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Started By
Message
Feedback on financial website idea
Posted on 6/20/19 at 8:05 am
Posted on 6/20/19 at 8:05 am
I am contemplating having an excel file I've built transformed into a subscription based website. The file takes user inputs and produces outputs on several areas including budgeting, retirement savings, college savings, and taxes. The primary target demographic would be individuals, predominantly those with a high net worth, not wanting to use a financial advisor. It is set up to handle individuals with real estate and business portfolios and accomodates things like non-resident state tax returns, using HSA's as retirement vehicles, required minimum distributions, etc.
Basically, my strategy is to provide a service similar in detail to what you might get working through a financial advisor or a bank, but at a much lower price point and with much more simplicity. For example, we joined Chase Private Client earlier this year and they were trying to push me into an actively managed account, and it was interesting to see if all the input areas they had for my sample sessions matched my file.
From what I've assessed of the marketplace, you have budgeting based apps like Mint which are available for free or a small ~$50/year fee but aren't great with projections. Then you have some services like YNAB or Personal Capital that do projections, but not to the level of my file or if it is it's with a service like Personal Capital Premium which is a 1%+ fee on assets managed. Then you have lots of software packages for financial advisors that run $500-$2,000 per year like Money Tree/Money Guide Pro. So basically my file would be trying to compete at a much lower price point than Personal Capital Premium or Money Tree, but with similar or better information contained.
Thoughts/feedback on the viability of this idea? What might I be missing that's available in the marketplace? I have done tons of google searches but have yet to find something comparable to what I'm developing at the price point envisioned.
Basically, my strategy is to provide a service similar in detail to what you might get working through a financial advisor or a bank, but at a much lower price point and with much more simplicity. For example, we joined Chase Private Client earlier this year and they were trying to push me into an actively managed account, and it was interesting to see if all the input areas they had for my sample sessions matched my file.
From what I've assessed of the marketplace, you have budgeting based apps like Mint which are available for free or a small ~$50/year fee but aren't great with projections. Then you have some services like YNAB or Personal Capital that do projections, but not to the level of my file or if it is it's with a service like Personal Capital Premium which is a 1%+ fee on assets managed. Then you have lots of software packages for financial advisors that run $500-$2,000 per year like Money Tree/Money Guide Pro. So basically my file would be trying to compete at a much lower price point than Personal Capital Premium or Money Tree, but with similar or better information contained.
Thoughts/feedback on the viability of this idea? What might I be missing that's available in the marketplace? I have done tons of google searches but have yet to find something comparable to what I'm developing at the price point envisioned.
This post was edited on 6/20/19 at 10:59 am
4
Posted on 6/20/19 at 8:51 am to GeneralLee
You better hire a lawyer to get all the proper disclosures. Are there going to be charts and graphs? will it automatically pull in your bank accounts, credit accounts, brokerage accounts, etc? or is all that data entry because you want to deal with high net worth clients they don't really want to do data entry shite. Also there is plenty of planning software through discount brokers or aggregating software with something like quickbooks. Doesn't sound like a viable business plan to do a basic excel file and have people pay for it.
Just my thoughts.
Just my thoughts.
This post was edited on 6/20/19 at 8:52 am
Posted on 6/20/19 at 8:59 am to yatesdog38
quote:
You better hire a lawyer to get all the proper disclosures.
Yep already thought of that, definitely don't want to do anything that would run afoul of the SEC!
quote:
will it automatically pull in your bank accounts, credit accounts, brokerage accounts, etc?
No, manual entry as many financial institutions won't let some "amateur" site like this just access that data. Would add considerably to the costs as well. I think it's a question of pros and cons here, no hacking/fraud risk of having external data pulled in, but on the downside as you noted the time required for user entry data increases.
quote:
Are there going to be charts and graphs
Yes.
This post was edited on 6/20/19 at 9:02 am
Posted on 6/20/19 at 9:23 am to GeneralLee
You said it would be setup for real estate investors. Are you gonna have amortization schedules etc. Basically Something to manage cash flow easily on something leveraged. That would be a great addition. I don't think it is a bad idea, I just don't think it is gonna make a bunch of money. Could be a great tool for some people though.
One of my friends built there own for buying a house and retirement planning.
You may have to get some kind of business license from Microsoft. The simpler the better. If you really wanna make money you'd likely need to have ads. There is a reason why most advisors are going full on fee-based platforms. I'm in the industry. More money, less time working with someone that only has 5k to invest... That frees up time to better service revenue producing accounts and stay plugged in to every single account and build relationships.
One of my friends built there own for buying a house and retirement planning.
You may have to get some kind of business license from Microsoft. The simpler the better. If you really wanna make money you'd likely need to have ads. There is a reason why most advisors are going full on fee-based platforms. I'm in the industry. More money, less time working with someone that only has 5k to invest... That frees up time to better service revenue producing accounts and stay plugged in to every single account and build relationships.
Posted on 6/20/19 at 9:42 am to GeneralLee
Posted on 6/20/19 at 10:16 am to GeneralLee
This sounds like a great way to lose a bunch of time and money TBH. Your average investor is going to garbage in-garbage out the frick out of this. Plus they won’t know how to read it or what to do about it
Posted on 6/20/19 at 10:51 am to yatesdog38
quote:
Are you gonna have amortization schedules etc
Yes, and the ability to sell and buy properties and businesses in the future.
Posted on 6/20/19 at 10:58 am to OleWarSkuleAlum
quote:
Feedback on financial website idea
What can your spreadsheet do that this can’t?
LINK
Or this...
On the retirement one, my site would also include your HSA as a retirement account and show how your real estate properties and businesses could help fund your retirement. It also contains sensitivity tables showing how adequate or inadequate your retirement savings are assuming certain return levels going forward.
On the tax link you provided, main extra capabilities of my file would be non-resident state returns and analysis of what specific credits you are eligible for and the refundable/non-refundable portion of that, along with the ability to show what your resident state taxes would be in any of the 50 states (comparing all fifty states in a graph for a scenario where you are contemplating a move to a different state for example).
I would also say that my file has a lot more optionality on toggles (for example, using 529 plans for pre-secondary expenses, using HELOC's or a personal revolver as sweep accounts, etc.).
My file also provides a monthly view as opposed to just an annual view, which can be quite important when considering cash flow.
Probably most importantly, my file has tax, retirement, 529/college, etc. all in one spot. You can find lots of fancy calculators out there for one of those areas in isolation, but not many that are interlinked together. For example, my file could show you the impact of not being able to contribute as much for retirement during years where you are having to pay for your kid's college.
If it's made into a website, then it'll have the extra benefit of much simpler convenience and a user friendly experience for those that don't like to wade through a massive Excel spreadsheet. This would be a file targeted for someone like a doctor or a small business owner who's not an Excel guru.
I do appreciate the critical feedback from everyone, keep it coming!
This post was edited on 6/20/19 at 11:05 am
Posted on 6/20/19 at 12:21 pm to GeneralLee
quote:
If it's made into a website, then it'll have the extra benefit of much simpler convenience and a user friendly experience for those that don't like to wade through a massive Excel spreadsheet. This would be a file targeted for someone like a doctor or a small business owner who's not an Excel guru.
Sounds like a good product. What are you thinking of in terms of a revenue model? Monthly payments? One time payment? What price point?
Do you have the required capital to fund it currently? What type of margin are you expecting?
This post was edited on 6/20/19 at 12:22 pm
Posted on 6/20/19 at 12:37 pm to OleWarSkuleAlum
Probably $99.99/year and/or $9.99/month (potentially with different pricing tiers for simpler versus more complex investment situations).
I am investigating the development cost and search engine optimization costs by getting bids from developers on the Upwork site. So I'll know soon if the development budget is reasonable, and if I can self fund it all or if I need a portion of it to come from outside capital. Another wrinkle would be iterative improvements (requiring additional development outlays) to the website design based on user feedback.
Annual reoccurring expenses for things like data storage/website url fees should be fairly minimal. So gross margins from an income statement perspective would be extraordinarily high but not particularly relevant. Would be looking for a payback period of under 3 years based on a reasonable expectation of subscriber growth.
Would intend to have blog posts (on topics like using HSA's for retirement) and a user message board to help drive traffic to the website as well.
I am investigating the development cost and search engine optimization costs by getting bids from developers on the Upwork site. So I'll know soon if the development budget is reasonable, and if I can self fund it all or if I need a portion of it to come from outside capital. Another wrinkle would be iterative improvements (requiring additional development outlays) to the website design based on user feedback.
Annual reoccurring expenses for things like data storage/website url fees should be fairly minimal. So gross margins from an income statement perspective would be extraordinarily high but not particularly relevant. Would be looking for a payback period of under 3 years based on a reasonable expectation of subscriber growth.
Would intend to have blog posts (on topics like using HSA's for retirement) and a user message board to help drive traffic to the website as well.
This post was edited on 6/20/19 at 12:39 pm
Posted on 6/20/19 at 12:43 pm to GeneralLee
Do you have someone to build it? I work in application analytics, and could certainly create something like this. Post your email address and I'll reach out to you.
Posted on 6/20/19 at 12:45 pm to BobRoss
Not yet, currently getting bids on Upwork.
This post was edited on 6/20/19 at 2:23 pm
Posted on 6/20/19 at 12:54 pm to GeneralLee
Sent you an email.
Posted on 6/20/19 at 7:06 pm to GeneralLee
quote:
main extra capabilities of my file would be non-resident state returns and analysis of what specific credits you are eligible for and the refundable/non-refundable portion of that,
how will you keep this up to date as rules change and the like?
quote:
If it's made into a website, then it'll have the extra benefit of much simpler convenience and a user friendly experience for those that don't like to wade through a massive Excel spreadsheet. This would be a file targeted for someone like a doctor or a small business owner who's not an Excel guru.
that's not necessarily true. you can build some cool stuff in excel that's easy to use if you are clever about it. and websites can be real shitty if you aren't careful.
This doesn't seem like a bad idea but I can't imagine building something like this on the easy especially with all the data entry required and then you have the security concerns of how you will store everyones financial data and not internmingle it and store it securly for that cheap for month at the $100 per year or even the $120 you're going to have more server costs than that potentially and certainly dev costs to keep up with security. also will you offer an api for your site?
Posted on 6/21/19 at 8:04 am to oklahogjr
quote:
how will you keep this up to date as rules change and the like?
If it's just a rate change or change in the $ threshold from which you go from one marginal rate to the next, then that's easy (just updating one number for another). If it's a wholesale change in the tax code like the TCJA was then that's another matter and would require some additional work from the developer.
quote:
This doesn't seem like a bad idea but I can't imagine building something like this on the easy especially with all the data entry required and then you have the security concerns of how you will store everyones financial data and not internmingle it and store it securly for that cheap for month at the $100 per year or even the $120 you're going to have more server costs than that potentially and certainly dev costs to keep up with security. also will you offer an api for your site?
I am envisioning manual entry of inputs as sites like Chase are not going to let me log into their system to access data. So, someone can just put in their first name or no name at all for their own data on the website and the security concerns should be fairly minimal. I would only allow the administrator to see individual's data with their permission. Credit card info for the subscription would be the largest concern, but I believe there are standard encryption technologies that are available at a very reasonable cost. Not envisioning an API at this point in time. If some company bought out my site then that would be a route they would likely go down though...
This post was edited on 6/21/19 at 8:05 am
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