Excel Pension Calculator

Why isn't there just a simple pension Excel calculator on the internet, so I can do my own pension planning?

Well..., from now on there is!

Simply download the Excel Pension Calculator (allow macro's !!) and get an idea of how much you'll have to invest to end up with the pension benefit level of your dreams.... or less... ;-)

Or..., just fill in how much you can afford to invest monthly and see for yourself what pension benefit level is within reach, based on expected return rates, investment methods and inflation.

Just to give a small visual impression of the calculator...

Press on 'Calc' buttons to calculate the variable to the left, while leaving all other variables constant.

Graphics

Also some modest graphics are available. A small example....

Take a look at the next graph that shows how your yearly pension is yearly  funded by:

1. the yearly desavings (= dissavings) from your saving account
2. the yearly addition from the pension fund (= estimated savings of pension fund members that will die in this year)
3. the yearly return on your saving account

Notice the immense impact of the (yearly increasing) addition of your pension fund (= savings of the active members who are expected to die in a particular year and contribute to the savings of your account) compared to the other components (desavings and returns).

Options

The calculator offers several interesting options:

• Set the calculator to 'Saving Account' instead of 'Pension Fund' to notice the difference in outcomes between these two systems.
• Switch to the life table of your choice (p.e.  the country where you live)
• Set and name your own personal Life Table or Investment Scheme
• Simulate longevity effects by manipulating the Life Table Age Correction field

The Excel Pension Calculator has much more features. More than I can handle in this blog. Just download the calculator and play with it to really touch base and to learn what pension is all about....

- Download the Excel Pension Calculator

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This pension Calculator is just for demonstration purposes. The accuracy of the calculations of this calculator is not guaranteed nor is its applicability to your individual circumstances. You should always obtain personal advice from qualified professionals. Also take notice of the disclaimer in the Excel Pension Calculator.

P.S. I : On request a Quick Start tip

1. Download Calculator and open Excel Spreadsheet

2. Don't forget to"Enable Macros" !! 
3. Enable iterative calculation; Set Max. Iterations=1000, Max. Change=0.4

3. Change 'Start Age  Contribution' to your actual age

4. Notice that the amount 'Saving Surplus at age 120:' changes

5. Press the 'Calc' button next to 'Contribution' to calculate your Contribution

6. Or, Press the 'Calc' button next to 'Pension'  to calculate your yearly pension

7. Set any other Field as you like and press any of the 'Calc' Buttons   

P.S. II : New update, version 2012.2 on April 4,  including a single premium option.
P.S. III: New update, version 2012.3 on April 20, drop down menus (under Excel-2010) now also operate under Excel-2007 versions...

H1N1 Swine Flu Projection

Strange... a lot of (WHO) swine flu talk and information on the Internet, but no worldwide projections or estimates....

The risk of underestimating the so called H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus is not unthinkable.

Worldwide Projection H1N1 Virus
You don't have to be an actuary or mathematician to make a sound projection of the number of people that will be infected (or die) within the next months. All it takes is 'basic high school' and a common spreadsheet.

Let's make a simple worldwide projection of the expected cases (infections) based upon the WolframAlpha data-set:



The purple line illustrates the development of the number of infections worldwide, the dotted purple line illustrates the expected projected development until the end of july 2009.

With one view it's clear is that during the next months the H1N1 virus spread will be enormous. By the end of July 2009 the number of worldwide infections will rise to almost 0.5 million. The spread of the virus will probably be enforced by the fact that a lot of people have their holidays and therefore travel by plane or bus.

As one would aspect, the development of the number of infections is exponential. The (natural) logarithm of the expected cases (dashed red line) is almost a linear curve. You may find more information of data and projections in the next XLS spreadsheet.

Big Explosion
If no additional prevention actions will be taken, a big explosion of the virus starts just after the holiday period in 2009.



It is questionable if the planned vaccinations for October or later will be in time.Perhaps it's better to have a vaccination, or take Tamiflu, than a vacation in July or August.

Global Infection
If no adequate rigid measures will be taken within the next months, the future of humanity could be serious at stake:



Unrestrained exponential growth on basis of the the current growth-path, will lead to a more or less complete global infection by the end of January 2010.

By then ruffly 36 million people worldwide, will have died. If the mortality rate doesn't stabilize (as it currently appears) at 0.45% of the infected people, the effects could be worse.

As the famous 'Wheat and chessboard problem' already illustrated, exponential growth is a dangerous underestimated killer. It's just like a tsunami: when you notice it, it's too late to act.

Let's trust governments are not underestimating this Swine virus threat.

Happy holidays!

Related Links:
- World Population Density
- U.S. Death rates influenza virus 1918
- Visual Flu Tracker
- LinkedIn: InArm: Important remarks by Dave Ingram

Important Notice

• The 'July 2009 estimation', based on new more reliable and accurate WHO data, you may find on Swine Flu Counter.
  
  
• You'll find the latest (Sept 6, 2009) estimation and Swine Flu Counter on Swine Flu Counter Update-sept-2009

Table Converter (Free!)

Do you recognize this? Sometimes you spend hours copying a simple table from a WORD-document, Internet Page or PDF-file to your (Excel) spreadsheet.
What should take about two minutes work, ends in frustration. Finally you decide to fill your spreadsheet by hand.

These times are over. With the next simple javascript application, called

Table Converter

, you'll be able to copy most tables to your spreadsheet in minutes.

Success!