Why Snap Projections is the leading RazorPlan alternative for Canadian Advisors

Show your clients their whole life on one page with Snap Projections. It’s comprehensive yet easy to use.

Comparing Snap Projections to RazorPlan

See Why Advisors are Switching from RazorPlan to Snap Projections

Top 6 reasons Advisors choose Snap Projections over RazorPlan for their financial planning platform.

Comprehensive Personal & Corporate Financial Planning

Comprehensive personal and corporate financial planning is the primary difference between Snap Projections and RazorPlan. All Advisors have their own unique way of serving their clients and typically create their own processes for financial planning that are tweaked and improved over time. Ideally, Advisors typically want to work with financial planning software that can adapt to meet changing needs and one that continues to expand and learn, just as the practice does.

From start to finish, Snap supports the comprehensive personal and corporate financial planning process. With Snap, your entire financial planning process can be managed in one place. You’ll start with using the provided Financial Planning Questionnaire to both collect the information you need and engage in meaningful conversations with your clients. Using Snap, you’ll be able to plan for both the accumulation and decumulation stages of life, conduct tax and estate planning, comprehensive corporate planning, and more. You’ll then be able to utilize the Life Needs Analysis Tool to determine what level of life insurance coverage your client needs, based on their unique set of circumstances. Year over year, you’ll have a comprehensive plan that is easily rebased and adjusted as necessary.

Advisors who have used Razor prior to switching to Snap tell us that throughout their process, they would use Razor to show their clients if they were on track for their retirement goals, and also provide a generic risk assessment report. Outside of that, they would typically have to use other tools for things like cash-flow, corporate planning, tax planning, and more. Advisors say that because Razor is meant to keep things simple and high-level, it often seems to lack the features needed to provide comprehensive personal and corporate planning.

Data entry, ease of use & getting help

Advisors tell us that data entry is similar for both RazorPlan and Snap Projections, but there are some key differences which majorly impact flow and ease of use. Both programs strive to keep things simple and straightforward for the Advisor, but Snap allows for more flexibility without becoming complicated. Razor appears to prioritize keeping everything high-level and focusing on the bigger picture, but Advisors tell us that at a certain point that focus actually makes things like data entry and client conversations more difficult than simple.

For example, when entering assets into Razor, you can only create one account per category. This means that if your client has multiple RRSPs or TFSAs, they must be lumped together during the data entry process. In Snap, you can enter them individually with as much or as little detail as you require, or you could choose to lump them together.

While this may seem like a minor thing, it can become problematic in practice. It means that instead of quickly setting up your asset accounts, you’re pulling out the calculator to determine the appropriate balances, having to settle on what asset mix and rates of return to use if they differ, plus explain all of this to your client. During the decumulation phase, you have no ability to isolate the sources of income outside of the categorical level. If they, for example, have a travel TFSA and a retirement TFSA, in Razor, that’s all been lumped together so you don’t have the ability to show that to your client or only withdraw from a certain one. Or, maybe there’s an employee Group RRSP and an individual one. In both cases, trying to keep it simple by lumping the assets together actually complicates things during data entry and the retirement income planning process, creating additional complexities that have to be explained to your client.

Razor and Snap both allow you to create a base plan fairly quickly, but most Advisors say it takes longer in Razor to get that initial set-up because the data entry flow isn’t as streamlined or intuitive. Advisors tell us that they do spend more time creating plans in Snap than they ever would have in Razor, simply because they were unable to conduct comprehensive planning using Razor. After that initial set-up in Razor, there wasn’t much else that needed to be done.

Advisors tell us that with Snap, data entry remains both simple yet flexible. They say you can take notes from a five-minute conversation with your client, put the information into Snap, and come out with something meaningful. The flow of the information goes into the software in the same natural order that you would have a conversation, meaning you can easily do it with a client present. If that’s not your preference, you can use Snap’s Financial Planning Questionnaire to collect the data beforehand, work on the plan yourself, and then share it with your client afterwards.

In addition to entering the data with ease, the other big thing here is the time savings. Advisors tell us that the ease of data entry and accessible main planning page are what streamline their client conversations and eliminate time spent digging around. Obviously when things can be done easier they can typically be done faster, but there is more to it than just that. Many Advisors who use Snap use it with their clients present, which is something our former Razor users tell us they would never have done before switching. When you’re sitting with a client, the flow of data entry has to make sense and be streamlined, otherwise you will lose that engagement from the client.

The reality for Advisors who use Snap is that they can have a client conversation, spend 15 minutes working in Snap, and create a base plan that will act as a starting point of how they’ll move forward. When using Razor, those same Advisors say they would collect the information from their clients in an initial meeting, go back to work in the program, and then schedule a second meeting to discuss. Any further changes or scenarios would require additional meetings. With a new client or prospect, Advisors achieve the same result in one meeting using Snap versus two meetings when previously using Razor. This means that by switching from Razor from Snap, our users have cut those meeting times in half.

Another component related to ease of use is transparency — simply being able to tell where the numbers have come from. Because Snap provides a succinct main planning page with all settings easily accessible, it is not difficult to understand how a particular figure was generated. With Razor, Advisors tell us that’s not the case. They say that you can get into the back-end of Razor if you want to, but that it can be quite challenging to demystify what it’s telling you and determine where certain outputs are coming from. If you’re working on the plan in the morning with a client meeting scheduled that afternoon, this can become problematic.

Razor does provide email and phone support but they will not screen share, so Advisors are either waiting for a call back or having their screenshot diagnosed via email. Advisors tell us it’s typically a 24 to 48 hour response time for email, which is not ideal when sameday meetings are scheduled. Phone calls are typically returned the same day (if someone doesn’t answer when you call) so it’s easier to get in touch quickly over the phone, but what Advisors tell us is that because Razor won’t screen share, they often wind up having to email screenshots and are then waiting to hear back, even though they initiated the support session via phone call and connected with someone right away.

Snap Projections provides 1:1 support via the phone and email Monday through Friday, 9am to 6pm ET. The Snap team understands that when you need help, you need it now — not tomorrow. Highly trained customer support staff are quick to respond and resolve any issues, and screen-share for the best possible experience and quickest resolution. They host training webinars regularly, have drop-in sessions, and have a dedicated 1:1 Onboarding & Training process, unlike Razor.

Creating multiple what-if scenarios in real time

One of the biggest complaints we’ve heard during our research is that Advisors can’t create multiple what-if scenarios with their clients in real time. As an Advisor, you probably already know that this can be one of the most effective and engaging ways to truly partner with your clients. This is an area where Snap and Razor differ quite a bit.

With Snap, you can create multiple what-if scenarios with the click of a button and carry forward all data and assumptions from the duplicated plan automatically. This means you can quickly and easily create multiple what-if scenarios with your clients in real time, easily comparing various options such as after-tax spending levels during retirement, government benefit start ages, various investment and decumulation strategies, the sale of a property, and much more.

In Razor, you can also easily create multiple scenarios, there is just more work required to achieve the same result. Advisors tell us that when you copy the current scenario, you have to then click through and verify all the initial page set-ups and information before you are able to start making modifications. Then, to make your modifications and desired variances, apparently you are again having to switch back and forth across multiple pages and ledgers to find where the information can be adjusted. After you are done, you can return to the main plan to see what those adjustments look like.

In Snap, you can copy your plan with the click of a button, without leaving the main planning page, and then begin modeling multiple what-if scenarios. The flow of this process is simple. You just make the changes right on the main planning page and click “run scenario” to refresh — that’s it.

With Snap Projections, you can show your clients their whole life on one page. This is the main planning page where you can create multiple scenarios with just two clicks. Minimal data entry is required to run a basic projection like this one here.

Asset decumulation & tax planning

For many Advisors, asset decumulation is the primary reason they have switched, because having the ability to easily have the asset decumulation conversation is an absolute essential. Clients need to see the accurate and transparent breakdown of where their retirement income will come from, and Snap makes that easy to model on the main planning page. Plus, it’s simple to build out multiple what-if scenarios when comparing various retirement goals, such as after-tax retirement income or net estate value. Each priority will dictate how to best draw-down the assets, and Advisors tell us they have been unable to find a way to effectively do this in Razor.

Like Snap Projections, RazorPlan is optimized for tax efficiency in the decumulation phase. During retirement, both platforms will default to making tax-efficient withdrawals to maximize your client’s after tax spending throughout their retirement.

The key difference here is that with Razor, that’s your automatic process and you do not have the option to create your own withdrawal strategy. We are told that you do have the option to drill down into each annual withdrawal (on the account category level) to modify the withdrawal amount, but it’s a manual process that has to be done individually for each year as needed. Advisors tell us that if their client has a goal outside of tax efficiency, it’s typically a laborious process to try and model that.

In Snap Projections, you have the option to enable cash-flow-management strategies and create your own default logic or order of account withdrawals. In addition to modifying the withdrawal or contribution order, you can also make manual changes that can carry forward for as many years as needed. This makes it simple to model various retirement goals, such as maximizing after-tax spending or increasing estate value.

And remember that with Razor, you’ve had to lump your TFSAs and RRSPs together, which means you can’t differentiate between those accounts during the decumulation phase.

For tax planning, there are some key ease of use differences between Snap Projections and RazorPlan. According to what Advisors have told us, both programs have all the numbers and calculations available — the core difference is that with Snap, the tax portion is easier to access which typically means it’s easier to discuss with your client. In Snap, you can see right on the main planning page the total taxable income each year, plus both the marginal and effective tax rates. Within the taxable income column is a menu button you can click that will open up the tax breakdown for the entirety of the plan.

In Razor, those numbers are there, but you’d have to move around and access the ledgers to find them. Apparently, in Razor, there is no report component you can pull to show these numbers (they just exist in the background and can be accessed via the ledgers) which means you can’t do things like enter various RRSP contributions to see how it impacts taxes to be paid without a substantial amount of back and forth. In Snap, you can do this right from the main planning page and get real-time updates and compare various scenarios without ever leaving the main planning page. With Snap, you’re showing your clients their whole life on one page and that includes their tax details.

Reports, charts, & client presentations

Both Snap Projections and RazorPlan provide comprehensive reports and charts for client presentations that are designed to be easily understood. The key difference here appears to be with how the reports are used.

With Razor, in order to present any information or initial plans to your clients, Advisors tell us they rely exclusively on the report. In the platform, there isn’t one place where you can easily show your clients a holistic view of what is happening, so Advisors tend to use the report for that. This means pulling a report to discuss all elements of the proposed plan, and then going back to make changes later as discussions continue.

Conversely, in Snap, Advisors use the succinct main planning page to demonstrate variables and have discussions in real time, and then use the report as more of a final piece of the pie once decisions have been made.

Razor’s theme of keeping things simple and high-level continues throughout some parts of the reporting platform. You can pick and choose which elements are included in the report, but you aren’t able to customize anything within each section. You can’t modify the text or add your own comments — you essentially have to take what you get. But, Razor reports do have a few elements Advisors really seem to like.

There is a nice Financial Summary page that shows the client exactly where they are today. It shows a pie chart to break down assets, investment assets, and liabilities, as well as client details like age, income, and marital status.

They also have a Retirement Analysis page that shows multiple options that can be compared to achieve a retirement goal, such as reducing lifestyle spending, working longer, earning a higher return, saving more, etc. — essentially showing any gaps between current and attainable plans, demonstrating what would be required to fill that gap.

With Snap, you have the option to pull the report at any time, but before you get to that point you will typically want to access the interactive charts that are designed for client presentations. The sources of income chart is one of Snap’s most popular and heavily used features because it’s designed to help Advisors show how the plan will truly ensure their clients’ retirement goals are reached. You’re not just getting the visual; the detailed numbers are there too, which is another way the Razor and Snap visuals differ.

This is one of Snap’s interactive, client-facing charts. You can present these in full screen to show your clients how the plan will ensure they achieve their retirement goals and have adequate sources of income throughout.

When you’re ready to pull a report for your client in Snap, you have the option to pick and choose which modules are included, as well as add any required comments or contextual information in each section. There are several areas where you add your own information, such as the Goals & Objectives and Recommendations sections, and the report will be branded with your logo for a professional and polished output.

In Razor, you can add comments on one general notes section but not within the individual reporting sections. The program only lets you use their verbiage; you can of course pick and choose what modules you want to include in the report, but you can’t modify or add to the content. They do let you change the picture on the cover page though, which is something Advisors tell us they like.

Another complaint we’ve heard is that it’s not easy for the clients to really see the numbers and understand how things change with Razor reports.

For example, in Snap’s sources of income chart (pictured above), you get the visual as well as the numbers. Within the reporting options, you can choose from several different reports that show the actual financial breakdown year over year of important elements such as cash-flow or net worth. In Razor, Advisors tell us that the report options for the most part include visual elements without the actual long-term breakdowns (i.e. withdrawal values, etc.) their clients want to see. You do have the option to print the actual ledgers for this information, but because they are not optimized for this purpose they typically turn out small and difficult for the client to follow.

Overall, the general consensus is that Razor and Snap reports are quite different, not only materially but also in how they are used.

Life insurance

The Life Insurance module is another area where Snap or Razor have some significant differences.

Advisors tell us that Razor is a better tool for selling life insurance because the program automatically populates a report for you that uses the client’s income to generate recommendations for life insurance, as well as disability, critical illness, and long-term care insurance. The recommendation you get isn’t exactly customized for the client, but you also don’t have to do any work to generate the report.

Razor’s module is called the Risk Management Analysis; it gives you the visual of human capital (income) and liabilities, showing the gap that demonstrates the financial need should one spouse pass away or lose their income. It gives you a red line that shows the estate after taxes and you can see the visual gap that demonstrates how much life insurance is needed if your client wants to maintain their lifestyle. You can see how it changes as they age, so you can see that right now, for example, the need may be a million dollars, but in ten years that’s going to drop down significantly, so it automatically builds the case for a ten-year-term insurance plan.

In Snap, you can easily model existing life insurance plans within the projections and you can use the Life Needs Analysis tool to determine what level of life insurance your clients may need. With Snap, you have the opportunity to build a customized life insurance needs analysis that meets your clients specific set of requirements, versus providing them with a generic suggestion that’s based on their income alone.

Snap goes deeper into the analysis of their needs, taking into account much more than just current income levels, allowing you to help your clients protect their loved ones and get deeper into those meaningful conversations. Plus, it only takes a few minutes to generate the customized report.

The key difference here would be that in Razor, the system populates a standardized report that Advisors say is very helpful for selling insurance products. It’s quick and easy to have those discussions because no additional work is required to produce the standardized report. Plus, it includes disability and critical illness.

Disclaimer: to the best of our knowledge, this information was accurate on the date of publishing, May 20, 2022. We can not guarantee the accuracy of this information as it is based on the real-life experiences of Snap Projections and RazorPlan users.

Find out why Advisors say Snap Projections is the top choice for individual Advisors and small to medium Advisory practices.