Welcome to "Retirement in a Nutshell." I didn’t really start out with the intention of creating a financial planning program as a commercial venture. I needed something in my financial planning practice that would allow me to quickly assess a client’s current financial situation and project their cash flow needs. I needed a simpler system that would not require a client to spend an hour or more filling out forms or take me an hour or more to enter the data.

I also needed a report that was shorter and easier for the client to understand. Many of the plans I had used made me feel like I was in the publishing business rather than financial planning. They were very cumbersome and I could only use them with a few clients so I finally reverted back to the yellow legal pad. This was too slow.

My goal was to simplify the process and get rid of as much extraneous data or information as possible. I wanted something I could easily use with every client; something that minimized the time and effort on the part of the client; something that would allow me to get the information I needed, input the data, and create a simple report that made sense to the client. I needed something that would allow me to do all this within a one hour client appointment.

I think I have been able to achieve those goals. I, and the other advisors in my office, have been using the program for over a year. The clients have given it very positive reviews. They are telling their friends about it and we have seen an increase in referrals. I decided that, maybe, there were some other advisors out there who could also benefit from a simpler tool so I christened it "Retirement in a Nutshell" and created this website.

It is very easy to use. The input data is very basic. There are entry hints on every data input page so you should be able to start using it right away without any special training or manuals to read. I do recommend that you print out a hard copy of the sample client report and then read through the overview of the program and the overview of the report. It will take a few minutes but will give you the big picture of how the program works before you dive into the details of an actual plan. From there, the entry hints should be enough for you to start using the program. I hope you will give it a try. The first month is on me. I appreciate questions and feedback so we can improve the instructions or the program itself so please feel free to e-mail me. There is a menu item that will allow you to do that.

Sincerely,

Robert A. Young