Financial Planning Toolkit

by Edited by ASHI Staff December 1, 2002

CCH, Inc. a provider of tax and business law information and software, has developed a free online Financial Planning Toolkit. It guides the user through five major topics: The Financial Planning Process; Investing; Insurance and Risk Management; Retirement Planning; Estate Planning; and Tax Planning.

The Toolkit is comprehensive in scope. The text is presented in short blocks, written in plain English and highlighted by examples. Every topic features downloadable Planning Tools, such as tax forms, personal financial statements, and contributions and deductions tables for the self-employed. The Toolkit also features more than 80 financial calculators, including seven calculators for credit cards and debt management and 12 mortgage calculators.

The first topic, The Financial Planning Process, helps you assess where you are now, define your financial goals and objectives, and develop a plan to achieve them. Under the Investing topic, one of the first issues addressed is how what’s going on in the world and in your head affects your investment strategy. CCH has put together an outstanding resource.

Find out more. Go to www.finance.cch.com

Tax tips

The National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) offers Tax Talk, a free monthly e-newsletter featuring tax tips for small businesses and the self-employed. To sign up, go to www.nase.org and click on the “Reference” section.

Help for internet surfers

Can’t keep track of numerous online passwords? Hate to fill in Web forms? AI RoboForm is a one-click Web form filler and password manager that will do it all for you. And best of all, it’s free. RoboForm:

  • Memorizes online passwords;
  • Automatically logs you into a Web site;
  • Generates random secure passwords;
  • Fills long registration forms from personal profiles;
  • Encrypts password-protected info using 3DES;
  • Prints list of collected passwords on paper;
  • Allows easy backup and restore of passwords;
  • Is free for personal use; and
  • Is well-behaved: no ads and no spying.

It works on Windows 95/98/NT/Me/2K/XP as an add-on to internet browsers Internet Explorer 4-6, AOL 5-7, MSN, Quicken; NN7and Mozilla.
According to PC Magazine, “We have yet to see a Web-based form stump it. This thing lives for filling in blanks.” Go to www.roboform.com for a free
download.


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