What happens to Pralana Online data if you do not renew? Is your data still viewable but not editable, or are you barred from logging in at all? Is the data saved or deleted, and can I pay the renewal fee in a future year rather than the startup fee?
I ask because I am many, many years from retirement. I think the detail of Pralana might be worthwhile to get a detailed picture of where my finances are in relation to potential retirement, but I don't imagine I will need to update this picture every year between now and retirement. Rather, I am envisioning updating my numbers every 3 years or so (and thus renewing my subscription on those years).
If I cannot see the data in the "off years" that would be unfortunate, but not a dealbreaker as I imagine I can export key things to PDFs before losing access. But if the data is deleted and I'd have to start fresh every few years that would be rather painful.
@ritchell You will lose access to your data if you do not renew, but it will be retained on the system for some amount of time (less than 3 years). What you can do, though, is download your data to your local system before your subscription expires, and then upload it again whenever you establish another subscription. Just be advised that it's totally on you to protect that downloaded file because if it's lost or corrupted in some way after being downloaded, there's nothing we can do to help.
Stuart
@ritchell You're welcome, but I just noticed that your question was posted in the PRC forum and not the Pralana Online forum. My response was relative to Pralana Online, as PRC (the Excel version) is not sold with a subscription; it's sold outright and will run indefinitely on your own system. You are not required to upgrade annually and will always have access to your data and can change it whenever you wish; however, to get back onboard with the latest version, you would have to pay full price for the new version.
Stuart
I'd add that there's tremendous value for very little cost in the low renewal fee. Doing the very small amount of housekeeping each year in January keeps you on top of your overall financial situation and goals. You may think you're very far from retirement, but karma may differ. Folks get laid off, disabled, etc. As well, you may have goals as to when you retire and what that retirement looks like (and you should). But along the way, you'll start to wonder things like, "If we move and buy this new house (or car, or boat, or RV...), does that significantly push my retirement date out? How does it affect our overall net worth? Can we still afford the kids' education we plan?" Pralana isn't a retirement calculator, despite the name. It's now a full-fledged financial planning tool for your entire life journey.
I second the sentiment to keep Pralana going. It is extra-ordinary value for one, but perhaps the better reason is to be able to keep fiddling with it and learning. The program. is *very* deep and multi-faceted. I expect it to take me a year before I can call myself somewhat competent. I told my wife this morning that it probably represents decades of work by Stuart; and I can only imagine how many hours Charlie Stone put into porting it online.
Pralana is easy to use in the universe of financial planning software, but it is obvious that the better you get using the program, the more value it returns. Lastly, while I have learned quite a bit of tax and financial planning through the years, I am going to read the user manual cover to cover. It is a gem of a resource.
