THORNHILL, Ontario, Jan. 3, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Otar & Associates is pleased to announce the launching of the 2007 Edition of the Otar Retirement Calculator (ORC). ORC is based on market history since 1900, 107 years of market data. What makes it different from other retirement calculators is that it does not require an assumed average portfolio growth rate, average inflation or any Monte Carlo simulation. It is a low-cost, spreadsheet-based application.
The 2007 Edition includes variable annuities, single "click" solutions to popular questions such as: "When can I retire?" "How much do I need to save?" "Do I have enough?" "How much can I spend?" "What is my optimum asset mix?" and many more. It allows any mix of equities, nominal bonds, inflation-indexed bonds, and cash in the portfolio. It has an asset mix optimizer, scenario analyzer and an annuity ladder builder.
It helps the user produce realistic outcomes that are not available in conventional retirement calculators. It includes an algorithm that designs a mix of investments, variable annuities, and life annuities for maximum life-long income security.
Its developer, Jim C. Otar, is a certified financial planner, a chartered market technician and a professional engineer. He applies his technical background to research retirement and investment planning issues. He developed this retirement calculator while he was writing his book High Expectations & False Dreams -- One Hundred Years of Stock Market History Applied to Retirement Planning. He received CFP-Board Article Awards in recognition of his meritorious financial planning articles both in 2001 and in 2002.