FinMason launches free retirement tool to help investors understand their portfolios

BOSTON, Jan. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- FinMason, a company dedicated to investor education, today announced the release of The Finspector, a free online investment tool that helps investors and 401k participants readily understand their investment choices, even if they have no formal financial training. With easy to understand charts and powerful analysis, The Finspector lets all investors see if their investment portfolio is right for them.

"We are not about providing investment advice. How you should invest your money and how you should raise your children are two areas of life where there are plenty of people willing to give you plenty of advice," said Kendrick Wakeman, founder of FinMason. "What investors really need is an independent, unbiased tool that helps them see which advice is right for them and which advice is not, so they can move forward with confidence."

Three dominant trends are driving the need for The Finspector tool: (1) Corporations have moved to 401(k) pension plans, so millions of Americans are suddenly finding that they are now accidental investors, (2) the amount of advice available to the average investor has increased substantially yet many do not know which advice is best for them, and (3) younger investors are now taking the stage and they won't even buy a toaster without checking with an unbiased, online resource.

The Finspector uses FinMason's robust analytics platform, which analyzes nearly 6 million investments globally, including more than 24,000 mutual funds and ETFs. But the magic of The Finspector is that it takes all this analysis and distills it down to provide investors with a meaningful and clear understanding of their retirement investments.

To view The Finspector in action: tutorial.

"Millions of Americans are basically ignoring their 401k plans. Many have free or inexpensive advice available to them, but they don't avail themselves of it. Why?" asks Wakeman. "We believe it is a matter of trust. In order for people to accept investment advice they either need to fully understand the advice or they need to blindly trust the advisor, and after the crash of 2008 there is a lot less trust out there."

The Finspector provides an unbiased second opinion that investors can trust.  It helps them see the strengths and weaknesses in their portfolio, understand how their investments could perform in the future and learn which investments could help and which ones could hurt their portfolio.

The Finspector—How it works

The Finspector presents information in simple, clear charts that are easy to understand. Investors can look at how their investments might behave under different market scenarios. They can also see how adding new and different funds might alter performance or risk. And even if investors don't change anything in their portfolios, The Finspector is still an easy way to put their retirement investments under a microscope.

Like many online tools, The Finspector shows the user how much they can expect to have saved at retirement. Unlike many online tools, The Finspector also shows the user what their retirement savings might look like if things go poorly in the financial markets.

The Finspector has a unique ranking system that allows investors to see how each of their investments ranks against all other investments globally, even investments in different asset classes. While there are some excellent ranking systems available that allow an investor to see how a mutual fund manager stacks up against a set of similar managers, there is comparatively little available to investors to show how one mutual fund stacks up against all other mutual funds of all asset classes and strategies. The latter is important in order to be able to understand how asset allocation affects your portfolio.

For more information please watch our tutorial

About FinMason

FinMason, a financial technology firm based in Boston, MA, is dedicated to providing free, unbiased tools and education to help the average investor make smart decisions about their retirement investments. The company is comprised of a world-class team of finance, investment and technology experts who all share a common belief that everyone deserves to know how to make smart decisions about their investments. For more information visit our Website, learn more about The Finspector, or join us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.

Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSj2WxbhudE

SOURCE FinMason