Financial Planning

(see also Estate Planning, and Investments )

American Association of Retired Persons: The site of this trade association provides excellent information on a host of retirement topics, including housing programs, money management, public benefits for the poor, and how to register deposits and securities. http://www.aarp.org/ An excellent discussion of reverse annuity mortgages is found at http://www.aarp.org/money/wise_consumer/financinghomes/Articles/a2002-09-30-HomeLoansReverseMortgages.html

Benefits Link: This is a huge resource site. It has links to thousands of Internet resources on every conceivable topic related to benefits, retirement, law and regulations, and much more. The site has an alphabetic organization of topics and links to the source documents. It’s great for the researcher. http://www.benefitslink.com

Business Week Online: This excellent online tool will help you in your personal financial planning. The calculators and guides are very useful in making decisions about your personal finances. http://www.businessweek.com/investor/nonips_content/financenter.htm

Charles Schwab Guide: The site of this large broker/dealer has excellent features of determining "How much do you need to save?," "Evaluating Investment Alternatives," "Developing an Investment Strategy," and "Retirement Worksheet." The worksheet is an online planning approach like the one discussed in this class. Go to "Planning" off the home page. http://www.schwab.com/

Crash Course in Wills and Estates (Micheal T. Palermo, Attorney): This site provides a full course in estate planning including disposition of property, probate, wills, trusts, living trusts, tax issues, and life insurance in estate planning. The site is content rich. http://www.mtpalermo.com/index.htm

Deloitte and Touche LLP: This site provides an excellent planning section on estate and retirement planning. http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/estate_20v3.pdf

Diversified Investment Advisors: The site provides some useful retirement calculators and valuable information on 401(k), 403(b), and 457 deferred compensation plans http://www.divinvest.com/

EstatePlanningLinks.com: A one-stop source for all your planning needs. Here you will find hundreds of links to well-researched web sites on topics such as gift planning, elder law and taxes. http://www.estateplanninglinks.com

Fannie Mae: The site of a major secondary market government agency that is active in reverse mortgages. Learn about the programs they offer to loan originators at this site. http://www.fanniemae.com/index.jhtml

Fidelity Investments: The site of the largest mutual fund manager has excellent Web resources including information on 401(k) programs. http://wps.fidelity.com/401k/about/about.htm

Financeware.com: The site generates a detailed report estimating the value of your holdings from now until your death. http://www.fplanauditors.com

Financial Engines: This site offers discussions of financial asset allocation principles of modern portfolio theory that emphasize the relationship between risk and return and the importance of diversification. Financial Engines, founded by Nobel Laureate William Sharpe, offered software to money managers via the Internet. http://www.financialengines.com

Housing and Urban Development (U.S. Department of): This site provides information on reverse annuity mortgage programs of the Federal Housing Administration. http://www.hud.gov/

Legg Mason: The site of an investment broker/dealer that has an easy-to-use retirement calculator. http://www.leggmason.com/

Morningstar: The site of an independent evaluator of mutual funds. It has a "Learning Center" that is developing a nice list of articles on retirement and investment planning, such as "Dollar Cost Averaging," "Bond Basics," "401(k) Plans," and "REIT Stuff." http://www.morningstar.com

Nolo Press Legal Encyclopedia (Wills and Estate Planning): This site provides considerable resources for personal legal issues. The wills and estate planning section provides information on wills, estates, taxes, IRAs, living trusts, and probates. This is a site worth visiting for any legal information on personal and small business issues. The site is found at: http://www.nolo.com The wills and estates information is found at: http://www.nolo.com/resource.cfm/catID/FD1795A9-8049-422C-9087838F86A2BC2B/309/

Northwestern Mutual Life: This site has an excellent longevity calculator. This is not simply a mortality table. It has a questionnaire that uses input on family history, diet, health, habits, sex, age, and weight to determine more precisely your expected life. http://www.nmfn.com/tn/learnctr--lifeevents--longevity

Roth IRA Web Site: This site makes a serious attempt at providing all there is to know about Roth IRAs. News, legislation, calculators, and planning material are available. http://www.rothira.com/

Quicken Financial Planner: This site provides a wide array of financial planning information covering investments, mortgages, retirement, saving, insurance, and taxes. http://quicken.intuit.com/?src=www.quicken.com

SaveWealth.com: Provides information on annuities, endowments, and Roth IRA's. http://www.savewealth.com

SmartMoney.com: A general site with a number of calculators, guides, fund ratings, and 401K information. http://www.smartmoney.com/

Social Security Administration: This site will explain questions on Social Security and Medicare and is the place to good to get an estimate of Social Security benefits. http://www.ssa.gov The site has numerous publications online and for download.

TIAA-CREF: the site of a major college and university pension program organization. There is some useful retirement planning information included here. http://www.tiaa-cref.org

T. Rowe Price: This excellent site provides considerable resources for the personal financial planner. The site includes a customized retirement planning feature, basic information on investing, investment strategy information, and tips on managing a portfolio. It is slanted toward mutual funds. Go to "Investment Planning & Tools" section. http://www.troweprice.com/common/index3/0,3011,lnp%3D10014%26cg%3D1210%26pgid%3D7556,00.html

Vanguard Retirement Center: This site of a major mutual fund manager is one of the best for retirement planning information. It has a wide range of services including a post-retirement savings module and provides excellent estate planning information. http://flagship4.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/content/PlanEdu/Retirement/PEdVgRetOVContent.jsp