The Web's first personal finance solution to apply powerful financial modeling technology and bring complete transparency to major financial decisions, SmartAsset empowers consumers with personalized recommendations and information to answer challenging financial questions. SmartAsset today launches the Homebuyer Decision Engine, the first component of a platform that will eventually expand to over 24 other life-changing financial decisions, including furthering education and family and retirement planning. SmartAsset's free service is available today at smartasset.com.

"In the wake of the recent financial crisis, consumer attitudes toward their finances have changed -- people are generally more cautious but also seek greater independence in managing their money," said Michael Carvin, chief executive officer and founder of SmartAsset. "SmartAsset's mission is simple: enable greater financial independence by bringing unparalleled transparency to decision making. That means providing people with accurate, easy to understand advice, customized to speak directly to their personal needs."

SmartAsset's proprietary financial modeling platform provides complete transparency into the financial consequences of important life decisions. The first component of the platform, the Homebuyer Decision Engine, extracts and analyzes a myriad of data points from various sources such as census data, tax codes, property databases, mortgage rates, and more in order to model decisions, quantify the financial implications and recommend personalized, actionable strategies. Features of the service include:

• Personalized profiles: SmartAsset allows users to measure the 'quality' of the decisions they intend to make. For prospective homeowners, the service assesses each individual's current financial profile and compares it to a new profile in the event that they choose to purchase. SmartAsset analyzes tax consequences, cash flow implications and net wealth considerations to give users a complete view on whether buying a home makes financial sense.
• Multiple data sources: SmartAsset aggregates data from banks, mortgage companies and many other sources to find the products and programs that best fit the individual's needs. The result is an accurate picture of what users qualify for and the price of the home they can afford.
• Tax insights: SmartAsset eliminates the pain of trying to figure out how taxes may change after buying a home or making other important decisions. The modeling technology achieves this by taking into account federal, state and local income, real estate and transaction taxes, and providing an accurate, easy to understand picture of complex tax consequences.
• Savings strategies: SmartAsset identifies the lowest cost financial products, checks eligibility for government programs and recommends strategies specifically designed to save money.
• An interactive and easy to use interface: SmartAsset's highly graphical interface presents information in a dynamic, interactive application. Getting started takes about 30 seconds. SmartAsset guides you through each decision, step by step.
• Personalized advice: A powerful technology platform gives users the unique ability to provide deeply personalized advice. SmartAsset uses the details of each person's financial profile to make sure the advice is tailored to his or her needs.