A technology stack, or tech stack, refers to any tools, apps, platforms, and software used by a financial planning practice to oversee its daily operations, performance, and more. 

Why does the right tech stack matter? A comprehensive tech stack can help financial planning practices increase revenue, boost their bottom line, bring in more clients and develop the most effective retirement strategies. Unfortunately, the wrong tools or outdated software won’t have the same abilities. Financial advisors could miss out on specific opportunities, such as helping their clients take advantage of intricate tax laws.

If you create retirement income plans for your clients, your financial planning software must allow you to adjust, adapt, plan for unexpected events. Your tech stack should analyze different financial situations including Social Security benefits, tax savings opportunities, withdrawal strategies, stress tests, and more. Here are some features your tech stack should have.

Start your free trial now

Financial planning software features

1. Tools that are  deeply integrated 

The tools featured in a comprehensive tech stack, like Covisum’s software suite, should integrate with one another, retrieving and analyzing data from different decision engines easily. 

Your financial planning software should be able to resolve conflicts in assumptions and results. This means that if a financial advisor updated the assumptions on a client’s retirement plan, the software should automatically compute any changes across all aspects of the strategy, displaying updated results following the assumption change.

Along with gathering valuable metrics on the client’s portfolio longevity, income floor, and estate value, financial planning software should also have the ability to implement updates that adhere to relevant new tax laws or other legislative changes that could impact the clients’ financial future. 


2. Allow advisors to guide clients through retirement income planning

Your financial planning tech stack should help clients through every step of their retirement income planning, including: 

  • Identifying the optimal time to start claiming Social Security benefits. 
  • Navigating taxes in retirement.
  • Analyzing portfolio risk.
  • Uncovering hidden opportunities to create more valuable retirement income strategies. 
  • Determining which account to draw from and when to draw from it. 
  • Comparing different withdrawal strategies on screen.
  • Advising clients on when Roth conversions could be helpful. 
  • Entering different scenarios to see the results in various situations. 
  • Calculating the impact of current-year Roth conversions or the harvesting of capital gains, and predicting the tax consequences of those decisions.
  • Identifying marginal tax rates and Medicare thresholds, saving clients significant money over time.
  • Stress testing functionality in different situations, such as long-term care, an early death, a down market, or Social Security benefit cuts.
     

3. Highlight the value of your financial planning practice

By providing the best retirement income planning recommendations using the best financial planning software, advisors will attract new clients, reduce their overall workload, avoid wasting time and help clients maximize their income strategies. This will help highlight the value of their business and bring in long-term clients.

A comprehensive tech stack that works seamlessly and automatically can show clients exactly how much they’re saving each year, along with the best methods for optimizing the earnings they already have.

Get the right financial planning software

We understand that being a financial advisor is hard, and we care about your success. Covisum’s advisor-led team understands how to create solutions that demonstrate value to prospects and clients. 

Tax Clarity®, Social Security Timing®, Income InSight®, and SmartRiskTM work together to create easy-to-understand retirement strategies for your clients. Covisum’s software suite has everything you need to build better financial planning solutions for your practice, from the best tax strategies to side-by-side on-screen comparisons. 

You know how valuable your services are. Prove that the value you add is worth more than what you’re charging with the Covisum software suite. Try it for free for 10 days, with no credit card required. All you have to do is enter your client’s information; we’ll handle the calculations for you!

 

New call-to-action