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Show HN: I made a simulator for personal finance and financial independence

projectifi.io

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Re: Show HN: I made a simulator for personal finance and financial independence

#41

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

scubakid wrote: post #26
xtracto wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried it, filled up all the data and the end screen with a "plan" stopped 1 year after my current age with chart lines looking kind of botched. I think some calculations may be wrong or something.

Hmm, this sounds like the kind of thing that could happen if you have a huge percentage value in an expense or tax input by mistake, or something along those lines that could create an immediate bankruptcy scenario. If you double-check everything though and think there is a more sinister issue at play, I'd be happy to look into it and/or help troubleshoot.

I had roughly the same experience but it was 10 years instead of 1. I just took the defaults for tax rates and stuff because frankly it already felt enough like doing my taxes just to get an idea of how the thing worked.

Re: Show HN: I made a simulator for personal finance and financial independence

#42

Post by esseti »

esseti wrote: post #35

would be good to have a plan comparison (e.g. rent vs buying house). PS: how should I setup a morgage in the system

ok, if you add a house it adds the morgage. However, it seems that i get bankrupted very quickly if i do so. And I should live withouth cash. not sure

Re: Show HN: I made a simulator for personal finance and financial independence

#43

Post by ahmadss »

This is fantastic, and the pricing for "lifetime" is nearly a no brainer.

Here are some additional ideas for ways to generate revenue:

* $100-$200 one time guided setup consulting, where someone spends 30-minutes with me on zoom to get data setup the right way, talk through data analysis process, talk through simulation and projections, etc. * Marketplace to connect me with financial advisors who know your software, align with your approach to financial planning, and can help me with next level optimization.

Nice work!

Re: Show HN: I made a simulator for personal finance and financial independence

#44

Post by neogodless »

Confused by the assets. It's starting with my current home's value, and decreasing it over time, maybe at the rate that it decreases the debt associated with the asset? But that payment should only be applied to the debt, not the value of the asset.

Re: Show HN: I made a simulator for personal finance and financial independence

#45

Post by scubakid »

michaelml wrote: post #40

This is something that I would be interested in, but you are asking for too much without giving anything back. You are essentially asking me to put my entire budget as well as future plans into your site before giving me anything interesting. I am estimating it would take > 15 minutes to fill out everything you want, and there is no way I am making that investment into a random website without some token of return. P…

One idea that might help with onboarding for users who want to jump right in is a sandbox mode where you can skip onboarding and plan creation and go directly into a scenario pre-configured to model one of several selectable templates or personas. How would you feel about that?

Re: Show HN: I made a simulator for personal finance and financial independence

#46

Post by A4ET8a8uTh0 »

Very well done. Clear UI. Simple to use and it delivers a good overview.

The one thing I would suggest ( I assume this would be a part where you attempt to monetize it ) is a referral to financial advisors, who can use the information to assist.

Re: Show HN: I made a simulator for personal finance and financial independence

#47

Post by scubakid »

neogodless wrote: post #44

Confused by the assets. It's starting with my current home's value, and decreasing it over time, maybe at the rate that it decreases the debt associated with the asset? But that payment should only be applied to the debt, not the value of the asset.

If you're puzzled by asset value appearing to decrease over time, it's possible this is because values are shown in Today's Dollars, i.e. values are adjusted to account for inflation. If you set the asset to appreciate in value at a higher rate than inflation, you should see the value go up over time.

Re: Show HN: I made a simulator for personal finance and financial independence

#48

Post by neogodless »

scubakid wrote: post #47
neogodless wrote: post #44

Confused by the assets. It's starting with my current home's value, and decreasing it over time, maybe at the rate that it decreases the debt associated with the asset? But that payment should only be applied to the debt, not the value of the asset.

If you're puzzled by asset value appearing to decrease over time, it's possible this is because values are shown in Today's Dollars, i.e. values are adjusted to account for inflation. If you set the asset to appreciate in value at a higher rate than inflation, you should see the value go up over time.

Thanks - had to dig in a bit to find that, and it's a strange default, but it does have the options you need.

Re: Show HN: I made a simulator for personal finance and financial independence

#49

Post by scubakid »

A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #46

Very well done. Clear UI. Simple to use and it delivers a good overview. The one thing I would suggest ( I assume this would be a part where you attempt to monetize it ) is a referral to financial advisors, who can use the information to assist.

Thanks! Interesting thought, though I have a natural hesitance towards recommending advisors (who might steer towards active management) or investment products, since my initial vision was to try to make the tool as unbiased and objective as possible, and more in keeping with some of the principles from the Bogleheads community. You may have a point though; I would be interested to hear where others stand on this.

Re: Show HN: I made a simulator for personal finance and financial independence

#50

Post by scubakid »

neogodless wrote: post #48
scubakid wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're puzzled by asset value appearing to decrease over time, it's possible this is because values are shown in Today's Dollars, i.e. values are adjusted to account for inflation. If you set the asset to appreciate in value at a higher rate than inflation, you should see the value go up over time.

Thanks - had to dig in a bit to find that, and it's a strange default, but it does have the options you need.

Yeah I go back and forth on what the default should be with regard to adjusting values for inflation. I have seen other planners do it this way, and perhaps one of the reasons why is so that you don't look at a high projected portfolio value 40 or 60 years down the road and think you're doing amazing, when in reality those values have much less purchasing power than they would today.
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