time to go 2025 upgrade: I don't understand what features are missing from the online calculator vs the excel. I don't know what the difference in algorhythms between the two. The investment portion, taxing of investments and especially roth conversion analysis are the most important to me. Thanks. Frankly if no significant difference for this year the Excel version with no login needed is preferred.
@joseph-cohen The only Gold features currently not implemented in the Online model are the mid-year growth calculation option, the ability for the user to customize the tabular output pages, term life insurance recommendations, charitable trusts, and sensitivity analysis. Some or all of these will be added in the future. Otherwise, the Online model has a nicer user interface, none of the flakiness that comes with Excel, and quite a few enhancements. But the overall functionality and algorithms of the two tools are very similar. In fact, we compare the outputs of Gold and Online to a common input in the course of our testing process. One significant difference in the investment modeling is that Gold can only model two assets (stocks and bonds) in its mode 2 asset allocation algorithm whereas Online can model up to 10 asset classes. The Roth conversion algorithms are essentially the same except that Online allows proportional conversions between husband and wife accounts while Gold supports only one (either/or) at a time.
Stuart
