Maintenance Update 12 31 2002

Financial Calculator Update 12/31/2002

The quarterly update for 12/31/2002 is a very large update, affecting almost all of the calculators. It is recommended to update this release by completely refreshing your calculator documents with the new ones in this download, and then reapplying your custom look and feel. This is not required, but it may be less effort. This is especially the case if you have one or more of the retirement calculators which have significant changes to the reports and definitions.

If you have not updated your calculators in a while you should definately refresh you existing documents with the new ones. 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 09/30/2002 update: 09/30/2002 Update. (The 12/31/2002 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:

Download the latest version of your calculators from your download site, found on your update e-mail notice.
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.)
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.
Replace the contents of your current KJEgui, KJEgraph and KJEcalculation directories with the new version
Replace your current dinkytown.jar file with the new version
Replace all files with the extension "class" with the new versions
Make required changes to any HTML documents as describe later in this document or replace all of your existing HTML documents and reapply your web-site custom changes.

If you have NOT made any changes to the HTML Files used in your deployment you can simply replace all HTML files with the new versions in your download. If you have made changes to your HTML files, please review the changes below.

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.

Internet Explorer:

Chose "Internet Options" under the "Tools" menu and on the "General" tab click on the "Delete Files�" button.

Netscape:

Chose "Prefrences�" 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)

Netscape 6.2, Netscape 7.0, Internet Explorer 6.0 with SUN's Java� Plug-in 1.4.1: A variety of changes have been made to increase support for these browser's and their use of SUN's Java� Plug-in version 1.4.x. Most of the changes do not require any modifications on your part. You should, however, update the JavaScript function �showbuttons� to make the most of these updates.
The �showbuttons� JavaScript function has been changed to identify the two browsers that do not support our HTML generated reports. This includes Internet Explorer on the Macintosh and Netscape Navigator 6 on all platforms. When either of these two browsers are detected, this script hides the buttons that normally appear under the calculator applet. A small �view report� button appears in the upper left hand corner of the calculator to allow users of these browsers to see the reports in a Java� pop-up window.
To update your applets for these new browsers, you need to use the new showbuttons() function in each of your calculator pages.
The old showbuttons() function looks something like this:
The new showbuttons() function is a little more streamlined. It is included in each of your new calculator pages in your download. The actual code is as follows:
If you are making manual changes to your HTML pages, you will need to search for each page with the showbuttons() function and replace it with the new one. You can also use the HTML pages provided in your download and reapply any custom changes you might have made. All new HTML pages in your calculator download have the new �showbuttons� function.

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

To turn off the �View Report� button within the applet. New parameter has been added to all applets. Currently, if the version of the Java� virtual machine is 1.3 or higher, a �View Report� button appears in the upper left hand corner of the applet. If this button is pressed the report will appear within a window that is part of the Java� applet. This functionality was added to overcome shortcomings in the Netscape 6.x implementation of Java� virtual machine 1.3.x (In these implementations, the JVM is not allowed access from JavaScript which is required to display the generated report in a HTML browser.) Include the following new parameter in the applet you wish to disable this functionality:
```
<PARAM name="SHOW_REPORT_BUTTON" value="FALSE">
	
```
French Canadian Calculators: All French Canadian calculators will accept periods as decimal places. Formatting of output remains the same (for example English format of one million dollars and 22 cents is $1,000,000.22 and the French Canadian format is 1 000 000,22 $ ). However, if a user mistakenly enters a period as a decimal place in a French Canadian calculator it will be �converted� to a comma which is the standard decimal character for French. No changes are required to implement this change other than updating the dinkytown.jar file.
Social Security Calculator: Maximum amount of income subject to Social Security taxes (and included in the calculation to determine Social Security benefits) has been updated for 2003. Income subject to Social Security taxes in 2002 was 84,900, in 2003 the total income subject to Social Security taxes is 87,000. This change also impacts the retirement plan calculators which uses the Social Security calculation module.
JVM 1.4.x: SUN's Java� virtual machine 1.4.x is used in Netscape 7.x and can be used in Internet Explorer 5.x and 6.x. This version corrects a few inconsistencies with this new JVM. This includes:
1. Non-numeric characters were not being properly blocked when typing into percentage, currency and number fields. This update corrects this issue.
2. Non-conforming layout issues have been addressed to improve readability of the calculators with JVM 1.4.1.

Updates that require modifications to HTML documents

Mortgage Tax Savings Calculator: The Mortgage Tax Savings calculator has been updated to include new definitions and logic to account for the maximum mortgage amount of $1,000,000 for calculating interest deductions. Any interest paid on the amount exceeding $1,000,000 of your first or second mortgage is not deductible. The change affects the calculation module and the definitions of the calculator. You should make sure to update the MortgageTax.class and the MortgageLoanCalculation.class files. In additions the MortgageTaxes.html definitions contains new definitions for the "Mortgage Amount� and the "Interest rate after taxes�.
Auto Buy vs. Lease: The calculator has been updated to calculate the total interest lost or gained by having a different monthly lease payment than the monthly buy option payment. To accomidate this change the BuyvsLease.class and BuyvsLeaseCalculation.class have both been updated. In addition you need to make the following HTML changes:
BuyvsLease.html: A new definition has been added. It appears at the bottom of the definitions list and is as follows (you can cut and paste this directly into your document):
Search for the text: "Lost interest on upfront costs�. Replace the first instance of this text string with: "Lost interest on buy option�. This is to help explain that the lost interest now includes the cost of upfront costs and interest lost on larger "buy� monthly payments.
Equipment Buy vs. Lease: The calculator has been updated to match the Auto Buy vs Lease. Make sure to update the BuyvsLease.class and BuyvsLeaseCalculation.class. You should also update the BizBuyvsLease.html as follows:

BizBuyvsLease.html: A new definition has been added. It appears at the bottom of the definitions list and is as follows (you can cut and paste this directly into your document):
Search for the text: "Lost interest on upfront costs�. Replace the first instance of this text string with: "Lost interest on buy option�. This is to help explain that the lost interest now includes the cost of upfront costs and interest lost on larger "buy� monthly payments.
OPTIONAL CHANGE: Mortgage Refinance Interest Savings: The percentage downpayment required for PMI has been made a parameter. The default rate is 20%. If you wish to change the percentage from the standard 20%, you can now do so with the PMI_PERCENT parameter. To keep the rate at 20% you do not need to make any changes. For example, you could add the following parameter to the ShouldIRefi.html page to make the PMI requirement 15%:
```
<PARAM name="PMI_PERCENT" value="0.15">
```
Note: You will also need to change the definitions to reflect your new PMI rate. Search for "20%� (without the quotes) and substitute it with your new PMI percentage. Do this in the ShouldIRefi.html document.
OPTIONAL CHANGE: Mortgage Refinance Breakeven: Same change as with the Mortgage Refinance Interest Savings. For example, you could add the following parameter to the MortgageRefinance.html page to make the PMI requirement 15%:
```
<PARAM name="PMI_PERCENT" value="0.15">
```
Note: You will also need to make the following changes:
1. You will also need to change the definitions to reflect your new PMI rate. Search for "20%� (without the quotes) in the definitions section of MortgageRefinance.html and substitute it with your new PMI percentage rate.
2. You will need to change the report template to reflect the new PMI rate. Search for "20%� without the quotation marks in the MortgageRefinance.html document and the MortgageRefinanceCalc.html document. Replace it with "PMI_PERCENT� (without the quotation marks). The PMI_PERCENT will be replaced with the new PMI_PERCENT that you set with the PMI_PERCENT applet parameter.
72T Distributions: The definitions section for this calculator has been greatly enhanced. This includes expanded definitions for the distributions types, explanation of the Oct 2002 ruling regarding the ability to change distribution options, and an expanded definition for reasonable interest rates. Please make sure to update the entire definitions section of this calculator into include this important changes. The document affected was:
Retire72T.html
In addition, the following changes have been made:
- The default "Reasonable interest rate� has been reduced to 3.2% to reflect 80% of the current Federal Mid-Term rate. The maximum reasonable interest rate has also been reduced to 8% (although this would be considered a very high rate to use with current treasury yields, it represents the upper range of what could be considered reasonable if we see a moderate increase in rates over the next year. In addition, a reference to the reasonable rate instructions has been made more obvious in the calculator itself.
- The 1984 mortality table (for annuity method) has been replaced with the new Annuity 2003 Mortality table, as instructed by Oct 2002 changes by the IRS.
- The check box for choosing "Joint Life Expectancy� has been replaced with a drop down selection list that allows you to select one of three life expectancy tables "Single Life Expectancy�, "Joint Life Expectancy� or "Uniform Life Time�. These three tables have been explicitly approved by the IRS for use in 72(t) distributions.
- References to the option to use older tables in 2001 have been removed.
OPTIONAL CHANGE: Life Insurance (U.S. Version only): New text has been added to the report to clarify the interest rate used to calculate the interest income on the "income and expense� schedule. The following text was added after the special tax **REPEATING_GROUP**:
```
<P>**Please note that interest income in the above schedule is 
calculated at AFTERTAX_RATE, which is your after tax annual rate of return.
```
Adding the above text is optional, but may help clarify the results produced in the Life Insurance schedule.

OPTIONAL CHANGE: All Mortgage Calculators: The default interest rates have been updated on the following calculators to reflect more accurately the current market rates. No change is required to continue using the current default rates. To modify the default you can adjust the INTEREST_RATE parameter in the following calculators:

HTML Document	Calculator Name
MortgageLoan.html	Mortgage Calculator
Biweekly.html Bi-weekly	Payment Calculator
MortgageTaxes.html	Mortgage Tax Savings Calculator
MortgageQualifier.html	Mortgage Qualifier
MortgageRefinance.html	Mortgage Refinance Breakeven
MortgageRentvsBuy.html	Rent vs. Buy
MortgagePayoff.html	Mortgage Payoff
ShouldIRefi.html	Refinance Interest Savings Calculator
MortgageCompare.html	15 Year vs. 30 Year Mortgage
MortgageAdjustable.html	Adjustable Rate Mortgage Payments
MortgagePoints.html	Mortgage Points Calculator
MortgageApr.html	Mortgage APR Calculator

Estate Tax Planner: The estate tax calculator has been updated for 2003 rates and rules. This includes the definitions section in EstatePlan.html and the calculation module EstatePlanCalc.class. Please update these sections if you received the calculator prior to this update.
Roth vs Traditional IRA: This calculator has been updated for the 2003 contribution limits and rules. The definitions in RothvsRegular.html and RothvsRegularCalculation.html have both been updated to reflect these changes. Update these documents to include the new definitions.
Roth IRA: This calculator has been updated for the 2003 contribution limits and rules. The definitions in RothIRA.html and RothIRACalculation.html have both been updated to reflect these changes. Update these documents to include the new definitions.
Traditional IRA: This calculator has been updated for the 2003 contribution limits and rules. The definitions in RegularIRA.html and RegularIRACalculation.html have both been updated to reflect these changes. Update these documents to include the new definitions.
Variable Annuity: This calculator has been updated to remove the mention of the $2,000 IRA contribution limit, which is now out of date. This update only affects the Variable annuity definition in the Annuity.html document.
401(k) Calculator: This calculator has been updated for the 2003 contribution limits and rules. The definitions in Retire401k.html and Retire401kCalc.html have both been updated to reflect these changes. Update these documents to include the new definitions.
403(b) Calculator: This calculator has been updated for the 2003 contribution limits and rules. The definitions in Retire403b.html and Retire403bCalc.html have both been updated to reflect these changes. Update these documents to include the new definitions.
Required Minimum Distribution (RMD): The RMD calculator was updated for 2003, removing the descriptions of the optional use of the new 2002 regulations (these regulations are now required in 2003). No calculation changes were required at this time. The RetireDistrib.html document definitions should be updated to reflect this change. The RetireDistribCalc.html document was also updated to address this change.
Beneficiary Required Minimum Distribution: This calculator was updated for 2003, removing the descriptions of the optional use of the new 2002 regulations (these regulations are now required in 2003). No calculation changes were required at this time. The RetireBeneficiary.html document definitions should be updated to reflect this change. The RetireBeneficiaryCalc.html document was also updated to address this change.
1040 Tax Calculator: This calculator was updated for the final 2002 tax form. This includes adding new items and finalizing all rates and rules. Significant changes to both the Tax1040.html and Tax1040Calculation.html documents were made to accommodate the 2002 1040 tax form. It is recommended that you uses these documents and reapply any custom changes.
The CPP and OAS pensions for the Canadian Retirement Planner have been updated to the 2003 rates. To make sure you have the new rates, search for the applet parameter OTHER_PENSION_AMOUNT3 and update the value to 453. Search for the applet parameter OTHER_PENSION_AMOUNT2 and update the value to 801. Both of these items are in the CARetirementPlan.html document.

Other Updates

Investment Returns: The investment returns calculator has been enhanced to allow a decimal place when entering the tax rate. The valid range remains the same (0% to 75%). This affects InvestmentReturn.class. No changes are required as long as this file is updated.