Maintenance Update 03 31 2004

Financial Calculator Update 3/31/2004

The quarterly update for 3/31/2004 is a rather targeted update. Most of the significant changes are centered around the tax calculators, which have been updated to the preliminary 2004 tax rules and rates (finalized rules and rates are delivered with the fourth quarter update). There have been a few other updates, but these are mostly limited to small text changes. In addition, the calculators have been greatly enhanced in regards to Macintosh Safari and Macintosh Internet Explorer compatibility. Report formatting and report generation for the Mac have seen major enhancements with this release. If you have users on the Macintosh platform, we would strongly encourage you to install this update.

If you have not updated your calculators in a while you should definitely refresh your existing HTML calculator pages. All updates are cumulative, so if you start fresh with this update you will have all previous calculator updates as well. If you would like, you can review our 12/31/2003 update: 12/31/2003 Update. (The 3/31/2004 update includes all changes included in previous updates, you do not need to download any other updates to have the most current versions of all of the calculator components.)

Update instructions*:

1. Download the latest version of your calculators from your download site, found on your update e-mail notice.
2. Execute the Calc.exe file from your download. This is a self-extracting zip file. (Or unzip the Calc.zip file if you are using a non-windows platform.)
3. When prompted for a directory, you may use the default of "java" or enter your own. It is recommended that you extract the update to a new directory and then move the required files to your production environment. One directory will be created. It will have three subdirectories.
4. Replace the contents of your current KJEgui, KJEgraph and KJEcalculation directories with the new version.
5. Replace your current dinkytown.jar file with the new version.
6. Replace all files with the extension "class" with the new version.
7. Make required changes to any HTML documents as described in this document or replace all of your existing HTML documents and re-apply your web-site custom changes.

*Please note, if you have a Servlet or other custom deployment (other than the custom formatted delivery described below), installation instructions for your package will found on your download page.

Update for custom formatted delivery**:

**Custom formatted delivery is a special option that you can add to your maintenance update service. With this option we can apply an HTML, JSP, CFM or ASP template to your calculator pages and their reports before the update is sent to you. You will then receive your calculator pages with all of your site formatting in place, without any rework to include changes that have been made to the pages deployed on your server. If you are interested in using custom formatted delivery, please contact us at (612) 331-2291, or for more information.

1. Download the latest version of your calculators from your download site, found on your update e-mail notice.
2. Execute the Calc.exe file from your download. This is a self-extracting zip file. (Or unzip the Calc.zip file if you are using a non-windows platform.)
3. When prompted for a directory, you may use the default of "c:\java" or enter your own. It is recommended that you extract the update to a new directory and then move the required files to your production environment. One directory will be created. It will have three subdirectories.
4. Replace the contents of your current "java" directory (including the KJEgui, KJEgraph and KJEcalculation directories) with the new version.

All pages will be custom formatted to your site, no further integration or modification of the calculators is required. Please note, if your custom delivery uses Active Server Pages (ASP), Java™ Server Pages (JSP) or Cold Fusion (CFM) the respective ASP, JSP or CFM pages will be in place of your HTML documents for all calculator main pages. Report templates will remain in HTML documents (these documents are not called by your server, but instead used by the applet in the main calculator page).

To clear your Browser's cache:

When you test the new version of the calculators, make sure that the browser you are using uses the new files instead of any it may have in its cache. You may need to clear the browser's cache manually to ensure the new versions are loaded.

Choose "Internet Options" under the "Tools" menu and on the "General" tab click on the "Delete Files…" button. Click "Ok" when prompted if you wish to delete all temporary files. Close this dialog box, and all open Internet Explorer windows. Your Cache should then be cleared.

Choose "Preferences" under the "Edit" menu. Click on the "Advanced" category and then "Cache" option which appears under it. Click the "Clear Memory Cache" button, then click the "Clear Disk Cache" button.)

Master Changes (HTML Modification required, affects all calculators)

None

Master Changes (no HTML changes required, affects all calculators)

1. Macintosh Improvements: All calculators have been enhanced to provide much better support of the Macintosh platform. This includes the Mac Safari browser, as well as Internet Explorer. (Netscape 4.x and Netscape 7 remain unchanged, but did not have these compatibility issues).

   Previously on the Safari browser, the "Calculate" and "View Report" buttons that normally appear under the calculator would be hidden, and a small button in the upper left hand corner of the applet would appear titled "View Report". The Safari browser now has the buttons appearing under the Applet, with no button in the upper left hand corner. In addition, the report is now rendered with all formatting, stylesheets, links and images.

   Internet Explorer 5.2 is still unable to display a report with the normal "View Report" button under the applet. This is due to a technical limitation of the browser (it is unable to communicate between the applet and javascript). A small "View Report" button will appear in the upper left hand corner of the applet to allow users to see the generated report. This new button is now formatted to match the Macintosh graphical user interface and the report that is produced is greatly improved over previous versions, including the use of style sheets, images and formatting.

   Occasionally the "View Report" button in the upper left hand corner of the applet would appear in browsers that were not using the Macintosh OS. This issue has been resolved. The "View Report" button will not appear on any other platform, unless the "SHOW_REPORT_BUTTON" parameter is set to true to force it to appear.

   You should now always allow the browser to choose when it is appropriate to show the "View Report" in the upper left hand corner of the applet. To do this either leave the "SHOW_REPORT_BUTTON" parameter out of your applet, which is the default, or use:

   <PARAM name="SHOW_REPORT_BUTTON" value="AUTO">

   Please note: These changes to improve Macintosh compability do not require changes to your HTML documents. Only the KJEgui, KJEcalculation and dinkytown.jar files were affected. It does assume, however, that you have already installed the 12/31/2003 update. If it has been a while since you have updated your calculators, it would be a good idea to refresh all of your HTML pages to ensure you are using the latest versions of the javascipt code included on these pages.

2. New Error Page Parameter: An error message will appear when the "view report" button is pressed AND there has been an entry error AND the applet has not yet caught the error. This would only happen if the user did not press enter, tab or clicked into a new field before they clicked on the "View Report" button. The current error message displays correctly and correctly shows the user how they can correct their entry error. You can now optionally customize this simple error page using a "MSG_ERROR" parameter in your applet.

   The contents of this parameter, if you choose to override the default error page, should be a complete HTML document with the text "MSG_ERROR" where you wish the calculator generated error message to appear.

   For example, the following will create a simple error page:

   <PARAM name="MSG_ERROR" value="<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Calculation Error</TITLE></HEAD><BODY><P>The following calculation error has occurred. Please close this window and correct the problem to view this report:<B><P>MSG_ERROR</BODY></HTML>">

   IMPORTANT! Double quotes are not allowed within the value of the parameter. Single quotes should be used for all HTML and javascript code that requires a quotation mark.

Updates that require modifications to HTML documents

1. 72T Calculator, 72T Distribution Impact: (Retire72T.html, Retire72Alt.html): The default “Reasonable interest rate” has been changed to 4.0% to reflect 120% of the current Federal Mid-Term rate as of Mar. 2004.

   The definition of "Reasonable Interest Rate" has been updated to:

   Reasonable Interest Rate:

   This is any rate less than 120% of the current Federal Mid-Term interest rate. The exact Federal Mid-Term rate you use can be taken from either of the two months prior to which the 72T distribution calculation was made. In March 2004, 120% of the Federal Mid-Term rate was set at 4.00%.

   It is important to note that the associated law that created the 72(t) distributions did not define what was to be considered a reasonable interest rate. As such, the guidance from the IRS generally flows from the concept that they will not allow people to circumvent the requirement of substantially equal periodic payments (SEPP) throughout your lifetime by using an unreasonably high interest rate.

   72(t) withdrawals setup prior to January, 2003, had some flexibility in the choice of the reasonable rate to use. However, in 2002, the IRS issued new rules stating that only rates under 120% of the Federal Mid-Term rate would be considered reasonable. You are now required to use a rate that is no more than 120% of the Federal Mid-Term rate.

2. Mortgage Tax Saving Calculator: (MortgageTaxes.html) The definition of "interest rate after taxes" has been updated to include the 2004 standard deductions. The new text reads:
   For 2004 the standard deductions are $9,700 for married couples filing jointly, $4,850 for married couples filing separately and singles, and $7,150 for heads of household. You should also be aware that the total tax savings may be less for higher incomes that have their allowable itemized deductions phased out.

3. 1040 Tax Estimator: (Tax1040.html) has been updated for new rates and schedules for 2004. This includes changes to the definitions, and the java calculation modules. Please note that no new entry or output fields were required, but the tax tables and many of the tax computations were affected.

4. 1040EZ Tax Estimator: (Tax1040EZ.html) has been updated for new rates and schedules for 2004. This includes changes to the definitions, and the java calculation modules. Please note that no new entry or output fields were required, but the tax tables and many of the tax computations were affected.

5. Marginal Tax Estimator: (TaxMargin.html) has been updated for new rates and schedules for 2004. This includes changes to the definitions, and the java calculation modules. Please note that no new entry or output fields were required, but the tax tables and many of the tax computations were affected.

6. Self Employment Tax Estimator: (TaxSelfEmployment.html) has been updated for the new rates and schedules for 2004. This includes changes to the definitions, and the java calculation modules. Please note that no new entry or output fields were required, but the tax tables and many of the tax computations were affected.

7. 401(k) Spend it or Save it Calculator: (Rollover401k.html) The definition for the "Federal income tax rate" has been updated to include the 2004 rate table. There were no changes to the calculation modules.

8. Retirement Planner Results: (RetirementPlan.html) In the "summary", changed "Percent of Income to save" to "percent of income to Contribute" (makes it more clear).  Also, under "Balances by Year" changed the heading "Savings at 8% of Income" to "Contributions at 8% of Income."

9. Retirement Planner Results: (RetirementPlan.html) Under "Balances by year" changed the heading "Interest Earned" to "Investment Growth" since this is the account growth that is not all attributed to "interest"

10. Inflation rate definition: This has been changed to: What you expect for the average long-term inflation rate. This has been calculated by the Consumer Price Index from 1925 to 2002 to be 3.1%.

    The following calculators were updated:

    Html Page	Calculator Name
    RetirementPlan.html	Retirement Profile
    Millionaire.html	Cool Million
    Disability.html	Disability Insurance
    InvestmentReturn.html	Investment Returns
    LifeInsurance.html	Life Insurance Calculator
    LongtermCare.html	Long Term Care Calculator
    MortgageRentvsBuy.html	Rent vs. Buy
    NoSocial.html	How important is Social Security?
    RetirementPlan.html	Retirement Planner
    RetirementPlan3.html	Retirement Pension Planner
    RetireShort.html	Retirement Shortfall Calculator
    Savings.html	Savings Goals
    SavingsVariables.html	Savings, Taxes and Inflation
    RetirementPlan.html	Retirement Planner

11. Cool Million: (Millionaire.html) changed "will" to "could" to make it read "A complete report tells you when you could hit your cool million…and what you can do to help reach this milestone on target." Changed "will" to "could" in the "Millionaire Target Age" definition. Changed "will" to "could" in "With your current investment plan you could be…" and changed the second sentence to say "To target a million dollars by age 65."

Updates do not require changes to HTML documents

1. Amortizing Loan Calculator (SimpleLoan.html), Alternate Payment Frequencies (ComplexLoan.html): Now have the options to include cents on the loan amount. Including the parameter:

   <PARAM name="LOAN_AMOUNT_DECIMALS" value="2">

   Will allow the loan to be entered in decimals, and it will be calculated and reported in decimals as well.

2. Financial Ratios: (Ratios.html) Now allows all entry fields up to $1,000,000,000. Previous version had a maximum value of $10,000,000.

3. Stock Options : (StockOptions.html) Now allows up to 1,000,000 options, and allows both the strike price and the current price to be entered with dollars and cents.

4. Retirement Income: (RetirementIncome.html) Now allows you to select the default graph that you wish to appear. You can add the following parameter to select the default for this setting:

   To show monthly income (current default):
   <PARM name="SHOW_MONTHLY_INCOME" value="true">

   To show annual balances:
   <PARM name="SHOW_MONTHLY_INCOME" value="false">