See: http://www.portfoliovisualizer.com , Backtest Portfolio Asset Class Allocation. Seems like it generates the #s Esplanner Plus needs. Compatible or potentially? (I have not messed with it yet, but became aware of the site today.)

What is the interaction, if any, between the retirement portfolios constructed using Monte Carlo planning and the option to annuitize in the Retirement section? I read the Monte Carlo analysis as effectively self-annuitization via smooth withdrawals if one leaves the percent of assets to be annuitized at 0% and 100% non-annuitized to be spent in the Retirement section.

Hi,

My portfolio includes an international bond mutual fund and an international stock fund. Neither fund has a 10 year history. Instead, I want to use mean, variance, and beta values for the respective markets at large (since each fund is a passive broad index fund).
Can anyone suggest under what heading and where I can find these values or the nominal return history?

Not by intention but I ended up with 2 different portfolios having exactly the same components: 20% large cap stocks and 80% tips. In the Monte Carlo reports, the reported returns differ. Not by much, but they're different. Is that the result of Monte Carlo testing, performed differently on each? If I ran the same report again, should I expect those returns to change, albeit minimally?

Can someone explain (or provide a reference where the doco explains) how to interpret the portfolio characteristics in the Monte Carlo reports? The mean and median returns are obvious but the ratio and beta are not, in light of the footnotes.

This is an example from a real portfolio in my database:

name, mean, median, ratio, beta
Portfolio 7, 8.816530, 7.696545, 0.213744, 0.050498

In the Monte Carlo reports, the portfolios are described in terms of returns and beta. The label is portfolio 1, portfolio 2, etc. Since the user can edit those labels, why not replace "portfolio 1" with whatever the user renamed it as? It would be easier for the user to know which portfolio was being described.

Can someone refer me to an instructional guide as to how to use and read Monte Carlo data, particularly in ESP? I understand the concept. I'm just not certain how to prepare the data and interpret the results.

That need for information includes how to build and implement different portfolios. If I surmise correctly, the large number of portfolio options applies more to people younger than myself. I'm about 5 years out from retirement, so my need to change allocations over time is less than if I were 20 years out, right?

How can I adjust the household life insurance premiums so that they are accurate? The actual premiums paid are ~$9,000 annually, but the program has calculated the current amount of annual premums to be $36,442. The recommended annual premium amounts are not realistic at $68k - $130k depending on the year. I adjusted the assumed load on life insurance premiums to zero, but that only made a slight difference. Thank you.

Hi

I understand the role in the Mont Carlo, randomizing various outcome, however, is it possible to use a actual historical data? e.g. Assume inflation and market returns starting in 1963 to 2004 were to occur again starting in the year of your retirement. I choose using 1963 because it was one of worse time to retire in the past 50 years. If this is possible how does one implement it into ESplan ?

Thank you

Jim Hargreaves