Instantly compare up to 5 scenarios with tables and visual charts.
As an Advisor, you already know that the fundamental reason for creating multiple scenarios is to illustrate how they impact meaningful outcomes for your clients over time, and to help inform them of their best course of action. Scenario comparison allows you compare options, ensuring your clients have the information they need to pursue the optimal outcome.
This means it’s essential to quickly generate comparisons between metrics that:
- Show the outcomes of decisions on various aspects of a clients financial abilities
- Show and communicate the why behind these outcomes (less tax, more government benefits, etc.)
We are thrilled to announce this highly anticipated Scenario Comparison feature has been released and is now available to all Snap users.
Canadian Advisors, Planners, and Wealth Managers not currently using Snap are welcome to start a 14-day Free Trial.
In this post, we will share the why behind the build, what Advisors are already saying, how Advisors tell us they plan to use this to better serve their clients, and then we will share common use cases.
Why did we build this feature?
As always, the Product Team at Snap Projections built this feature because our users were asking for it.
While there were comparison options available in the Estate module, it was static and not customizable.
Many Advisors have used tools like Excel to show comparisons for things such as total cumulative tax and total spending over time, so we wanted to solve for this common problem.
Advisors needed a comprehensive solution that included both tables and charts to account for various presentation options and client preferences.
Now, Advisors can instantly compare a wide range of potential outcomes for their clients.
How Advisors tell us they plan to use this new functionality.
Optimization:
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- I want to show how the timing of government pensions impacts the client’s ability to spend and the legacy they are able to leave.
- I want to show how the timing of converting registered assets into income sources impacts the client’s ability to spend and the legacy they can leave.
- I want to model how different decumulation strategies could impact the client’s ability to spend, their projected taxes, and the legacy they are able to leave.
- I want to illustrate how my client can structure their finances to obtain the highest government pension possible.
Risk Management & Survivor Planning:
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- I want to show the impact of a spouse passing on the ability for the surviving spouse to still meet their goals.
Client preferences:
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- I want to show my client how much they can spend and how that can impact other areas of the plan, including their legacy and investment plans.
- I want to model the impact of my client potentially spending more money early on in retirement.
- I want to illustrate the overall impact of downsizing my client’s home during retirement to adequately plan for lifestyle and estate goals.
Tax reduction strategies
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- I want to illustrate how a corporately owned insurance strategy can help to minimize the cost of taxes while maximizing the client’s estate.
Track progress over time
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- I’d like to compare the updated plan to a previous version to assess whether we’re on track or if we’ve deviated from our original expectations.
How to Compare Scenarios using Tables.
For the Advisor, the core benefits of this new product functionality are transparency, flexibility, and control.
Advisors can create custom comparisons across a range of scenarios on one page and tailor their presentation to the information that is most important to each individual client.
Additionally, Advisors can illustrate their own value by demonstrating tangible differences between a base scenario and the recommended scenario, in terms of financial outcomes and goal achievement for the client.
Canadian Advisors, Planners, and Wealth Managers not currently using Snap are welcome to start a 14-day Free Trial.
How to Compare Scenarios using visual Charts.
Using Charts, Advisors can now tailor their analysis to specific durations of their clients’ lives.
Advisors can visually illustrate key information compared across multiple alternatives to help their clients with decision-making.
Canadian Advisors, Planners, and Wealth Managers not currently using Snap are welcome to start a 14-day Free Trial.
Compare Scenarios over time to see how different strategies play out across your clients’ lives.
Within this new module, Advisors can now compare projections over time to see how different strategies play out throughout the duration of your clients’ lives.
For example, we can see the visual comparison in the chart below of deferring CPP from age 65 to 70.
For this particular case, it results in a lower estate after tax if the client passes away before age 84, but a higher estate after tax for all years beyond that.
Click to enlarge.
What Advisors are already saying.
“Really impressed with Compare Scenarios. It’s saving time as we’re using it to present 5 options to the client.”
“We did go over it as a team this morning and we all really liked it and will be using it. We already did something similar for clients, but was manual process, so this should save all the planners some time!”
“That’s a cool new feature, Scenarios Comparison! Being able to condense the report and graphic by offloading the unwanted metrics – I like it. Can’t wait to see the update for the chart format, that’s going to be awesome.”
“I LOVE the new comparison tool!”
Snap Projections provides transparent, easy-to-use, and highly flexible financial planning software. Canadian Advisors, Planners, and Investment Managers are eligible to start a 14-day Free Trial.
