Talk:Budget models of retirement spending

Bottom-up approach (Worksheets)
--ThePrune 20:01, 26 August 2011 (EDT) I feel it's important to include links to 3 types of budgeting documents:  Paper format, Internet, and Downloadable spreadsheet. I've given a few links, and I really wouldn't want to give more than 3 links in each category. But I'm not really sure that I've found the best examples of each. (But I am partial to the Excel file Simple Budget Worksheets since it's what I use in the retiremet classes I teach). I'd appreciate it if other would post links to their favorite budgeting documents so that the Wiki community can select the very best ones for the article.

The wiki is not the right vehicle for poll taking; that's for the forum. You'll never get agreement on what "best" really means, as everyone uses what they are comfortable with. The intent is to teach the concepts, not worksheet mechanics. If I like the paper example better, I'll enter it into Excel (or LibreOffice / OpenOffice, the free alternatives). I would just use what you are comfortable with; the student can always choose something different after the course is over.

Giving too many choices (8 shown here) can be confusing to the student. Only four budgets have explanations (is good for infrequent purchases, etc.).

The Standard & Poor budget is a calculator, not a budget. I would delete it, explain why, or move it to the External links section.--LadyGeek 21:23, 26 August 2011 (EDT)


 * --ThePrune 20:45, 28 August 2011 (EDT) Good advice, LadyGeek.  I'll pick the one or two best worksheets and keep only those in the Wiki text section.  The rest will be moved to External References.  And the ones I like will be converted by me into Excel format.  I agree it would be nice to have equivalent Open Source spreadsheet versions; can you convert from Excel to Open Source equivalents?

MS Excel is the industry standard format. Save in MS Excel format and you are done. The open source applications (OpenOffice and LibreOffice) are able to read and write Excel format, the conversions are done internally. No further work is needed on your part.

As for formatting, note that blbarnitz suggested a quote box. I don't know if you saw it, but it's easily viewed by digging into the page's history and looking at versions. 06:48, 27 August 2011. I like tables here, but it depends on what you want to do. I just thought to mention it, as quote boxes are a good way to well, quote something. --LadyGeek 21:32, 28 August 2011 (EDT)


 * --ThePrune 08:47, 29 August 2011 (EDT) Thanks for mentioning blbarnitz's Quote Box formatting proposal.  I had not seen it. I like the appearance, but have come to agree with your view that offering too many budget worksheet options is not the best approach.  It's better to just offer a few excellent choices, so the reader has less to deal with.  So I'll stick with my last proposal to convert 1 or 2 good worksheets into Excel format.

Complex Models
I would rename this section, as its not descriptive. Anything can be simple or complex, it depends on the perspective. Do you mean the time-varying models? --LadyGeek 19:39, 29 August 2011 (EDT)