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Show HN: ifthensave.com – A privacy-focussed financial planning tool

by jcahill84 on 2/16/22, 3:45 PM with 3 comments

• by mattewong on 2/16/22, 11:25 PM

  My 2 cents: This is a lot of work just to see it in action. I have to click, fill out a form to save a scenario, then start entering data. I can understand why it was built that way-- it makes sense from an engineering perspective to do so-- but it creates a significant obstacle, especially when there is very little insight into the mechanics of the model without going through all of that work. In addition, the data entry UI is a bit confusing, even for someone familiar with finance.

  Would suggest: * describe what the "black box" does if one bothers to enter all their portfolio info * make several predefined + pre-populated scenarios that a visitor can choose from list in <= 2 clicks. You could even just dupe allocations from common investment profiles such as one might see in a 401k option or when choosing from typical passive ETF/fund vehicles * make the above step "dupe" into a new scenario that the user can then edit/tweak to their preference

• by jcahill84 on 2/16/22, 6:26 PM

  Hi all -- I built this because I consistently find myself re-creating the same spreadsheets to do long-term financial planning. I also find it hard to see how small changes in the near-term impact long-term compounding. I hope you find it useful, and I'd love to hear any feedback.