New improvements make Silver even easier for advisors to develop and deliver big-picture financial planning to clients.
The latest improvements resulted from a survey of advisors planning with Silver conducted this spring. Top voted improvements, like adding debt payments to expenses and saving changes automatically in the Online Edition, are included in a new release of Silver.
Silver Improvements:
Desktop and Online Edition
1. Option to Add Debt Payments to Expenses
2. Report Page Preview within Report Selection
3. Revamped Education Funding Illustration
Online Edition
4. Save Changes Automatically
5. Planning Defaults (ROR, Inflation, Etc.)
6. Option to Add What-If to Client Access
7. Dynamic Client List Search
8. Option to Allow Password Rest Via Email
9. Updated Data Input Tables
10. Small Additional Data Input / Navigation Changes
Option to Add Debt Payments to Expenses
Including debt payments with expenses proved to be the top requested improvement. Rather than making a rule change for all plans, which would impact client planning projections, an option has been added allowing advisors to include debt payments in expenses per plan.
Checking the box “Add Payments to Expenses” available on the Debts section will increase the expenses included in the projection by the debt payment amount(s). The expense of the payment will automatically drop from expenses after the corresponding debt is paid. Learn more in the related blog post: Including Debt Payments with Expenses in Silver.
Report Page Preview within Report Selection
Custom report sets allow advisors to create, save and utilize multiple page collections to fit presentation preferences. We often hear less is more when it comes to printed reports. Fewer pages, focusing on the primary issues, keeps client conversation on track.
Creating custom report sets is easier thanks to a new report preview. A preview of the page (using the sample report) displays when selected from the available pages, or selected pages list, making it simple to recognize report.
Revamped Education Funding Illustration
The education funding illustration is revamped, making it easier for clients to understand. The top section includes current education funds and planned contributions, making it simple to see additional contribution requirements. The level contribution table now indicates which student is starting and finishing school.
Save Changes Automatically
The Online Edition of Silver now saves changes automatically. This was the top requested change to the online edition of Silver, and second most requested change overall. The “Save” and “Save and Continue” buttons have been removed.
Simply navigate by using the left side menu, make changes to the data, and move to the next section. It may feel unsettling the first time moving through the data input without clicking ‘Save’ or ‘Save and Continue’. After creating a plan using the updated data input with auto-save, you will be assured changes are saved and forget about the previous requirement to manually save changes.
Planning Defaults (ROR, Inflation, Etc.)
A new Defaults section is within Administration. This provides control over the planning variables automatically populated when a new plan is created. Defaults include items like increase rates on earned income, inflation rates for expenses, rates of return and tax rates.
Administrators can control if the Defaults section is available to users within Settings using Roles.
Option to Add What-If to Client Access
The ability to include the What-If within Client Access is now available. Enable customers to view and use the What-If by checking the box ‘Clients may view What-If’ under the Select Plan & Password section within Client Access.
With the What-If included for client access, clients will have the ability to make changes to the planning assumptions and see the impact of changing assumptions. The What-If mirrors the What-If available to advisors.
Dynamic Client List Search
The search now returns all clients matching the search variable(s) provided, rather than searching for last name only.
The client list also includes a new sortable ‘Last Updated Plan’ column, making it simple to view recent plans.
Option to Allow Password Rest Via Email
An option for users to be able to request an automated password reset via email is now available.
Administrators can turn this option off under Administration, Password Policies.
Updated Data Input Tables
Items stored in tables, like insurance policies, investments, and special income items, are updated ensuring the data always display in the same place (below the table) regardless of which item is selected. Simply clicking on an item will open the data input for the selected item. Tables now include helpful totals, indicating the number of items included in table and summary values where appropriate.
Additional Data Input / Navigation Changes
Additional small improvements have been made to the data input and navigation. For example, when a new client is added, a plan is automatically created, opened and ready to start entering data. After a new client was created in the past, a plan needed to be created and then opened the plan to start entering data. The plan name and description can be changed on the Names/ages input.
Other noteworthy include the Behavior Analysis moving from the Inputs section to the Graphs section and additional changes to the left side data input. The Assets section is now titled Investments, and Other Assets/Debts is now split into two sections, Other Assets and Debts. The Debts section includes debt payment information and debt freedom input.
That wraps up the list of the latest improvements to Silver, making the software even easier to use.
