In brief

MILLIONAIRES' WORTH PLUNGES 30%U.S. households worth $1 million or more have seen their assets decline 30 percent during the financial crisis, according to a new report.

The Spectrem Group, a consultancy specializing in the affluent and retirement markets, found that 17 percent of the 750 millionaire households it polled have absorbed declines greater than 40 percent. About 90 percent said that they fear a prolonged economic downturn. Altogether they believe the downturn will last another 22 months, and 55 percent were concerned that they would not have sufficient assets to maintain their present lifestyles.

Only 36 percent felt that their financial advisor performed well during the crisis, and only 14 percent will increase their use of financial advisors in the future.

CHESHIRE SOFTWARE ADDS ESTATE PLANNING

Cheshire Software has added estate-planning features to its wealth management product.

The Cheshire Wealth Manager now includes the ability to model fundamental estate planning strategies. The estate planning analysis allows users to enter various current estate strategies, such as credit shelter trusts, gifting and irrevocable life insurance trusts.

The feature also allows planners to enter proposed estate planning strategies and compare the two strategies using flow chart and bar graph analysis. Cheshire Software plans to add more estate strategy types in the future.

A 30-day free trial of the Cheshire Wealth Manager is available for evaluation at www.cheshire.com.

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Financial planning
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