Copyright: Visual Help Copyright® 1993 Firas Bushnaq


CONTENTS
Retirement Planner '98

Using the Program:

General Program Usage

Input Data Fields

Buttons

Menus

Registration/Purchasing the Software

Social Security Benefits

Taxable v. Tax Deferred Investments

Tips

Understanding the Income Graph

Understanding the Principal Graph

Other Information:

Additional Services

Technical and Sales Support

End User License Agreement

Legal Disclaimer


PROGRAM USAGE
General Program Usage

This program is very simple to use.  As you can see the program starts with some default values.  You can change an individual value when it's bar is highlighted blue.  Highlight by clicking on the value you wish to change.  You can also use the TAB or Enter buttons to get to the desired value.  Once you have changed a value, you must switch to a different value with the click, Tab, or Enter method to update the graph and spreadsheet values.

You can view the results of the program in the three different ways: the Spreadsheet, Principal Graph, and the Income Graph.  Simply click on the Graph or Spreadsheet buttons to switch views.

For more help on individual values, click on the Help button while the value is highlighted.  Help will then pop up about that topic.

There are tips and examples on how to use this program within each Input Value section in these help files.

DISCLAIMER:

This program is meant to be an educational tool to educate you about retirement savings and about the time value of money.  IT IS AN ESTIMATING TOOL ONLY.  Given the many assumptions made in the program and the assumption of annual returns over long periods of time, there is NO guarantee the projections made in this program will match reality.  Too many factors can change over time.

This tool is good for helping you understand the various factors affecting your savings as well as your retirement income requirements.  It can help in deciding how much you need to save, but as above it's meant as a tool to aid you in decision making and not to predict the future.

Please consult a certified financial planne (CFP), certified public accountant (CPA), a tax attorney (JD) or other professional in developing your retirement savings plan.


INPUT VALUES
Input Data Fields

Current Age

Retirement Age

Annual Salary

Estimated Annual Raise

Retirement Income Goal

Current Investment Balance- Taxed and Tax Deferred

Annual Contribution- Taxed and Tax Deferred

Company Match

Annual Return on Investments- Taxed and Tax Deferred

Tax Bracket

Pension Amount

Pension Start Age

Annual Return During Retirement

Estimated Annual Inflation


Current Age

Enter your Current Age.  This program will only accept values between 20 and 75.  This field will only allow numbers. Do not enter any letters or symbols.

Note:

This value will remain locked unless your purchase the product.  Open the REGISTER menu and follow the instructions to purchase the full product.  For more info, see:

Registration/Purchasing

Tip:

This may be obvious, but the earlier you start investing the better.  To demonstrate how dramatic this can be, try the following example which illustrates the "cost of delaying" beginning your savings for retirement:

Suppose you started at Age 20 and saved $2000 per year for 10 years and stopped saving at Age 30.  Lets see how much your portfolio would be worth at age 65. To try this example, input the following values on the main screen:

Current Age: 20
Annual Salary: $50,000
Current Balance (Tax Deferred): $0
Annual Contribution (Tax Deferred): $2000
                                 (use the Settings to set to allow input in Dollars)
Annual Return (Tax Deferred): 10%
Company Match (Tax Deferred): 0%
Retirement Age: 65
Estimated Annual Raise: 0%
Estimated Annual Inflation: 4%
Set all other values to zero.  Don't enter and Taxable assets or inputs for this example.

      Look at the balance of your savings at age 30 ( $31,875).  Input this value into the Current Balance (Tax Deferred).  Now change the current Age to 30.  Change your Annual Contribution (Tax Deferred) to 0%.  Look at the balance at age 65 ($895,765).  Remember this value.

      Now suppose at Age 30 you started saving $2000 per year until you retired at age 65. To try this scenario, keep your current Age at 30.  Change your Annual  Contribution back to 4%.   Change Current Balance to $0.  Look at the  balance at age 65 ($542,049).

      In the first part you made savings contributions that total only $18,000, but at age 65 you have accumulated $895,765.
      In the second part you made savings contributions that total $72,000, but at age 65 you have accumulated $542,049.

Which result would you prefer?  The person who started saving at age 20 and ended all savings at age 30, accumulates almost twice as much money for retirement over the person who waits until age 30 to begin saving AND SAVES ALL THE WAY UNTIL AGE 65.  That's the power of compound interest and long-term savings.  The bottomline is to start saving as early as possible!


REGISTRATION
Registration/Purchasing

If you have cannot edit the Current Age and Annual Return fields, then you must purchase the product in order to use the full functionality.  To purchase the software, select the REGISTER menu and follow the instructions.

You will be instructed about how to purchase the product using a credit card via e-mail, fax, secure web site, or by the automated phone system.  The current price of the product will also be listed on this screen.

Problems with the Purchasing Process:

If you have any problems with purchasing, please e-mail SoftLock Services directly at slhelp@softlock.com or call the phone number on their web page at:    http://www.softlock.com

Problems with Passwords:

If you have already purchased a copy of the software, but the program is now reporting that you need to register again, your password has somehow become corrupted.  If you use a disk defragmenting program, be sure to instruct the program not to move the file "C:\SL$"  If your disk defrag program moves that file, then your password will no longer work.  In which case contact SoftLock as above.


Retirement Age

Enter the age at which you are planning to retire.  This value must be greater than the current Age that you enter and must be less than 75.  Enter only numbers.  Do not enter any letters or symbols.

Tip:

Try shifting this value by a year or two.  You may be suprised to see how much this affects your retirement income.  At your Retirement Age, the Return During Retirement that you enter on the main screen takes effect (i.e. your savings grow at that return instead of the Annual Return you entered for pre-retirement). Some people are more conservative at their investing strategy once they reach retirement since they are relying on their investment income for expenses.  Thus, we added this Return During Retirement for those who change their investment strategy during their retirement years.


CURRENT ANNUAL SALARY
Annual Salary

Enter your current Annual Salary. This value must be between $10,000 and $3,000,000.  Enter only numbers.  Do not enter any symbols or letters.

Tip:

You may use the Settings menu to control whether certain inputs are based as a percentage of Annual Salary or as a raw dollar amount.  These inputs include Tax Deferred Contribution, Company Match, and Taxable Contribution.


Estimated Annual Raise

Enter an Estimated Annual Raise that you would typically expect from your employer.  This program will accept numbers between 0 and 25 percent for the Estimated Annual Raise field.  Enter only numbers.  Do not enter any numbers or symbols.  Enter whole numbers. For example, enter 5.0 if you expect 5.0%.

Tip:

Since this is a speculative amount, try to be conservative.  To assume a simple cost of living increase in your salary, enter the same value that you enter in the Estimated Annual Inflation field.  If the Estimated Annual Raise and Estimated Annual Inflation fields are set to the same value, you are guaranteeing that inflation will not erode the earning power of your Contributions.


Retirement Income Goal

Enter your Retirement Income Goal in TODAY'S dollars.  This program will accept a goal between $1,000 and $3,000,000.  Enter only numbers.  Do not enter letters or symbols.

This program will project your Retirement Income Goal into the future using the factor you enter for the Estimated Annual Inflation rate.  You can see your growing Retirement Income Goal on the Spreadsheet or the Income graph.

Tip:

A good rule of thumb is to enter a Retirement Income Goal that you would feel comfortable living on today, and take 70% of that number.  Most people assume that their mortgage will be paid off during retirement and, thus, assume that their living expenses will be significantly lower during retirement than their expenses before retirement.  This may or may not apply to your situation.


CURRENT BALANCE
Current Balance of Investments

For Both Tax Deferred and Taxable Investments

Enter the present value of your investments.  Be sure to enter your Tax Deferred Investments such as 401(k), IRA, Keogh, etc. in the Tax Deferred Investments section of the main screen. Enter your Taxable Investments information in the Taxable Investments section of the main screen.

Note that you can also click on the Asset List button on the right side of the main screen to input multiple investments.  On that screen you can select whether each investment is Tax Deferred or not.

This program will accept numbers from $0 to $10,000,000.  Do not enter any letters or symbols.

Tip:

Again, the Current Balance affects your portfolio significantly.  Even though you do not have much control over how much you have saved so far (i.e. it is water under the bridge at this point), play with this number to see how important it is to start savings early for retirement.  See the tip in Current Age for an example that illustrates the importance of saving early.


ANNUAL INVESTMENT CONTRIBUTION
Annual Contribution to Investments

For Both Tax Deferred and Taxable Investments

You have the option of entering a dollar amount for your Annual Contribution or entering the value as a percentage of your Annual Salary.  To switch between these options, click on the Settings menu item.  You can then select Tax Deferred Contribution or Taxable Contribution and choose whether you want to enter the value in "Dollars" or as "Percent of Income".

This program will accept values between 0 and 25 percent in the Annual Contribution fields.  Do not enter any symbols or letters.  Enter whole numbers.  For example, if you wish to contribute 5.3%, then enter 5.3.

Tip:

Out of all the values you enter, this is the field you have the most control over.  You cannot control inflation, your investment return, or in most cases even your salary.  So, if you need to adjust your numbers to meet your Retirement Income Goal, this is the field you should be changing (i.e. you need to save more money!).  It sounds obvious, but worth considering if you don't want to end up broke in your "Golden Years".


COMPANY MATCHING FUNDS
Company Match

This is the amount of "free" money your company will give you just for being smart enough to save in your retirement plan.  If you do not know how much your Company Match is, then ask someone in your HR department or ask your Plan Administrator (the company that administers your retirement plan).

You have the option of entering a dollar amount for your Company Match or entering the value as a percentage of your Annual Salary.  To switch between these options, click on the Settings menu item.  You can then select Company Match and choose whether you want to enter the value in "Dollars" or as "Percentage of Salary".

If Settings ->Company Match is set to "Percentage of Salary", then enter the percentage of your Annual Salarythat your company will contribute to your plan.  Enter only numbers.  Do not enter any letters or symbols.  If you wish to enter 4.2%, then enter 4.2.

Tip:

If entering the Company Match as a "Percentage of Salary", then you must make sure this value is a percentage of your Annual Salary and NOT expressed as a percentage of your contribution (i.e. you may have to do some simple math to determine this number). Why did we do it this way?  It is the most flexible way to handle this input.  If we changed it to a percentage of your contribution, you still have the same problem of having to do math if you contribute less than the maximum matching threshold that your company has set for your retirement plan.

For example, if your company matches 50 cents on the dollar for all contributions up to 6% of your Annual Salary, then if you contribute 6% or more of your Annual Salary your Company Match is 3% OF YOUR ANNUAL SALARY (the maximum Company Match the plan allows).

If, for example, in the above retirement plan you only contribute 4% of your Annual Salary to the plan, then your Company Match will be only half of 4% which is 2%.  Thus, you would enter 2% in the Company Match field of this program.

The above scenarios are meant only as examples.  You must know the details of your specific retirement plan in order to know what to input in the Company Match field.  If you are unsure of how much money your company will match, contact your personnel/human resources representative or your retirement plan administrator.  They should be happy to help you out.


Annual Return on Investments

For Both Tax Deferred and Taxed Investments

For Tax Deferred Investments, enter in theTax Deferred Investments section of the main screen the estimated Annual Return you expect from your tax deferred investments. You might consult your account statements you receive from your retirement plan administrator and enter the historical return of the investments/funds you have selected.

For Taxable Investments, enter in theTaxable Investments section of the main screen the estimated Annual Return you expect from your tax deferred investments.  You might consult your account statements and enter the historical return of the investments/funds you have selected.

This value must be between 0 and 35.  Do not enter any symbols or letters.  If you wish to enter 8.6%, then enter 8.6.

Click on the Asset List button on the right of the main screen if you would like to enter individual investments separately.

Note:

This value will remain locked unless your purchase the product.  Open the REGISTER menu and follow the instructions to purchase the full product.  For more info, see:

Registration/Purchasing

Tip:

Play with this value.  The Annual Return on your investments has an incredible effect on your savings.  Even a half of a percent can make a huge difference  over the long term in your savings.

Tip:

If you wish to see your account grow in just raw dollars (i.e. the total of all contributions you make to the account over time), then enter zero for Annual Return, and the program will show you the accumulation of your contributions over time.


Tax Bracket

The Annual Return on your Taxable Investments will be reduced by the value entered for your tax bracket (as converted to a percentage).  Note that this program does not take into account state taxes.

For example, if you select the 28% marginal tax bracket on the main window, all of your Taxable Investments will have their effective annual return reduced by 28%.  THus, if you have one taxable investment with a estimated return of 10% and you select the 28% tax bracket, the program will project out that taxable investment at a rate of only 7.2% (i.e. the 10% annual return is reduced by the 28% of that income you will have to pay to the I.R.S.).

Note that it does not matter when you plan to sell the investments.  The calculation is simplified so that it assumes you pay the taxes on gains each year, rather than accumulating gains and selling the investment sometime in the future.

Long Term Capital Gain:

Under the latest law effective in 1998, long term capital gains are taxed at the rate of 20% regardless of your individual marginal tax bracket.  The program now allows you to select 20% as the Tax Bracket if you want to assume that ALL of your Taxable Investments will be held for the long term.  Please see the I.R.S. rules for more info on the new law, its effect on your situation, and the requirements for classifying the income as a Long Term Capital Gain.


Pension Amount

Use this input to enter an annual Pension Amount or other annual defined retirement benefit amount.  The amount can be any value between $0 and $200,000. The Start Age must be between 30 and 75 years.

For other information see:

Pension

Pension Start Age


Pension

There are two values to enter for Pension. First the Amount.  Second the Start Age.  The amount can be any value between $0 and $200,000.  This is an annual pay out of your pension benefit.  The Start Age must be between 30 and 75 years.

Pension Calculation Explained:

The Pension Amount you enter will be paid out every year starting with the Start Age that you enter in the Pension section of the program's main window.  If Start Age is less than the Retirement Age your entered, the Pension is added to your Tax Deferred Investments.  After Retirement, the Pension is treated like straight Income.  It shows up as yellow on the Income Graph.  If you cannot see any yellow Pension area on the Income Graph, please check the scale of the graph vs. the amount of your Pension.  The amount may be too small to see on the graph.  Or, you have not entered any Pension values.

Pension Options:

The program by default starts paying you the Pension Amount that you enter starting at the Start Age that you enter.  If you know your Pension in Today's Dollars, then you can enter that amount and have the program adjust it for Estimated Annual Inflation up to your Pension Start Age.  To do this, click on Settings on the main menu bar, and select the Pension option.  This will bring up the Pension Options window.

The window recaps the Retirement Age you entered on the main window.  It then lets you enter or change the "Age your Pension Benefit Starts".  On the main window this same input is the "Start Age" in the pension section.

The final option allows you to select whether you would like the Pension
Amount you entered adjusted for inflation prior to retirement.

Currently, there is not an option to provide a COLA for the pension during retirement.  The Pension Income projection will remain constant throughout your retirement in this version of the software.


PENSION START AGE
Pension Start Age:

Use this input to enter an the starting age at which your pension will begin.  THis may or may not be the same age as your Retirement Age, so we made it a separate input. The Start Age must be between 30 and 75 years.

For other information see:

Pension

Pension Amount


ANNUAL RETURN DURING RETIREMENT
Return During Retirement

For the Return During Retirement (in the lower right hand corner of the main window of the program), enter an estimated annual return on your investments during your retirement years.

The Return During Retirement value must be between 0 and 25.  Enter only numbers.  Do not enter any letters or symbols.  If you wish to enter 4.2%, then enter 4.2.

Tip:

Since your investments may be your only source of income during your retirement, you might want to consider being more conservative with your investments.  Therefore, try entering a conservative value for this return.  In most cases, the return will be less than your return prior to retirement.

NOTE: We are not advocating any particular investment strategy.


Estimated Annual Inflation

Enter a value for the Estimated Annual Inflation.  This value must be between 0 and 25 percent.  Enter only numbers.  Do not enter any symbols or letters.  If you wish to enter 4.2%, then enter 4.2.

Tip:

Historical estimates for inflation typically range between 3 to 6 percent per year.

Tip:

If you wish to see all numbers in today's dollars, then enter zero for the Estimated Annual Inflation value.  To be conservative, you should also enter zero for your Estimated Annual Raise. If you follow this tip, then you will see that your Retirement Income Goal will remain constant over time.  This is unrealistic since inflation will typically erode the spending power of your savings over time.


Buttons

There are 6 buttons on the main program window.  All of them are located on the right side of the main program window.

1	Principal Graph Button - click on this button to switch the main window view to show your Principal Graph.

2	Income Graph Button - click on this button to switch the main window view to show your Income Graph.

3	Spread Sheet - click on this button to switch the main window view to show your Spread Sheet of data.

4	Asset List - click on this button to bring up the Asset List window, which allows you to enter details about multiple investment assets.

5	Help - click on this button to bring up the Help files.  If you first select one of the Input Data Fields, then click the Help button, it will bring up the Help section that is specific to the selected Input Data Field.

6	Exit - click on this button to Exit the program.  The data you have entered is automatically saved when you Exit the program.


Menus

File Menu:

The File menu offers two options Print and Exit.  The Print option allows you to pring the charts and data. See:

Printing

Use the Exit option to exit the program and save your data.

Saving Your Data

Settings Menu:

The Settings menu offers you various options that affect how the calculations are done or how input data fields are formatted. For more information, see:

Social Security

Pension

Retirement Income Distribution

Tax Deferred Contribution

Company Match

Taxable Contribution

Help Menu:

The Help menu offers you the following options:

1	Contents - select this menu item to bring up the main contents of the Help files.

2	Search for Help On... - select this menu item to bring up the Help search facility.

3	About Retirement Planner - select this menu item for version information and contact information for Torrid Technologies, Inc.

Custom Menu:

This menu is only available in the Retirement Pro '98 version.  If you are using Retirement Planner '98, you will not see this menu and cannot access the customization options.  For more information, see:

Customizing Splash Screen

Making Setup Disk

Services Available


Printing

To print click on File on the main menu bar, then click on Print.  You will then be given three options:

1	Print Income Graph - this option prints a copy of the Income Graph.

2	Print Principal Graph - this option prints a copy of the Principal Graph.

3	Print Detailed Report - the detailed report prints your inputs, the Spreadsheet information and the Asset List information.

NOTE:
If you want to print the graphs out from other programs, you can
select the main window of the program and then on your keyboard do
ALT-PrintScreen (i.e. hold down the ALT key while pressing the
PrintScrn key near the F12 key on most keyboards).  This copies the
graphic of the current window into th clipboard.  You can then open
another program and use CTRL-v or Edit->Paste to paste in the
screenshot of the window.  You can then print from there.

Print Quality:

You will notice that the printed graphs are exact copies of the screen.  Since the screen is in color, printing on a black and white printer may produce results that are less than perfect.


Saving

When you exit the program, all of the values you have input will automatically be saved.  The next time you run the program, these values will automatically be loaded into the program for continued planning.


Social Security

Activating the Social Security Calculations:

1	Click "Settings" on the Menu Bar.

2	Click on "Social Security".

3	A window will pop-up giving you some options regarding the Social Security calculations.  You can use this window to adjust the social security benefit down if you want to be conservative, or to turn it off altogether.

Details and Assumptions for Social Security Calculation:

The following assumptions were used in this program for the Social Security calculations :

1	National Average Earnings are projected into the future from the latest available data of 5% per year.

2	Your Past Earnings History  is calculated using a factor of 5% per year.

3	The Maximum Creditable Earnings are projected into the future from the latest available data using a factor of 5% per year.

4	The highest 35 years of earnings are used in calculating the PIA benefit.  If user has less than 35 years of earnings then zeros are averaged in to create a 35 year earnings history.

5	Late Retirement Adjustment is calculated using a factor of 8% per year.

6	Early Retirement Adjustment is calculated using a factor of 6.67% per year for first 3 years of early retirement and 5% per year therafter.

7	The break points used in calculating PIA are projected into the future from the latest available data using a factor of 5% per year.

8	The Consumer Price Index Adjustment is calculated into the future from the latest available data using a factor of 4% per year.

9	The Social Security Benefit paid in retirement is projected into the future using the latest available Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) factor of 2.1% per year.

Disclaimer:

This analysis is based only on the information you have supplied and 1998 Social Security laws.  Changes in your earnings and/or laws may affect this analysis.  This calculation does not take into account any taxes that may be imposed on your social security income.

The Social Security Administration will provide you with a Personal Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statement (PEBES) upon request. This statement will use your actual historical earnings data to provide you with an estimate of your future social security benefits.  Last time we checked, you could request an estimate of your social security benefits (a PEBES) from the SSA web site  at http://www.ssa.gov.


Retirement Income Distribution

You have two options under this setting.
                                (1) Balance Widthdrawal
                                (2) Interest Only

Balance Withdrawal:

This option allows you to maintain your "retirement goal" standard of living throughout your retirement (assuming you have enough money to maintain that goal).  What this option means to you is that the program will withdraw from your retirement savings principal if your investment return is less than your projected Retirement Income Goal. For example, if your Balance is $1.5 million and your Return During Retirement is 10%.  Your investment income for the year will be $150,000.  Now suppose your Retirement Income Goal for that year is $175,000, then note that your interest income is not enough to meet your Retirement Income Goal.

If you have the "Balance Withdrawal" option selected, then the program dips into your principal and subtracts $25,000 from your balance to meet your projected Retirement Income Goal.  Note that once you dip into principal to try to maintain your standard of living, you are guaranteeing that you will at some point have no savings if you live long enough (i.e. you could outlive your savings).

Interest Only:

This option uses a more conservative approach to retirement savings and is designed to help you try to meet the ultimate retirement planning goal - which is to live off of your investment income only during retirement.  If in retirement, the program projects that you cannot meet your projected Retirement Income Goal with the interest on your investments, then the program will NOT make withdrawals from your principal savings to make up the shortfall.

This option allows you to guarantee a retirement savings balance throughout your retirement.  Since you never dip into your principal,  your balance never deplets no matter how long you live.  However, if youcannot meet your projected Retirement Income Goal, then your standard of living will not be maintained.

The income graph shows this effect quite well.  The Balance Graph may look odd because the balance will remain the same throughout retirement, but it is correct given the selection of the "Interest Only" option.  If you want the program to "dip into principal" if necessary to maintain your standard of living during retirement, then select the "Balance Withdrawel" method.


DOLLARS V. PERCENTAGE OF SALARY
Dollars v. Percentage of Salary:

If you want to enter the value on the main window in raw "Dollars", then select the "Dollars" option on the appropriate Settings menu item.

If you want to enter the value on the main window as a "Percentage of Salary", then select the "Percentage of Salary" option on the appropriate Settings menu item.


Customize Splash Screen

Note:

This option is only available in the Retirement Pro '98 version of the software.

1	Click on Customize Splash Screen under the Custom menu on the main menu bar.

2	Enter your contact information in the fields provided.

3	You may enter some "free flowing" ad text at the bottom of the screen in the "Advertising Text" box.  For example: For more information on our financial services or this software please contact us at the above numbers.

4	Click on the Splash Screen button in the upper right to see how it looks.

WARNING:

Once you Make your first Setup Disk, the Contact Name and Company Name fields will no longer be editable.  Please verify this field before you make any setup disks.


MAKING SETUP DISK
Make Setup Disk

Overview:

The purpose of the Make Setup Disk function is to provide you with a simple way to pass along copies of the software to others.  In the Retirement Planner '98 version of the software, the feature is designed so that you can pass along demo versions of the software to your friends and colleagues.  In the Retirement Pro '98 version of the software, the feature is designed so that you can give fully functional versions to your clients, employees, and customers.

Make Setup Disk in Retirement Planner '98:

To access the Make Setup Disk feature in Retirement Planner '98, click on the "File" menu and then select the "Make Setup Disk" menu item.  This will bring up the Setup Disk Utility window.

To make a setup disk, simply insert a blank formatted floppy into your computer's floppy disk drive. Then click on the button on the right side of the screen labeled "MAKE SETUP DISK(s)".

Make Setup Disk in Retirement Pro '98:

To access the Make Setup Disk feature in Retirement Pro '98, click on the "Custom" menu and then select the "Make Setup Disk" menu item.  This will bring up the Setup Disk Utility window.

The window will offer you two options on the left side.  One option allows you to select which floppy disk drive on your computer you will be copying the files to.  The second option allows you to select whether to use the Torrid Technologies "Standard Product Splash Screen" or to use "Your Custom Screen" that you have created using the "Customize Splash Screen" option.

When you use this feature for the first time it will lock what you have input for  your Company Name and Contact Name on the Customize Splash Screen window.  YOU NEED TO VERIFY YOUR NAME ON THE SPLASH SCREEN BEFORE YOU MAKE YOUR FIRST DISK.  Once you have made your first disk you will not be able to change these fields without purchasing another license.

1	Insert formatted disk into drive A or B.

2	Click on Make Setup Disk under Custom on the main menu bar.

3	Ensure your options are set to the settings you would like.

4	Click on Make Setup Disk button.

5	If there are any errors the process will stop and you will have to start the make disk function from the start.

Add Copies to Your License


ADDING COPIES TO LICENSE
Add Copies to License

Note:

This option is only available in the Retirement Pro '98 version of the software.

1	If you are not already in the Setup Disk Utility window of the program, then click on the "Make Setup Disk" option under the "Custom" menu on the main menu bar.

2	Click on the "Add Copies to Your License" button on the right side of the window..

3	Enter the number of copies you would like to add to your license.

4	Call the phone number listed on the screen to purchase additional licenses to be added to your setup.  This purchase can be done quickly over the phone allowing you instant access to your additional licenses.


Additional Services

The following products and services are also available from Torrid Technologies.  Please contact us at ttsupport@torrid-tech.com to inquire about any of these services or visit our web site at: http://www.torrid-tech.com

Customizations Available for this Software:

•	Customize with your logo or photo

•	Custom HELP screens about your company and services

•	Custom backgrounds behind the graphical display

Interactive Internet Financial Planning Software:

We also have web-based financial calculators available for license including:

•	401(k) Tax Savings Calculator

•	401(k) Loan Modeler

•	Roth IRA v. Traditional IRA Planner

•	Asset Allocation Modeler

•	Social Security Calculator

•	College Savings Planner

•	Mortgage Amortization Calculator

•	Retirement Planner

Other Available Services:

•	Photo/Logo Scanning

•	Floppy Duplication

•	Label Design and Duplication

•	Custom/Contract Programming

•	Web Site Design

•	Web Application Development using perl, JAVA and HTML.

Some Ideas On How to Use this Software:

•	Customize it and use it as a promotional item with potential customers.

•	Buy a site license for your employees.

•	Bundle it with your software as an order incentive.

•	Generate qualified leads for your financial services.

•	Use it as an "electronic business card".


NON TAXED VS. TAXED
Tax Deferred vs. Taxable Investments

Tax Deferred Investments:

These include any investments that grow tax deferred (i.e. you do not pay any taxes on the capital gains until you withdraw the funds during retirement).  These investments include but are not limited to IRA, 401(k), Keogh, 403(b).

If you want to use this program as a 401(k) planner.  Just enter zeros for the Taxable Investment Values.  Please note that this program does not limit your maximum contribution per the IRS rules for a 401(k) plan.  Why did we do this?  Because eliminating any cap on contributions makes the program more flexible and applicable to may other different types of retirement plans.

Taxable Investments:

These include any Investments that you pay income tax on the capital gains.  Regular savings, stock investments not in an IRA, mutual funds, CDs, etc.

Calculations on your Taxable Investments do not include state taxes.  The program just reduces the Annual Return of your Taxable Investments by the Tax Bracket you enter (i.e. it assumes all of your capital gains will be taxed at your marginal tax rate, which may or may not be true for your situation).  This is a simplification of the calculation, but it provides a more conservative estimate.  Remember this is just an educational and estimating tool.


Tips

1	Look at the Input Data Fields sections of this help file for more tips.

2	If you want to see the raw dollars you will save over time, then enter zero for the Annual Return on all of your investments.

3	If you want to see every value in today's dollars, then enter zero for both the Estimated Annual Inflation and your Estimated Annual Raise, then decrease the Annual Return on your Investments by what you would normally enter for the Estimated Annual Inflation rate.

See the following sections for more tips on using the software:

Input Data Fields


Understanding the Income Graph

This graph represents the Income in your retirement years.  The light blue area is your income goal, the green area is income from your investments, the red area is the difference between the two values, the yellow area is your pension income, and the dark blue area is your social security income. If you do not have any Pension income, for example, you will not see any yellow on the graph.  If you do not have any Social Security income, then you will not see any dark blue areas on the graph.

As you move the mouse pointer into the graph area, the vertical position line will attach to the pointer.  This becomes an automatic graph reader. Notice how the values in the boxes change as you move the bar.

The value of your investment income may be more than your goal.  This will not show up on the graph.  This program assumes that you will only take your income goal as income and re-invest the difference.  If there is a bar with red and green areas, this means that you needed to use some of your savings to supplement your investment income.  This means your savings balance is decreasing.  An all red bar means you are out of money for retirement.  This means you need to revise your retirement savings strategy.

Note that the only way to guarantee that you will be able to maintain your standard of living in retirement is if you are able to live solely off of the interest from your savings, plus any other payments you might be receiving (i.e. social security, pensions, etc.).  Once you start dipping into your principal, then you are guaranteeing that your balance will become zero within a finite number of years.


PRINCIPAL GRAPH
Understanding the Principal Graph

This is your portfolio balance vs. time.  The blue bars represent your growing balance before you reach your Retirement Age.  The green bars represent your changing balance after you reach your Retirement Age (i.e. including any withdrawals).  As you move the mouse pointer over the graph area, the vertical position line will attach to your pointer.  Notice the Age and Balance values change according to the position of the vertical line.  Basically, this is an automatic graph reader.

As you make value changes, do not be fooled.  The scale changes to fit the data on the graph.


TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Technical and Sales Support

Technical Support:

ttsupport@torrid-tech.com

Sales Support:

ttsales@torrid-tech.com

Or, visit our web site at:

http://www.torrid-tech.com


END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT
End User License Agreement (EULA):

INSTALLING OR USING THE ACCOMPANYING COMPUTER SOFTWARE (THE "SOFTWARE") INDICATES THAT YOU AGREE TO BE LEGALLY BOUND BY THIS AGREEMENT AND COMPLY WITH ITS TERMS. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO ALL OF THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, PLEASE DO NOT USE THE SOFTWARE.

1. Torrid Technologies, Inc. ("Torrid Technologies") hereby grants to you a non-exclusive license (this "License") to use the Software on one computer.  Simultaneous use of the software by multiple users is not allowed.  For corporate users, this license entitles you to use the software on one computer.  Use of the same software by other users, even if not simultaneous, is not allowed, unless you purchase a site license (i.e. company kiosks with one copy licensed are not allowed).

2. Torrid Technologies and its suppliers retain all right, title and interest in the Software.  You acknowledge that the Software in source code form is a confidential trade secret of Torrid Technologies and its suppliers; you therefore agree not to modify, reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Product, except to the extent that applicable laws may prohibit such restriction.

3. This License will automatically terminate without further notice to you in the event that you are in breach of any material term of this License.  In addition, either party may terminate this License at any time upon written notice to the other party.
 Paragraphs 2, 4, 5, and 6 shall survive termination of this Agreement.

4. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS.  TORRID TECHNOLOGIES DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, WITH REGARD TO THE SOFTWARE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ALL WARRANTIES OF NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  TORRID TECHNOLOGIES RESERVES THE RIGHT TO NOT SUPPORT THE SOFTWARE OR ISSUE UPDATES TO THE SOFTWARE.  The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the Software is borne by you.  Should the Software prove defective, you and not Torrid Technologies assume the entire cost of any service and repair.   IN NO EVENT WILL TORRID BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES IN EXCESS OF THE AMOUNT TORRID TECHNOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM YOU FOR A LICENSE TO THE SOFTWARE, EVEN IF  TORRID SHALL HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY OTHER PARTY. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW EXCLUSIONS OF AN IMPLIED WARRANTY, SO THIS DISCLAIMER MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU AND YOU MAY HAVE OTHER LEGAL RIGHTS THAT VARY BY JURISDICTION.  NO TORRID TECHNOLOGIES DEALER, AGENT, OR EMPLOYEE IS AUTHORIZED TO MAKE ANY MODIFICATIONS, EXTENSIONS, OR ADDITIONS TO THIS WARRANTY.

5. IN NO EVENT WILL TORRID TECHNOLOGIES, ITS LICENSOR(S) AND THE DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS OF ANY OF THEM BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND UNDER ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY
SUFFERED BY YOU OR ANYONE ELSE ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE EVEN IF TORRID TECHNOLOGIES OR ITS LICENSOR(S) HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.  THE FOREGOING LIMITATIONS SHALL NOT APPLY TO THE EXTENT THAT APPLICABLE
LAWS MAY PROHIBIT SUCH LIMITATIONS.  NO TORRID TECHNOLOGIES DEALER, AGENT, OR EMPLOYEE IS AUTHORIZED TO MAKE ANY MODIFICATIONS, EXTENSIONS, OR ADDITIONS TO THIS WARRANTY.

6. You agree that neither the Product nor any direct product thereof is being or will be acquired, shipped, transferred, or reexported, directly or indirectly, into any country prohibited by the United States Export Administration Act and the regulations thereunder or will be used for any purpose prohibited by the same.

7. This product is for educational and estimating purposes only.  It is not meant as an exact analysis of your situation. IN NO EVENT WILL TORRID TECHNOLOGIES, ITS LICENSOR(S) AND THE DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS OF ANY OF THEM BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND for your investment or savings strategy or for the accuracy of the calculations in this program. You agree that TORRID TECHNOLOGIES, ITS LICENSOR(S) AND THE DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS are not advocating any specific investment approach,and are NOT providing investment advice.  You agree that we are not liable for any investment losses or for your retirement planning.  Inflation and interest rates fluctuate over time.  No returns are guaranteed.


DISCLAIMER
Disclaimer:

This product is for educational and estimating purposes only.  It is not meant as an exact analysis of your situation. IN NO EVENT WILL TORRID TECHNOLOGIES, ITS LICENSOR(S) AND THE DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS OF ANY OF THEM BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND for your investment or savings strategy or for the accuracy of the calculations in this program.

You agree that TORRID TECHNOLOGIES, ITS LICENSOR(S) AND THE DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS are not advocating any specific investment approach,and are NOT providing investment advice.  You agree that we are not liable for any investment losses or for your retirement planning.  Inflation and interest rates fluctuate over time.  No returns are guaranteed.


Asset List

Note:

This feature can be used to calculate the estimated annual return of all of your investments.  The Asset List basically calculates a weighted average of the assets you enter and their individual returns. However, if you have an unregistered version of this software the value can not be inputted to the main work form.

Note that you only have one Asset List.  This window is NOT used to enter a series of investments by bringing it up multiple times.  Thus, you are allowed a maximum of 14 different investments on the Asset List in this version of the program.

Using the Asset List:

1	Click on the Asset List Button on the right side of the main window of the program to bring up the Asset List window.

2	If the individual asset is a taxable investment, click the "Taxed" check box next to the "Description of the Asset".

3	Enter the "Description of the Asset" ( any text accepted ).  For example:  Conservative Fund A, or perhaps Ultra-Growth Fund.

4	Enter the current value of the asset in the "Dollar Value of Asset" column.

5	Enter the estimated annual return of the individual asset in the "Annual Return of Asset" column.  The total return on all investments cannot exceed 25%.

6	As you move from one input field to another, notice that the Balance and Return values change in the lower right corner of the Asset List screen.  What is happening?  The program is calculating as you enter assets the cumulative balance and cumulative annual return on all funds.  These are the numbers that will be entered onto the main program window if you click on "Enter Totals on Main Work Form".

Printing

Your Asset List is printed out when you print your Spreadsheet.  See Printing for more info.


Settings Menu

Under the Settings menu you have the following options:

Social Security

Pension

Retirement Income Distribution

Tax Deferred Contribution

Company Match

Taxable Contribution


Verify Contact Name

Note:

This information only applies to the Retirement Pro '98 version of the software.

To protect our license, the Company Name and Contact Name can be edited only one time per license.  If you want to change it repeatedly, then you will need to buy a new license for each customization.

For example, if you want to customize the splash screen with each of your client's name, then you must purchase a license for each of your clients.

If you have any questions about this or if you need to purchase additional licenses, please contact our sales department at:

ttsales@torrid-tech.com

Or, call the sales number listed on our web site at:

http://www.torrid-tech.com


Income Graph