Maintenance Update 06 20 2005

Financial Calculator Update 6/30/2005

The quarterly update for 6/30/2005 is a small update. We recommend you review the update items below. If you do not immediately require the enhancements below, since all updates are cumulative, you may wish to wait to implement them with our 9/30/2005 release.

If you implement this update and 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 3/31/2005 update: 3/31/2005 Update. (The 6/30/2005 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)

None

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 4.63% to reflect 120% of the current Federal Mid-Term rate as of July 2005.

   • Definition for Reasonable Interest Rate has been moved to the top of the definitions for easier reference.

   • Introductory text has been changed to provide more information regarding the need for professional services before making any 72(t) distributions. The original text was:

     The IRS Rule 72(t) allows for penalty free, early withdrawals from retirement accounts. This allows you to begin receiving money from your retirement accounts before you turn age 59 1/2 without the normal 10% penalty. Use this calculator to determine your allowable 72(t) Distribution and how it can help fund your early retirement.

     And has been changed to:

     The Internal Revenue Code sections 72(t) and 72(q) allow for penalty free early withdrawals from retirement accounts. These sections allow you to begin receiving money from your retirement accounts before you turn age 59 1/2 without the normal 10% premature distribution penalty. Use this calculator to determine your allowable 72(t)/(q) Distribution and how it can help fund your early retirement. The IRS rules regarding 72(t)/(q) Distributions are complex. Please consult a qualified professional when making decisions about your personal finances. Please note that your financial institution may or may not support all the methods displayed via this calculator.

   • A link has been added to provide further information on the most recent Reasonable Interest Rates. The link is as follows (NOTE this link is not part of the JSP release): Click here to see the most current rate information on IRS.gov.

2. Required Minimum Distribution (RMD): (RetireDistrib.html, RetireDistrib3.html, RetireDistrib2.html)

   This definition has been updated to reflect the current RMD requirements:

   Account balance as of 12/31 of year prior to distribution year
   This is the fair market value of your account as of the close of business on December 31st of the preceding year. The IRS has decided that the balance on this date should be used, with two important distinctions: 1. If this is your first year of distributions this amount is increased by any contributions made for the preceding year after December 31st. 2. If this is your second year of distributions and your first year distribution took place between January 1st and April 1st of the current year, your balance is decreased by the amount of the distribution.

   The new definition is:

   
   Account balance as of 12/31 of year prior to distribution year
   This is the fair market value of your account as of the close of business on December 31st of the preceding year. For IRAs, no adjustments are made for contributions or distributions after that date. If you made a transfer or rollover from one account on or before December 31st of the preceding year and the funds were received by a new account in the next year, you will need to increase your December 31st fair market value by the amount that was transferred or rolled over and not included in the December 31 value of either account.

3. All French Canadian calculators:

   The footer has been updated for clarity:

   Old Footer on French calculators
   L'information et les calculatrices interactives mises à votre disposition sont des outils d'aide à la gestion et doivent être utilisées à des fins personnelles. Nous ne pouvons garantir leur exactitude ni leur applicabilité à votre situation particulière. Nous vous encourageons à consulter un professionnel pour toute question concernant vos finances personnelles.

   New Footer on French Calculators
   Les renseignements et les calculatrices interactives vous sont offerts en tant qu'outils de libre-service pour votre usage personnel. Ils ne sont pas destinés à vous fournir des conseils de placement. Nous ne pouvons garantir leur applicabilité ni leur fiabilité par rapport à votre situation personnelle. Tous les exemples sont hypothétiques et sont donnés à titre indicatif. Nous vous conseillons de consulter des professionnels qualifiés si vous faites face à des problèmes financiers personnels.

   The "calculate" button now shows as 'Calcul'

4. Canadian Mortgage Qualifier (CAMortgageQualifier.html, FRMortgageQualifier.html), Canadian Rent vs. Buy (CAMortgageRentvsBuy.html, FRMortgageRentvsBuy.html) (English and French)

   The CMHC premiums were updated to reflect the rate change effective April 22, 2005.

Updates do not require changes to HTML documents

1. Section 125 Cafeteria Plan (Payroll125.html): A correction has been made so that FICA taxes are not collected on any contributions that would have been made to the 125 plan.

2. Mortgage Taxes (MortgageTaxes.html):

   The calculation for determining the marginal tax rate was using the formula:

   Federal Tax Rate + State Tax Rate = Marginal Tax Rate

   This formula has been updated to better account for the tax deductible nature of state taxes. It is now:

   (State Tax Rate X (1- Federal Tax Rate)) + Federal Tax Rate

   For example, a 25 percent Federal Tax Rate with a 8 percent state tax rate, under the old formula (which assumed no deduction for state income taxes) produces a marginal rate of 33%. The new formula assumes you deduct your state taxes, which would reduce your Federal tax bill by the rate you pay your federal taxes. In the case above it would be ( .08 X (1-0.25) ) + 0.25 = 31%.

3. Mortgage Interest Only (MortgageInterestOnly.html): The applet parameter to select the default number of years would not allow the selection of 1 year. This has been fixed so that the following parameter will select a term of one year:
   <PARAM name="TERM" value="1">

4. Fixed Rate vs. Arm (MortgageArmvsFixed.html): The report has been enhanced to show the payment for each option after four years. The following code has been added immediately following the first year payments:
   <TR><TD colwidth=25% ><b>MSG_FIVE_YEAR_PAYMENT</b></TD><TD colwidth=25% >FIVE_YEAR_PAYMENT0</TD><TD colwidth=25% >FIVE_YEAR_PAYMENT1</TD><TD colwidth=25% >FIVE_YEAR_PAYMENT2</TD></TR>

   This change is optional, to keep your current functionality you do not need to update your calculators.

5. 401(k) calculator (Retire401k.html): added SALARY_INCREASE field to let users enter expected increase in salary.

6. Maximum Mortgage (MortgageMax.html): The error message that appears if your liabilities exceed the percentage of income allocated to PITI+Monthly Liablities was a bit confusing. It read:

   “Liabilities are large than monthly income”

   The calculator has been changed to simply give a $0.00 mortgage qualification, which is correct, instead of this message.

7. 401(k) Spend It or Save It Calculator (Rollover401k.html): New error message has been added so that you can't enter a current age that is less than your retirement age.