CREATE A FINANCIAL PLAN WITH THESE TOOLS

Online programs for do-it-yourselfers are better than ever-and they're affordable, too.

- BY CHRIS TAYLOR

THERE was a time when Mark Felton put together a financial plan the old-fashioned way: with spreadsheets. The 59-year-old from Stilwell, Kan., had always been reluctant to pay an ongoing portfolio-management fee to an adviser, so he wanted to try financial planning on his own. Because he had no formal training in that area—he works in the legal department for a cellphone carrier—that was a pretty big hill to climb. He found the spreadsheet method cumbersome, and he figured there might be some gaping holes in his knowledge. So last year, he started toying around with do-it-yourself software.

“As I got into my fifties, I realized I didn’t have a great financial plan,” says Felton, whose brood includes four adult kids and three grandchildren. “So I started looking around and subscribed to few different programs. I wish I had discovered this software a lot earlier.”

Everyday users now have access to suites of tools that are approaching professional levels. While not as sophisticated as the enterprise software advisers use—programs such as eMoney, MoneyGuidePro, RightCapital, NaviPlan and Holistiplan—consumer-oriented tools are still impressive. They are available from multiple providers, with different interfaces, approaches and price points.

These programs won't replace advisers, whose role involves much more than just number-crunching. But for those who are looking for a DIY option and enjoy digging into the data, the choices are better than ever.

“The evolution of DIY planning software has been tremendous,” says Stephen Kates, analyst for Bankrate. “It has come a long way, even compared to what was available just a few years ago. A basic retirement calculator used to be all you'd have if you didn’t want to talk to an adviser. Now these products have become so good.”