to save the program to your hard drive to use it effectively and save your results. Netscape users left click on the link below and follow instructions. Internet Explorer users right click and then select "Save Target As" from the menu. Then save it to a folder on your hard drive where you can find it easily. If you end up saving a "Read Only" copy, change the file name slightly when before saving it, say by adding the letter R after the date in the file name.

If the date in the file name is later than a copy you loaded previously, the program has been updated. The reason for the update is located in the Change Log at the bottom of the page on the first tab.

Pre and Post Retirement Planner ($49 or $59 on CD)

This program is geared toward those who are serious about planning for retirement and those who are already in retirement who want a more comprehensive plan than afforded by the vast majority of Web and professional plans. Instructions are quite clear and integrated in the program itself as well as on an Overview tab. It offers the capability to analyze more complex investments, tax and income or cost events. It is good at analyzing multiple real estate investments and numerous special financial events at any age in your life. It has two cases running independently and simultaneously so that you can compare different alternatives. This is a great aid when making decisions that may affect the rest of your life. Further, it displays results from three separate scenarios: Your own scenario, a second scenario in an historically bad period and a third scenario from an historically good period. You can compare these last two with your own scenario to gain some insight whether your results are optimistic or conservative by historical economic measures. This is a great program for professionals or those who need to take a hard look at their finances, especially before making a major financial commitment—like retirement, for example.

Dynamic Planning Pro IV ($79 or $89 on CD)

This program is geared toward financial scholars. It was used to generate many of the figures in both J. K. Lasser’s Your Winning Retirement Plan (Wiley & Sons, 2001) and Getting Started in a Financially Secure Retirement (Wiley & Sons 2007). It includes most, but not all, of the features of the Pre and Post Retirement Planning program above, but adds the capability to run scenarios from as far back as 1926 with each year’s individual returns and inflation. It offers several modes including constant percent withdrawals, new projections each year instead of constant (inflation-adjusted) lifetime spending, smoothing with a retirement autopilot, and even a simple constant return and inflation mode. Unless these research aspects are important to your work, the Pre and Post Retirement Planning program is much easier to understand and use.

You can get to an order form by clicking on Order Information link located in the left frame. Send your check and order form to Analyze Now, P.O. Box 5904, Kent, WA 98064. If you have an e-mail address, please enclose it. Print e-mail addresses clearly! We often get confused between what is an l (L) or a 1 (one) or an o (letter) or 0 (zero).

Programs have a thirty-day money-back guarantee. Programs on a CD have a $4.50 postage and handling charge.

Netscape users left click on the link below and follow instructions. Internet Explorer users right click and then select "Save Target As" from the menu. It’s best to choose to save the file to your hard drive instead of trying to operate it from this site. The program will not be fully useable until you enter the required password and accept the disclaimer, but you can try out many of the unique features without the password.

The passwords permit you to fully use the programs by making or deleting entries. The passwords do not give you access to proprietary or licensed formulas or data. If you try to access a cell that is so protected you will not be able to open it. You can only open or change cells colored blue or controlled by arrow buttons.

All of the Analyze Now programs require that you have Microsoft’s Excel 97 or higher on your computer. The abbreviated version in Microsoft Works does not have enough power. If you don’t have Excel, most public libraries have the full version of Excel on their computers. Little knowledge of Excel is needed if you know how to use MS Word and can operate a mouse.

Technical support is provided by email to those who have purchased programs. Send questions to the email address on the Personal Help link, and we will try to answer promptly.

Updates can be downloaded and are often free. When you are ready to do a new analysis, download a copy of the program from this site. If there have been no changes, the file name will have the same date as your current copy. Changes are listed on the bottom of first tab of the program. If the changes are minor, you probably don’t need to update. To determine whether your download is a free update, enter the same password you used for the version now on your computer. You will have to reorder if your password does not work on the updated copy. If you have ordered the program before, you are qualified for a 50% discount for the updated version, but there is no discount on the mailing costs.

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