You can use a spreadsheet for retirement planning. Yes, there are literally thousands of free spreadsheets out there that you can use to develop your retirement planning strategy. But when it comes to actual spending and investing, a spreadsheet might not be the best way to go.
A spreadsheet, as most people know, is a template that you can use to create different types of documents. For example, you can use a spreadsheet to write your budget and to plan your income and expenses. Your spreadsheet will be filled with numbers and formulas. It’s much like using an actual budget written by hand or that you’d find on paper in your accounting class.
And a spreadsheet for financial planning is pretty much exactly what that same class taught you. All you do is take the information that you want to input in your financial spreadsheet and put them in your budget. When you’re done, the spreadsheet will automatically print out your final budget.
Now if you want to turn that information into something that you can actually use to help you plan and invest for your retirement, you’ll have to find someone who is a financial planner or a certified public accountant (CPA). They’re the experts. You should never enter anything that you wouldn’t put in a real financial statement or budget.
In fact, if you’re just starting out with planning, a spreadsheet is probably the easiest and the most simple method to learn about retirement planning. Because everything is in a spreadsheet, you can use it to create a budget and set up some guidelines to help you learn what’s going on in your life.
A spreadsheet for retirement planning is the best way to go if you’re not really sure about the subject or are just starting out in the business of saving and investing for retirement. It’s not only cheaper than hiring a professional, but it’s also more affordable than creating financial statements and financial plans from scratch.
If you want to learn about financial statements and plans that are very similar to what you can find in a financial statement, then you can use a spreadsheet for retirement planning. Your goal is to create a list of your goals and expenses in a financial statement. Your spreadsheet will show you how you can meet those goals.
You can do this with your spreadsheet, using numbers and formulas to input your income and expenses in your spreadsheet, and then use a schedule to see if you’ve reached your goals. You can create a plan to make sure that you reach those goals and you’ll find out quickly whether or not using a spreadsheet for retirement planning is right for you.
