A significant update to the popular financial planning program MoneyGuidePro was rolled out last week.
Version 2.2 of the application has several new features, including an internal Roth IRA conversion feature as well as a stand-alone Roth IRA conversion calculator that can be used by financial advisers who need to create financial plans for clients and prospects.
“We decided advisers needed this ability at two levels,” said Robert Curtis, chief executive of PIE Technologies Inc., the company behind the program. “[They needed] something they could use while in the midst of creating a plan, as well as when they were focused just on this [Roth conversion] issue.”
Many technology providers and product companies have been producing Roth calculators recently because starting Jan. 1, higher-income clients will have the option of converting a traditional individual retirement account or 401(k) to a Roth IRA.
Currently, individuals whose modified-adjusted-gross income exceeds $100,000 are barred from doing a Roth conversion.
Advisers who sign up for a trial of MoneyGuidePro — but decide not to subscribe to the full product — will still be able to use the Roth calculator for free, according to Mr. Curtis.
This latest update to Money-GuidePro is the most considerable enhancement to the program since Generation 2 was released last September. Aside from the conversion calculator, there are several other im-provements to the program, the company said.
For one, users now have the ability to include a variable annuity with a guaranteed-minimum-withdrawal benefit as an investment asset for clients who have purchased these insurance products. This has also been included as part of the application's Goal Strategy section so that advisers can compare the results for a client's plan with and without a variable annuity.
Play Zone is another new feature that Mr. Curtis said has already generated a lot of enthusiasm among advisers who use MoneyGuidePro's What If Worksheet.
“A lot of advisers are now using this these days interactively with their clients in the office because it is very visual,” he said referring to the many sliders that an adviser or client can use to manipulate a financial plan's potential outcomes.
Although the Play Zone is simple to use, it still employs the same sophisticated, in-depth calculations as the What If Worksheet, according to Mr. Curtis.
“After you've reviewed your recommended scenario with your clients, advisers can use the Guest Sharing feature to provide the client access to Play Zone themselves, so they can play with their plan on their own,” he said.
The list price for an annual license to MoneyGuidePro is $1,295, though many broker-dealers offer the application at a discounted rate.
For more information and to view the full release notes on the many additional features in Version 2.2, visit moneyguidepro.com.
E-mail Davis Janowski at [email protected].
