PLANNING BASE currency in Microsoft Money

In addition to the base currency (Article 337), something called the 'Planning Base'. This is usually the same as the base currency, but can be different (as seen below). If you don't have the planning base currency defined, you will not see the words 'PLANNING BASE' in the exchange rate list.



To change it, you go to Tools->Settings->Program Settings->Update Currencies, choose another country and press the 'Set Planner Currency' button. You should see a warning message, which will tell you to check the results and to note that you will need to exit the planner for this to take effect.

If you select this option, the lifetime planner will show it's results in the new currency. In the lifetime planner reports, you'll see a message such as "All amounts in this report are displayed in the following currency: **Chosen Planning currency**. If you have accounts with a different currency, the balances in these accounts have been converted according to the current exchange rates defined in the Options dialogue.".

In the image below, note that the graph shows the figures in Brazilian Real. This is different to my base currency as seen in the first image.



The reason for the inclusion of this is to allow you to plan for retirement, say, in another country, and the lifetime planner will show you the value of your plan in the relevant currency.