About WealthProbe by Cache Smart
Last Updated: 23 September 2024
Version: 0.1.0.0
System Requirements: Memory: 2 GB RAM, hard drive space: 200 MB, Operating System: Any Microsoft version of Windows 10 or higher.
History of WealthProbe: Hi, I’m Karl Dean Larson, and I thought you might be interested in a short history of WealthProbe, and why I created it. In the past, I was satisfied with an Excel spread sheet I constructed to give me a crude idea of how I was doing with my retirement plan. It was in mid-2017 when I realized I needed something more flexible, powerful, and easier to use for data entry, so I decided to look at what the market had to offer. I found some possible options, but they all came with a variety of limitations and conditions. The tools available for purchase were generally not very flexible or sophisticated, with most depending on simple assumptions and generic rules-of-thumb. The programs that may have provided more than generic capabilities (capabilities vary widely) were only available to users who allowed the software provider to manage their investments. The fee for these services is usually about 1% of the total portfolio per year. That adds up fast. In addition to the management fee, some of these providers even wanted access to my account numbers and passwords before I could access their so-called “free tools”. I have to say, providing “the keys” to all my investment accounts for storage in a single place in the cloud, not under my direct control, made me very uncomfortable. Given my programming experience in several computer languages, I decided to develop a computer code of my own, written in a language much more powerful than Excel, for me and my family to use.
By early 2018, I began to think my code might be something of interest to a wider audience. Development continued in fits and starts so by mid-2020, I had developed the Alpha version of the code, back then called ‘CacheWatch’. I also engaged a professional programmer to help with the project. I released the Alpha version to a small group of relatives and good friends in the fall of 2020. Their comments, questions, suggestions, and encouragement were invaluable.
In early 2021, I founded the company, Cache Smart, and renamed the code WealthProbe. I realized my own personal situation didn’t come close to covering all the possibilities of retirement plans, with situations quite different from mine. I had to widen the capabilities of WealthProbe. My list of required capabilities grew, well – a lot. In the Department of Defense, we called it requirements creep. Examples among the most time consuming of these expanded requirements: 1) my fervent desire for the ability to do ‘what-if’ analysis, that is, the ability to change things on-the-fly in an already completed data file – backwards and forwards, jumping between data sections; basically changing anything, anywhere, and at any time. As you might expect, this is a very deep capability requiring extensive programming and it took a long time to ensure I was able to get the most flexibility that I possibly could. In the end, the ability to do the what-if analysis just described is in every section, although given data dependencies with certain sections, changes in one might require the user review another to ensure consistency. Not to worry, WealthProbe will guide you to the sections that need to be reviewed.The one exception, the one section where we cannot do what-if analysis is the first section, User Info. This is where the data needed includes the user’s (and spouse’s, if applicable) birth month and year, and the scenario target year. This information is so foundational to each scenario, that I didn’t make that section changeable after it is created initially. If your spouse information changes, or you want to change your target date, currently that requires that you generate a new scenario. This change may appear in a future update – TBD. Another requirement I really wanted installed was a detailed and thorough treatment of IRAs (both inherited and uninherited) in all their glorious permutations, combinations, and conditions. Since we are talking about a lot of questions to answer, we went through the code to painstakingly ensure you only have to input information that is actually needed for your specific situation. If you haven’t looked at the new IRA rules, they can get quite complicated. There were lots of other new requirements, some of which also required extensive changes, but these two examples give you an idea.
As we addressed these new requirements, we also set out to include a modern user interface to make data entry and results visualization much easier and intuitive. A large number of improvements and new capabilities have been added, debugged, and tested since the Alpha version, resulting in today’s Beta test version. The test version available to you is practically ready for prime time, but it still needs to be run by you, the potential end users. You will be test driving the prototype.
Once you obtain your free license, you can test as many retirement scenarios as you wish until the license expires. The program is downloadable so, once you activate the license over the internet, you can unplug your computer from the internet and even store your encrypted data files on a thumb drive for enhanced privacy and security. I think you will find WealthProbe allows you to examine your unique situation in as much detail as you care to provide. If what I have said interests you, I invite to go ahead, take her for a spin. It’s hard to beat the price.
WealthProbe is the first in a line of products by Cache Smart designed to help individuals answer a myriad of questions (specific to their unique situation) about saving for and executing their retirement years. If you have any questions or issues pertaining to WealthProbe, please send them to us via the WealthProbe Contact form on this website. Beta test users are invited to use our survey to convey their comments and obtain their 30% discount. All questions and issues of a corporate nature should be sent using the contact form on CacheSmart-us.com.