Kiplinger’s NetWealth
$50, by Block Financial Corp.
www.net-wealth.com
For Windows 95/98
If you don’t use the World Wide Web, this otherwise splendid personal finance software isn’t worth the effort of getting up to speed. Web users, however, likely will find NetWealth to be one of the best omnibus money planners they can buy.
Be warned that the learning curve is steep and you’ll need to put some concerted effort into making this system work. It is all but essential that a user spend at least an hour answering a raft of personal questions before the program starts to do its stuff with schemes for debt consolidation, education funding, retirement planning and other budgeting.
Be warned, too, that if you don’t properly fill in the required personal data, the software responds with confusing error messages.
For those who persevere, however, NetWealth offers a superb and personalized lifetime financial strategy that covers the big cost watersheds of life and leaves very few questions unanswered.
For example, the retirement planning section goes well beyond simply computing whether pensions, Social Security and IRA accounts will cover a user’s needs. It blocks out scenarios at various life expectancies, interest rates, investment mixes, tax levels, inflation rates and real estate values.
A major part of the package are databases covering more than 9,000 mutual funds, hundreds of colleges and universities and other material that offer powerful insights whether you’re planning a school fund or a burial policy.
