We're always looking at ways in which we can make subtle improvements to Moneyscope.

And, lately, we've been comparing different ways to forecast the long-term effects of investment returns and inflation on capital.

As a result, we would like to make a change to the way Moneyscope calculates its forecasts and so we wanted to let you know our plan.

The outcome of a forecast depends on whether you:

In other words, there's more than one way to calculate the effect of both factors in a forecast and we've compared a few alternatives. Since the maths is right, it's a matter of opinion which route you choose.

Moneyscope currently accounts for the effect of inflation and investment returns at the same time but we're inclined to the idea of calculating the effect of investment returns and then inflation on a client's capital.

From our point of view, it's the shape of the cashflow over time that really matters so either method works fine.

All the same, we can't help thinking that applying the effect of investment returns throughout the year and accounting for the effect of inflation - in one go - at the end of the year, is an improvement.

So we plan to update Moneyscope on Thursday 7 June 2012 to reflect this change in calculation.

If you disagree with the change, please let us know by e-mailing us at support@moneyscopehq.com.

In the meantime, thank you for using Moneyscope!