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1991-12-03
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SolveIt!
The Financial Calculator
(Shareware Edition)
(Printed Manual for)
(Registered Users has Sample Screen Shots)
(Bond routines are documented at the end)
Pine Grove Software
67-38 108th Street, Suite D-1
Forest Hills, New York 11375
(800) 242-9192
(718) 575-9192
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
(c) 1990, 1991 by Pine Grove Software, All Rights Reserved.
SolveIt! is copyrighted software and as such is protected
by the laws of the United States. You may distribute a
shareware version (currently 4.2s) of this software to others
but you may not sell it. If you are a distrib- utor of
shareware software, you may charge up to $10 for your disk
duplication services. This product may NOT be distributed
along with any other product that is being sold for profit
without the expressed, prior written permission of Pine Grove
Software.
SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT
The registered user of SolveIt! is entitled to make backup
copies of the software for the sole purpose of protecting his
investment. This license allows you to use one copy of SolveIt!
on one computer at a time. You may use your copy of SolveIt! on
different computers provided that there is NO POSSIBILITY of it
being used on two computers at the same time.
Do not confuse this copyright notice with the user
supported method of distribution. If you use this program, you
are honor bound to pay the licensing fee. The method that we
choose to use to distribute version 4.2s of this software is
simply on a "try-before-you-buy" basis. SolveIt! is NOT FREE
SOFTWARE. And if you paid a fee to anyone other than Pine
Grove Software (or an authorized retail distributor), you did
not pay for a license. (NOTE: versions 3.1(B) and 4.1(B) are
specifically not to be distributed via the shareware method.)
If you have any questions concerning this license agreement,
please call us at (800) 242-9192 or (718) 793-4622.
******************
We don't mean to be hard nose about this. But lets face it,
if you like this software and use it, and you want to see it
get even better, we need to have you support us financially.
We trust that you will register it with us. This enables us to
continue to improve the program and to offer you support. We
think that this is ultimately fairer than having you buy the
software, and then trying it. We trust, that are trust is well
placed!
i
WARRANTY
While these routines are easy to use, financial planning
requires careful study. Therefore, Pine Grove Software specifi-
cally disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including
but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and
fitness for a particular purpose or use. In no event shall Pine
Grove Software be liable for any loss of profit or any other
commercial damage, including but not limited to, special, inci-
dental, consequential, or other damages. We suggest that you
obtain professional guidance when making any major financial
decisions. We are NOT responsible for your interpretations of the
results obtained with these routines, even if it is shown that
there is an error in the programming of a routine.
While great care has been taken with regards to the accuracy
of these routines. And the results that these routines produce
have been checked against a number of sources, it is still
possible that you may get different results than what you had
expected. Some of these differences are caused by internal
rounding of the calculations (usually off by no more than 1/10 of
1% over say 20 years), by the way interest and periods are
calculated, by an error in using the program, or by possibly, in
an extreme case, by an error in programming. Therefore, when
using this program, please use common sense. And if you are about
to make what could be for you an important financial decision,
triple check the results obtained with this or any calculator.
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
COPYRIGHT NOTICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
LICENSE AGREEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .i
WARRANTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
Five Manuals in One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Installing SolveIt! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Initial Install . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Starting SolveIt! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Selecting From the Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Important Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Help with Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Entering/Editing Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The Routines of SolveIt! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Future Value Routine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Present Value Routine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Net Present Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Internal Rate of Return . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Time to Withdrawal or Annuity Payout . . . . . . . . . . 19
Required Payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Interest Rate Earned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Equivalent Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Purchasing Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Loan Calculator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Loan Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Remaining Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Balloon Payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Accelerated Payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Interest Due . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
DEPRECIATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Gross Profit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Weighted Average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Break-Even . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
EOQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Affordable Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Second Mortgage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Rental Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
NET WORTH: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
BUDGET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
The Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
iii
Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
File Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Some Relationships Between the Routines . . . . . . . . . . . 77
APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
MESSAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Printing to Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Local Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Setting Other Options, The Install Menu . . . . . . . . . 89
Pine Grove Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Other Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Subscription . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
COMING FEATURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
INDEX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Bond Routines (appended to the end of the document)
iv
Introduction
Thank you for selecting SolveIt!, The Financial Calculator.
We believe that you have chosen a program second to none in its
application class. SolveIt! performs more calculations faster and
with less effort than any other program we have seen. SolveIt! is
easy to use. There is never any programming needed to solve a
problem. All you have to do is answer each question in a routine
and press <F9> and, in most cases, the results will be displayed
instantly.
SolveIt! 4.0 is a major upgrade from 3.1. The program sports
a new interface along with several new routines. EVERY routine
has been upgraded since the last release. Each routine has been
made more powerful and yet there has been no sacrifice in terms
of ease of use.
Much of what is found in this manual is also available
through the program's help function. If you do get stuck at any
time, press the <F1> key and a detailed help window will be
displayed. If you are at the main menu and need information about
a routine, simply highlight the routine's name and press <F1> and
a description of the routine will be displayed.
Since the help system is so extensive, much of this manual is
used to discuss how these routines can be used. After we review
several of the basics of the program, we will discuss the inter-
relationships of the routines that may not be so obvious. These
examples are not meant to be exhaustive. Rather they are meant to
illustrate several ideas and to get you thinking about the power
of the program that you are about to use.
While SolveIt! is widely used by professionals who work in
many industries, we also hope that with this new version that we
have made it more useful for the non professional as well. We
have made every effort possible to make SolveIt! an educational
program. If you are not familiar with different ways to amortize
a loan or with the concept of present value, we believe that if
you play with this program and read the help screens, you will be
better informed because of it.
One final item. Like all software publishers, we hope that
you take the time to at least browse through the manual. No
matter how easy a program is to use, you will undoubtedly learn
something by doing this. We want you to get the most from our
software as you possible can.
Five Manuals in One
Pine Grove Software presently markets five programs. This
manual is used for all 5 of them. AmortizeIt!, MoneyCalc!,
RentIt!, and Budget Plus! are subsets of the program SolveIt!.
The instructions for the routines are marked accordingly.
1
SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
INSTALLING SOLVEIT! on a Hard Disk from a 5.25" Original
SolveIt! is easy to install. It is not copy protected. (We
ask that you respect our license agreement which states that you
can only use a copy of SolveIt! on one machine at a time.) The
program, as it is distributed on 5.25" disks, is compressed in
order to save disk space. Therefore, the program can not be run
from the original disk. To prepare for use, follow these steps
(we assume you are putting the program on a hard drive):
Type this: Press This: Comments:
Place the original SolveIt! disk in
drive A: (or B:)
c: <enter> log on to the hard drive, your hard
drive may be a different letter
cd \ <enter> change to the root directory
md Slvit4 <enter> make a directory for SolveIt!
cd \slvit4 <enter> make the slvit4 directory the default
directory
copy a:*.* <enter> copy all files from the distribution
disk to your hard drive
if you put the original disk in drive
b: change the a: to b: in this step
slvit <enter> this is the decompress step
slvit4 <enter> this starts the program so you can
set it for your system
during this step, you will enter your
name and tell the program if you have
a color monitor. When you are done
press <F9> and you will exit
slvit4 <enter> The program starts with this command
Installing SolveIt! on a Hard Disk from a 3.5" Original:
Follow the steps above, except ignore the "Slvit" command. As
the program is distributed on a 3.5" disk it does not need to be
decompressed.
NOTE: SolveIt! can only be run from a hard disk or a floppy
disk with 720k (3.5") capacity or higher.
2
SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
Initial Install
This step assumes all files are decompressed and that Solve-
It! is on your hard drive or a working copy is on a 720k capacity
or higher diskette. If this is not the case see "Installing
SolveIt! on a Work Disk."
The first time you run SolveIt!, you will be asked to enter
your name and to tell the program whether or not you are using a
monochrome monitor or a color monitor. Simply enter the name that
you will want to have printed on the reports and answer the
question "Y" or "N" as to whether or not you see colors on your
screen.
Once you are have done this, press <F9> to set the software
for your computer. Now, restart the program.
With some versions of the program, you may be also asked to
enter the current date. If you are asked to do this, the date
must be entered in a MM/DD/YY format. Please be sure to set the
correct date so that SolveIt! can do it's date calculations
correctly.
3
SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
Starting SolveIt!
If you have installed SolveIt! on a hard drive according to
the instructions under "Installing SolveIt! on a Work Disk",
change to the drive that you loaded it on. For example, if
SolveIt! is on drive c: do the following:
Enter: Comment:
c: changes to drive SolveIt! is on if you have
loaded it on another drive substitute the
appropriate drive letter
cd \slvit4 change to the suggested directory that S-
olveIt! is
Slvit4 this starts the program
or
Slvit4 /G when program starts, initial graphics screen
is suppressed
or
Slvit4 /I starts SolveIt! in install mode so that you
can customize settings
4
SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
Selecting From the Menus
When the program starts you will see the SolveIt! logo. You
may pass by this screen quickly by pressing the space bar. Once
you have done this you will see the opening menu. This menu is
refereed to in this manual as the main menu.
You may pick a menu item two ways. You may use your cursor
keys to move the highlight bar up and down. When the bar is over
the menu item that you want, press <Enter>. Or secondly, you may
type the highlighted letter (or capital letter) of a menu item
and that item will be selected.
In this manual, we use the convention of indicating a menu
choice in capital letters. So when you are reading about the
routines, each routines name is preceded by the menu hierarchy.
Example: FINANCE:EVALUATION:npv tells you that the Net Present
Value routine can be located under the FINANCE menu, submenu
EVALUATION.
While the cursor bar is on a menu item, if you press <F1> a
help window will describe what the routine does.
See also the appendix for a diagram of the menu structure. In
addition, see "Local Menus", else where in this manual.
5
SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
Important Keys
Throughout the SolveIt!'s instructions and help screens, you
will see symbols such as <F1> or <Esc>. This means, find the keys
on your keyboard that have an F1 or Esc written on them and press
them to activate the feature.
Often you will also see a symbol such as <^Y>. This means to
hold the <Ctrl> key while pressing the <Y> key. The technique is
like using the shift key to produce a capital "Y". This symbol
<^Y> is called "Control Y".
While the help lines at the bottom of a routine's screen will
remind you about some of the keys that you may use at any given
moment, it is impossible to list all of the keys available. It is
VERY IMPORTANT for efficient use of SolveIt! to remember the
options that are available to you. In selected fields, these keys
will produce the following:
<Esc> exits what you are doing and restores the original value to
the field. This is the "I don't want to be here key!". This is
particularly useful when printing.
<F1> brings up the help system. Press <F1> a second time and you
will see a help index. Use the cursor keys to high light a topic
of interest and then press <Enter> to display the help informa-
tion for that topic.
<F2> (File Key) saves and retrieves client data.
<F3> starts printing. In some routines you will have the option
of sending the report to the printer, disk drive or screen. When
appropriate, simply select the destination from the menu.
<F4> sends a line feed to the printer. Use this key (rather than
the line feed on the printer) to advance the paper so that you
can have the desired spacing between the print outs for the
routines.
NOTE: By using this key instead of the printer's line feed key,
you will keep the program's internal line counter synchronized
with the printer. This will prevent a print out from being split
across two pages.
<F5> sends a form feed to the printer. This will eject the
current page and IF the paper has been correctly set in the
printer, it will align the printer to print at the top of the
next sheet of paper. Use this key INSTEAD of the form feed button
on the printer. (See the note on the <F4> key.)
6
SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
<F9> performs the action. Usually calculates. While in copy mode,
it performs the copy. When a screen is asking you for informa-
tion, such as before a printout, <F9> is used to complete the
data input. (Consider this to be the "DO-IT!" key.)
<F10> Local Menu. When the cursor is on selected input fields the
user will have access to local menus via the <F10> function key.
Some of these local menus are: Extra Payments, Fiscal Month and
Additional Interest Rates. Watch the help lines at the bottom of
a routine's screen to know when <F10> is an option.
<tab> moves the cursor from one field to the next field.
<shift><tab> moves the cursor back one field.
<PgUp> moves the cursor to the top of the column.
<PgDn> moves the cursor to the bottom field of the column.
<^PgUp> moves the cursor to the first field on screen.
<^PgDn> moves the cursor to the last field on screen.
<^Y> clears the field. That is, it deletes the contents of a
field. If you are having trouble entering data and SolveIt! is
beeping at you, try clearing the field using <^Y>. Then start
entering the data again.
<^R> restores the original contents of the field
<Home> moves the cursor to the beginning of the field.
<End> moves the to the end of the field.
<^ > (Ctrl left arrow) moves cursor a word at a time to the left.
<^ > (Ctrl right arrow) moves cursor a word at a time to the
right.
<Del> deletes character at the cursor.
<BackSpace> deletes character to left of the cursor.
<^Home> deletes from beginning of subfield to cursor. Example:
When entering a date in the 'MM/DD/YY' format, using <^Home>
while on the second 'D' of the 'DD' part of the date will delete
just the 'DD' part of the entry. In other words, the 'DD' is the
subfield.
7
SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
<^end> deletes from cursor to end of the subfield. This is the
opposite of the <^Home> key.
<^T> deletes word to right of the cursor.
<Ins> toggles insert mode on and off.
<Alt><F1> will display the previously called help topic.
8
SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
Help with Help
Press the <F1> key at any time to bring up a context sensi-
tive help window. If <F1> is pressed again when help is being
displayed, a list of help topics will be shown. You may use the
cursor keys to move to any topic. Press <Enter> and then help on
that topic will be displayed.
<Alt><F1> will display the previously called help topic.
<Esc> will exit a help window.
While in some help windows, one or more related help topics
may be shown. Use the cursor to move the highlight bar to one of
these topics and press <ENTER> to read the help information on
the related topic.
Also, always note the bottom right corner of the help window
to see if there is additional help information. This will be
indicated by the PgUp/PgDn indicators.
9
SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
Entering/Editing Information
There are three basic types of data or information that
SolveIt! will allow you to enter. The first data type is numeric.
Simply enter the appropriate value and press enter. If you need
to clear a value press <Y> while holding the <Ctrl> key. <^Y>
The second type of entry is a date type. Enter any valid date
in a MM/DD/YYYY format. Do not type in the </>'s. The program
provides them automatically. Also, with a date you can use the
<Tab> key to move to any one of the three fields (month, day or
year). Once at a field, enter the correct value and press enter.
When in the year field, it is possible to enter just the last two
years of a date and SolveIt! will fill in the missing first two
numbers if the year is in this century. In the month or day field
it is NOT necessary to supply a leading zero. You may enter 2 for
February. You do not need to enter 02. If you use this technique,
you must move to the next field by pressing the <Tab> key.
NOTE: If you do not enter a valid date, SolveIt! will beep
when you press enter.
The third data type is when you are limited to a few specific
choices. An example of this is Compound Period in the loan table
routine where the range of input is limited to 8 or so choices.
To change from one acceptable value to another, press either the
<space bar> or the dark gray <+> or <-> keys located on the right
side of the keyboard. Once the correct value is selected, you may
move on to the next field by pressing <Enter> or using the
appropriate cursor key or the <Tab> key.
10
SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
The Routines of SolveIt!
*** IMPORTANT ***
There are many questions or inputs that are common to several
routines. For example, Compounding Period needs to be set in many
of the routines. An explanation of questions that are used in
more than one routine are explained in the section of the manual
under the heading "The Questions". This section of the manual
looks at what a routine does and the questions unique to that
routine.
FINANCE:Future Value Routine
If an amount (either a single deposit or a series of depos-
its) is invested for a particular number of periods, what will it
be worth at the end of those periods?
The Technical Definition: The Future Value of a sum of cash
is the amount to which that sum will grow if it is invested at a
specified interest rate for a specified period of time. (From
Shillinglaw, Gordon, and Ronen)
Future Value of an Amount
If you are calculating the future value of a single deposit,
enter that deposit in the Present Value field. An amount should
also be entered in the Present Value field if you are calculating
the future value of a series of deposits when there is an initial
value greater than the first deposit.
The duration of the investment is controlled with the Total
Periods and Payment Period. If you want to find the FV of a
single deposit over several full years, set Payment Period to
ANNUALLY and then enter the number of years in the Total Periods
field. On the other hand, if you need to find the future value
for 8.15 years, you can enter 212 for Total Periods and set the
Payment Period to biweekly. (There are 212, two week periods in
8.15 years.) When you calculate the results, you should check the
Total Years field to verify that the duration is what you expect
it to be.
While the above method will produce an accurate result, note
that it is not possible to calculate the FV for a fractional
period. (That is, the future value cannot be calculated for 242.5
months, or 20.16 years, since this equals more than 480 two week
periods.) If you need to know the exact future value and interest
earned for a specific number of days, you should use the Interest
Due Routine. The advantage that this routine has over the
11
SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
Interest Due routine is that you can change rates, and print a
schedule besides calculating the FV of a series.
You should note that the changing the method of payment from
advance to arrears (or vise versa) has no affect on the result
when calculating the FV of a single deposit. Nor should it.
Example: In 10 1/2 years your eight year old son will be
starting college. He has a money market fund with $8,500 in it
earning 7% compounded daily. How much will it be worth when he
heads off to the ivy halls? Enter $8,500 for present value and 21
for Total Periods. The starting date is 02/10/91. Set the Payment
Period to semiannually and the compounding period to daily. Enter
$0 in the deposit field and 7% for the Annual Rate. At the end of
the 10 1/2 years the money will grow to $17,725.33. Note that the
results confirm that 21 semiannual periods is 10 1/2 years.
12
SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
Future Value of a Series
Deposit Amount
To calculate the future value of a series of deposits, enter
the deposits here. Unless you specifically change the deposit
amount or frequency, deposits are automatically made on each
payment date. That is, if the Payment Period is set to Quarterly,
then deposits are made every three months commencing three months
from the starting date.
When calculating the future value of a series you are limited
in the use of the Total Periods/Payment Period term technique
described above for establishing the term since the Payment
Period determines how often a deposit is made. (Of course if you
need a frequency of Biweekly and you only want to make monthly
deposits, you can manually skip deposits.)
To change the amount of a deposit or skip a deposit just
press <F10> when in the Deposit Amount field. Follow the on
screen prompts and make a selection from the menu. Once amounts
are changed, press <Esc> to return to the main Future Value
Screen. (If you enter a negative value, this will effectively
allow you to calculate the affects of a withdrawal from a savings
plan.)
Payment Method
Deposits made in advanced will be credited at the beginning
of the payment period BEFORE interest is calculated and will
therefore accumulate more interest than a deposit made in arrears
or at the end of the payment period.
You can also change the interest rate that the funds are
invested at. Press <F10> when in the Annual Rate field to make
changes. (You may clear all deposits using this option as well.
Select No Extra Payment from the menu.)
NOTE: All calculations in this routine are based upon a 365
day year.
Example: (From the H.P. Business calculator's manual.) What
is the value, after 7 years, of a series of $25 deposits com-
pounded daily at 5%? Enter 0 for the Present Value. Next enter 84
for the Total Periods, set the Payment Method to advance, set the
Payment Period to monthly and the compounding period to daily.
Enter $25 for the Deposit Amount and 5% for the Annual Rate.
Press <F9> and the result will be $2,519.61.
13
SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
Future Value Schedule
To display or print a schedule, press <Alt><S>. The destina-
tion menu will be displayed giving you the option of sending a
schedule to the screen, printer or to a disk file. The schedule
will display the future value at the end of each period. In
addition, it will show the accumulated interest and principal.
14
SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
FINANCE:Present Value Routines
Present Value is the opposite of Future Value. If an amount
is to be received in the future (Future Value), what would it be
equal to today (Present Value)?
The Technical Definition: Present Value is the amount if
invested now at the specified compound rate will yield the future
amount at the chosen future date OR will grow to equal the sum
value of the specified series of future payments. (From
Shillinglaw, Gordon, and Ronen)
From the FINANCE MENU two submenus are available. Select
either amount or series.
FINANCE:PRESENT VALUE:Amount
If you were owed $10,000 that is due in five years, what
amount should you accept as being of equal value today?
You are prompted for the future dollar amount, the term, com-
pounding period and the nominal interest rate.
Example: (From Accounting, A Management Approach Shillinglaw,
Gordon, and Ronen) What is the present value of $10,000 to be
received five years from now, assuming annual compounding at 8%.
Enter $10,000 in the Future Value field. Enter 5 for Total
Periods, set Compounding Period to Annually and enter 8% for the
Annual Rate. The result is $6,805.83.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
FINANCE:PRESENT VALUE:Series
If you are seeking a lump sum as settlement for a series of
future payments, this routine will tell you what lump sum amount
would be of equal value.
For example, if you won a court settlement that dictated that
you were to be paid 3 annual payments of $10,000, compounded
annually at 8%, you could accept $25,770.97 today as being of
equal value to the 3 annual payments. (Example taken from Ac-
counting, A Management Approach Shillinglaw, Gordon, and Ronen,
p. 797)
See "Some Relationships Between the Routines" for the
technique to use to find the present value of a series of cash
flows when the cash flow doesn't start until some future date.
When you are being prompted for payment amount, you can press
<F10> and you will be allowed to change the payment amount. In
other words, SolveIt! will calculate the present value of a
future series of irregular payments.
Present Value Schedule
Pressing <Alt><S> while in this routine will bring up the
destination menu. You have the three usual options of sending a
schedule to the screen, printer or to a disk file. The schedule
will show the series of payments and both the future value of the
series and the present value of the series.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
FINANCE:EVALUATIONS:Net Present Value
One method of evaluating the feasibility of a capital expen-
diture decision is to use the Net Present Value (NPV) method of
evaluation. The present value of the cash flows (both positive
and negative values can be entered) are determined using the
MINIMUM rate of return (discount rate) on an investment that you
will accept. The calculated result, if positive, tells you that
you are exceeding your minimum requirements and a negative value
tells you that you are not achieving your objective.
After the initial amount, discount rate and year are entered,
press <F10> to enter the cash flows. Press <F10> again to change
one of the three initial values.
Note that you can use <F9> to calculate only when the cursor
is in one of the three fields at the top of the screen.
Example: (Example taken from Accounting, A Management Ap-
proach Shillinglaw, Gordon, and Ronen) An Initial Amount of
$34,000 with cash flows of $10,000 in each of the first 5 years
equals a Net Present Value of $3,907.87 with a Discount Rate of
10%. Since the result is positive, the return is greater than
your minimum requirements.
Z
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
FINANCE:EVALUATIONS:Internal Rate of Return
The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) will take you to the bottom
line of a deal. It tells you the rate of return on a complex
series of cash flows. Measure this against what you can earn in a
risk-free investment to determine the desirability of the invest-
ment.
In technical terms, IRR is the discount rate that sets the
cash inflow and outflow to 0. More weight is given to the earlier
cash flow than to the later cash flow because of the time value
of money.
IMPORTANT NOTE: It is possible to get a technically correct
IRR result that has the value of garbage. If your investment
involves money out in the early years and money back in the later
years, you should get a useful result. However, if the cash flow
changes frequently from positive to negative OR if you actually
MAKE money in the first year (therefore having a negative invest-
ment), you will have to trust your judgement on the value of the
calculated IRR.
Z
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
FINANCE:Time to Withdrawal or Annuity Payout
The Annuity Payout Routine will tell you how long an amount
will last and display a pay out schedule assuming a withdrawal at
some regular interval. The withdrawal amount may be increased by
an inflation factor.
Enter the starting amount (Present Value) and the amount that
you want to withdraw. If you want this amount to increase because
of inflation, enter an inflation factor at the "Inflation"
prompt, otherwise the withdrawn amount will remain constant.
Withdrawal Amount
This is the amount that you would like to withdrawal each
payment period.
Note, this amount can automatically be increased by an infla-
tion factor. This is done, of course, so that you can project the
time it will take to deplete the funds while maintaining a
constant standard of living.
Annuity Paid
Annuities can be calculated using one of two payment methods.
Annuity Due is the more common payment calculation method,
with payment made at the end of the period in which interest is
earned.
Annuity in Advance has payments made before the next interest
is earned (calculated), so interest is earned only on the balance
remaining after the payment is subtracted.
Thus, Annuity Due yields higher total payout with the differ-
ence being greater with less frequency of payment.
Example: You are now thinking about retirement. You have cash
accounts totaling $400,000. Your monthly take home pay is pres-
ently $3,328.68, so this is the amount that you use for Withdraw-
al Amount. Set the payment and compounding period to monthly. Set
the Annuity Paid to advance, Inflation to 0%, and the Annual Rate
to 10%. Under this scenario, the 400,000 will last 50.8 years.
There will be 601 monthly payments and the total amount returned
will be $1,997,262.88. (This example was taken from the H.P.
Calculator's manual.)
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
Annuity Schedule
SolveIt! will print or display an annuity schedule. Press
<Alt><S> any time from within this routine, you will see the
usual destination menu. Pick the destination, and SolveIt! will
prepare the schedule. The schedule will show the withdrawal
amount and the interest earned for each period. It will also show
the remaining balance, total interest paid and the total princi-
pal and interest paid.
Solving for Payment Amount
At times, you may wish to solve for the payment amount. That
is, instead of having SolveIt! tell you how long funds will last
assuming a particular withdrawal amount, you may want to assume
that you will need your principal to last for a specified number
of payments and you will want SolveIt! to be able to tell you how
much you can withdrawal.
This can easily be accomplished. Simply use the Loan Calcula-
tor routine and solve for Periodic Payment. If you cross check
this with the Time to Withdrawal Routine, you will see that there
may be a slight difference in results. This is due to the fact
that when you solve for the term using the Time to Withdrawal
routine, the program will calculate a fractional final payment.
The loan calculator, on the other hand, assumes that all payments
are equal.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
FINANCE:Required Payment
What payment amount is needed to reach some future sum?
You supply the Future Value, the Total Periods (term), Pay-
ment Period, Compounding Period and Annual Interest rate. Press
<F9> and SolveIt! will calculate the Payment Amount needed, the
Total Invested and the amount returned above principal (Gain).
This is a particularly handy routine when used in conjunction
with the "Purchasing Power Routine". For example, if the College
of your choice currently costs $12,000 per year, use the Purchas-
ing Power routine (effects of inflation) to see how much it will
cost in the future when your kids actually start to go to school.
You can then use this routine to see how much you will need to
save to reach the new amount, after inflation.
For example: You have determined that your daughter's college
education will cost $55,000. You want to start a regular savings
plan so that you will have the $55,000 when she starts school in
fourteen years. Enter $55,000 for Future Value, 168 for Total
Periods. Set the Payment Period to monthly and the Compounding
Period to daily. Enter 7% for Annual Rate. You will have to save
$193.33 each month to meet your goal. Also note that at 7%
interest, it takes 9.9 years for your money to double.
The same procedure can be used to plan for retirement or for
any large purchase for that matter.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
FINANCE:Interest Rate Earned
Routine calculates the compound rate of return on an invest-
ment liquidated at the end of the specified period.
Example: Assume that the Amount Invested is $14,500 and that
the Amount Returned is $23,303. Assume that you want to compare
this to an investment that compounds monthly and that the term is
5 years. (Enter 60 for Total Periods since 60 monthly periods is
equal to 5 years.) This scenario is the same as having money
invested in a monthly compounding instrument at an annual rate of
9.53%.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
FINANCE:Equivalent Rate
Which nominal rate yields a higher return, 9.25% compounded
quarterly or 9.10% compounded daily? Use this routine to find the
answer.
Actual Periods
This is how the investment is actually compounded.
Desired Periods
This is how you want it to be compounded.
The calculated result will give you the rate equal to the
rate entered but compounded at the desired frequency.
Example: The local bank is advertising money market accounts
paying a nominal annual rate of 8.5% compounded daily. Enter 8.5%
in the Annual Rate field and set the Actual Periods to Daily. For
different reasons you want to invest in an instrument through
your stock broker that compounds semiannually. Set the desired
periods to Semiannually. The investment compounding semiannually
has to have a nominal rate of 8.68% to equal the return that the
bank is paying.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
FINANCE:Purchasing Power
The purchasing power of a dollar is calculated in two ways:
The equal value (Equivalent Purchasing Power) will calculate
how much you will need in the future to have the equivalent value
as the amount today.
Example: It will take $1,276.28 five years in the future to
buy what $1000 will buy today if the average rate of inflation is
5%. You can use this result to know how an investment is doing in
terms of "Constant Dollars."
The actual value (Declining Purchasing Power) shows what the
starting amount will buy in current dollars at some point in the
future. For example, $1000 will buy $773.78 worth of goods or
services in five years with an average rate of inflation of 5%.
Inflation rates can be adjusted for each annual period. Just
press <F10> when on the Annual Rate field and enter the rates. To
change the Starting Amount or Year, press <F10> again.
Press <F9> to calculate. (<F9> is only active when you are in
the Present Value or First Year field.)
This is a handy routine when used in conjunction with other
routines. For example, suppose you are financing a home using a
standard 30 year fixed rate mortgage. If you paid $150,000 for
the home, calculate what the home will be worth at the end of the
30 years assuming some rate of inflation. Then look at the
Amortization Schedule to see what the house actually cost you
(principal plus interest). The difference will be the profit or
loss. (Not considering any tax consequences.)
Note: if the result of this calculation is in excess of
$999,999,999 (999 million), an "Out of Range" error message is
displayed in the upper left corner of the screen. Change a value
and recalculate.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
LOAN ANALYSIS:Loan Calculator
The Loan Calculator routine will solve for any one of the
following: Amount of Loan, Total Payments (term), Annual Rate or
Periodic Payment. Enter the known values for any of the three and
0 (that is the number "0" not the letter "O") for the unknown.
Press <F9> to calculate. The payment method may be either payment
in advanced or payment in arrears. To change, move the cursor to
that field and press the space bar. Payment and compounding
periods may be set the same way.
While the calculator will solve for the annual rate it is
technically an approximation. There is no mathematical formula to
solve for rate and therefore it must be accomplished via interpo-
lation. To see how close the result is, repeat the problem, but
use the rate that SolveIt! suggests and enter a zero (0) for
Periodic Payment. Press <F9> to calculate. If the payment does
not change, then the interest rate calculation was very accurate.
If is reasonable to expect that the payment amount will change by
several cents.
NOTE: While solving for the rate, it is possible for SolveIt!
to take longer than other calculations. Therefore it will display
intermediate results. WAIT FOR THE ASTERISK TO APPEAR TO BE SURE
THAT THE CALCULATION IS DONE.
NOTE: The compounding period must be either shorter in dura-
tion or equal to the payment period.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
LOAN ANALYSIS:Loan Table
SolveIt! will display a classical loan table. That is, it
will show how each payment is applied to interest and principal.
You can display a table for a loan year, calendar year or a
fiscal year. The table will calculate a total for payments,
interest and principal for both the year displayed (YTD Totals)
and from the beginning of the loan through the last payment of
the particular year (Running TTLS).
Enter loan data as you do for all routines.
See the section "The Questions" for an explanation of the
inputs that are common to other routines. The following inputs
are uniquely applicable to the Loan Table.
Payment Method
A loan may be calculated using one of two payment methods,
Payment in Arrears or Payment in Advanced. Payment in Arrears is
the most common method of payment calculation. Simply stated,
payment in arrears is when the first payment is due exactly one
pay period after receipt of the borrowed funds. Since there was
use of the funds for that one period, interest is due for that
period when the first payment is made.
Payment in Advance is when the first payment is due on the
first day that the funds are available (origination date of the
loan). Therefore, since there has been no use of the funds when
the first payment is made, the entire first payment is applied
toward reducing the principal. Leases are usually written using
the payment in advance method.
Display Year
SolveIt! can be set to display an amortization table by the
loan year, calendar year or fiscal year. A loan year is used to
see the cost of the loan for any complete 12 month period from
the first payment date. A fiscal year display is used to coincide
the display with a tax year. If a tax year is the calendar year,
use the calendar year display.
To set the FIRST month of a fiscal year, press <F10> and
select the month from the menu by typing the capital letter in
the month's name or move the bar to the month's name by using the
up and down cursor keys and then select by pressing <Enter>.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
Amortizing Method
There are 5 ways that SolveIt! can apply a payment. Normal is
the most common method used for a mortgage. It is also known by
the names of Equal Payment or Level Payment Mortgage. Under the
normal payment method the payment amount is the same (except for
possibly the last one) for the duration of the loan as long as
the interest rate does not change.
Under the US Rule the payment amount is the same and payments
are applied in exactly the same way as under the normal method
EXCEPT when interest is being accrued (during negative amortiza-
tion). The US Rule does not allow for interest to be charged on
accrued interest.
The Rules-of-78 applies interest faster than the normal
method. This is often used by banks for short term consumer loans
on items such as cars. NOTE: When payments are made on schedule
for the entire duration of the loan, the total interest paid will
be the same whether the Rules-of-78 or the Normal method is used.
The Fixed Principal Method applies the same amount of each
payment to the principal. The payments get smaller as the princi-
pal is paid down and less interest is due for each period.
The Interest Only Method calculates a payment amount so that
only the interest is paid on the loan up until the last payment
is due. At that time a balloon is due equal to the original
amount of the loan plus the last period's interest.
Days Per Year
Payments and amortization may be calculated using either a
360 or a 365 day year. The 360 day year is the most commonly used
value, and this is the default for SolveIt!. This setting only
affects the results when compounding is set to daily.
Annual Rate
The value that is enter will be the effective rate for the
entire loan unless <F10> is pressed to change the rate for
different periods.
CAUTION: Entering a rate in this field will NOT set that rate
for the entire loan unless this is the first time a rate is being
entered. To set the same interest rate for the entire term of the
loan, press <F10> and select Paid Interest Rate from the menu. If
you pick FIXED from the next menu, you will be prompted to cancel
all adjustable rate entries.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
HINT: If you need to enter additional (adjustable) rates,
enter those rates BEFORE filling in this field by pressing <F10>.
This saves you the trouble of entering a rate, pressing <Enter>
and then finding yourself in the Amount of Loan field. However,
if you are in the Amount of Loan field and wish to go back to
Annual Rate field, hit the UP arrow.
Extra Payments Applied Toward Principal
To enter extra payments, press <F10> while being asked for
the Amount of Loan. You will be shown a menu that will give you
the opportunity to enter extra payment amounts annually on the
anniversary date of the loan OR periodically when any payment is
made. Make the appropriate selection. Then using SolveIt's
standard editing techniques, enter any extra payments that are
made.
Press <F10> while entering extra payments, to copy an extra
payment over several consecutive payment periods. This is much
faster than keying in a regular extra payment. If you want to pay
an extra $100 every payment period, enter the $100 amount, then
enter the first period that it will be paid in and the final
period that you expect to make the payment in. Press <F9> to
execute the copy over the periods.
A word of CAUTION. If you enter an extra payment for the last
period of the loan when the REGULAR PAYMENT is equal to or
greater than the remaining balance, it will confuse SolveIt!.
SolveIt! will not understand why you want to make an extra
payment when the regular payment would be more than the remaining
balance. (And in fact, neither can we.) If you did this, simply
adjust the extra payment.
Of course this method can be used to zero out extra payments.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
Setting the Payment Amount
Using the above procedure for entering extra payments, you
can set any payment you want to use to amortize the loan. For
example, suppose SolveIt! calculates a monthly payment of $835.50
and you want to amortize a loan using an $800 payment instead.
Enter -$35.50 in the extra payment fields (use the copy feature
to copy it across all periods) to reduce the monthly payment to
$800.
This is the technique used to display an amortization sched-
ule with a balloon payment. Use the Balloon Payment routine to
calculate the needed periodic payment. Then return to this
routine and enter the DIFFERENCE between what the Loan Table
calculates and what the Balloon Payment routine calculates.
Once all data is entered press <F9> to calculate and display
the loan table.
The Loan Table Display
WHEN A TABLE IS DISPLAYED, pressing the <Esc> key will exit
the routine. Pressing <R> will allow you to enter new or edit
existing data. Pressing <N> will display the next year. If you
are at the last year pressing <N> will redisplay the first year.
Pressing <A> will allow you to display any year. When prompted
enter a four digit year. For example 1990 or 2001.
The <S> key will open a summary window. You can summarize the
loan through any period. See Summary Window below for details.
WHEN A LOAN TABLE IS DISPLAYED, you can print a schedule for
any range of periods by pressing <F3>. Just follow the on screen
prompts. Also, all data for a loan can be saved by pressing <F2>.
THE SAVING AND PRINTING FEATURES ARE AVAILABLE ONLY IN VER-
SION 4.1.
When an asterisk (*) appears in the payment column, that
indicates that an extra payment was made on that payment date.
When an asterisk (*) appears in the date column, that indi-
cates that the interest PAYMENT changed on that date.
NOTE: If the loan is calculated in arrears, then the RATE
actually changed on the preceding payment date.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
Negative Amortization
Negative Amortization occurs when the payment being made does
not cover the interest due for the period. The amount owed is
growing. (If you are using normal amortization, interest is
charged on accumulated interest. If you are using the U.S. Rule,
then interest will not be charged on accumulated interest.)
Negative Amortization most often occurs during the early
years of a mortgage. Banks will make a loan and collect interest
based upon a lower rate than what is actually being charged. This
gives them a competitive edge and allows the borrower to make a
lower payment during the early years of a loan. All the while
though, interest is accruing (the balance is growing) due to the
artificially low rate.
To amortize a negative loan, you must first enter both the
Paid Rates and the Accrued Rates (see below). The paid rate is
the LOWER rate that the payment is actually being based upon. The
Accrued Rate is the HIGHER rate that is actually being charged.
(For a negative amortizing loan, the rates would never be fixed.)
Once both the accrued and paid rates are entered, the loan is
ready to be amortized. Hit <ESC> once from either rate entry
screen and you will be back at the main SolveIt! screen. Press
<F9> to calculate.
One thing. To amortize the loan correctly, at some point
the Accrued Rate must be 0% and the Paid Rate must be equal to or
higher than the previously entered Accrued Rate.
Paid Rate
The paid rate is the rate that payments are actually based
upon during the early years of a negative amortizing loan. This
rate is lower than the Accrued Rate.
Press <F10> while on the annual rate field to bring up the
local Paid/Accrued menu.
Accrued Rate
The accrued rate is the rate that is actually used to deter-
mine the interest that will be due on the outstanding balance.
To set the accrued rate, put the cursor on the Annual Rate
Field and press <F10>. Follow the on screen prompts.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
Summary Window
One of the unique features of SolveIt! is the Summary Window.
This window will detail the total principal and interest paid
through any period as well as the interest saved as the result of
extra payments paid to principal. The remaining balance will be
shown if there is any.
To use this feature, simply press <S> when an amortization
schedule is displayed on the screen. A window will appear and you
will be asked for the period number that you want the loan
summarized through. Enter that value and press enter. The loan
will then be summarized (this may take a while, depending upon
the number of periods) and a window will be displayed with the
summary details.
A word of CAUTION when using this feature. If you had entered
a series of extra payments through the ending period, the summary
window will add all of those extra payments up and include them
in the total of extra payments paid even though the loan is paid
off. (After all, you did tell the program that you were making
those extra payments, didn't you!).
The way to avoid this problem is simple. Enter (or use the
copy feature) all of the extra payments that you might make
through the last period, then run the amortization schedule on
the screen and note at what period the loan is paid off as the
result of the extra payments. Then go back to the extra payment
screen and cancel or zero out all of the extra payments from the
new last payment period on. Now, when you look at the summary
screen, the extra payment total will be accurate.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
LOAN ANALYSIS:Remaining Balance
This routine, as it says, will calculate the remaining bal-
ance of a loan. The result is calculated after the payment is
made. So if you want to pay off a loan when you are making the
100th payment, you will want to know the balance due after the
99th payment is made.
Balance After Payment
Enter the payment period number that you want the remaining
balance calculated up to. That is, this routine assumes that the
payment was made for this period, and that you want to know what
the balance is after this payment is made.
Example: Assume that you have a mortgage for $176,500, with
360 monthly payments at a rate of 9.25% compounded monthly.
Payment is set to arrears. To find the remaining balance of the
loan after 5 years, enter 60 in the Balance After Payment #
field. The result is $169,553.27.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
LOAN ANALYSIS:Balloon Payment
This routine works differently from earlier versions of the
program. You now tell the program how much of a balloon you want
to pay or collect (Balloon Payment field) after which payment
number (Payment # Balloon Due), and SolveIt! will calculate what
the regular payment would be in order to have the balloon amount
that you desire.
The balloon is actually the remaining balance of the loan at
a particular point. This routine will allow you to structure a
loan so that an amount due is paid off in a relatively short
period of time, but at a payment amount that would be less than
required to amortize the entire loan in a short time span. By
setting the balloon amount, you can control the rate at which the
principal is paid down. Often, this will be faster than if the
loan were amortized over the longer period of time.
Balloon Payment
The remaining balance of the loan at the point that you want
to collect that balance.
Payment # Balloon Due
The payment number you want to collect the balloon on. The
value must be less than the total number of payments.
Example: Assume that you want to borrow $250,000 for a house
but you cannot find a lender willing to lend you this amount for
a term that is long enough to give you an affordable payment. If
you structure a loan with a balloon of $225,000 after 5 years,
you may be able to swing a deal. Assuming an interest rate of
9.75%, your monthly payment would be $2,356.23 or a great deal
less than the payment for a five year loan. (This assumes monthly
payments and compounding with payments made in arrears.)
To print an amortization schedule with a balloon see "setting
the payment amount" under Loan Table.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
LOAN ANALYSIS:Accelerated Payment
This is a very fast and easy routine to use to show how much
interest you will save if you make extra REGULAR payments. You
will be able to set the extra amount you want to have applied
toward the principal starting after whatever payment number you
wish.
If you want to make IRREGULAR payments or you want to vary
the amount of each payment, use the Amortization Routine to key
in the extra payments. Then use the summary feature to show the
interest saved.
Increase After Payment
Enter the payment number after which the extra payment is to
be applied. If you have a 48 month loan, and you want to start
sending an extra $100 after the first year, then enter 12 since
you will send the first extra amount with the 13th payment.
Extra $ Paid
How much extra money are you going to send along with each
payment. Enter the dollar amount.
Periods to Pay Off
This result tells you how many TOTAL periods it will actually
take to pay the loan off as the result of the extra payments.
Don't become confused. This is NOT the number of periods of extra
payments.
Example: In the early years of a normal mortgage, most of the
payment amount goes toward paying interest. (If you don't believe
this, just look at the Loan Table routine.) You can save yourself
a lot of this interest expense by paying a small extra amount to
be applied toward principal early in the loan. Take a 30 year
$250,000 mortgage at 10.5%. If, after the fifth year (Increase
AFTER Period 60) you want to send an extra $150 with each pay-
ment, you will pay the loan off in less than 25 years and you
will save $116,055.89 in interest. This $150 is only about a 7%
increase in the monthly payment. (This example is assuming
payment in arrears, along with monthly payments and monthly
compounding.)
The effects of accelerated payments will be greater the
higher the interest rate, the sooner they are begun and the
longer the term.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
SUGGESTION: If you are making extra payments to principal on
a loan, we suggest that you do so by making the payment with a
separate check, and plainly writing on the check that it is a
principal payment.
After you mail the payment, follow it up with a phone call to
the lender to make sure that the payment was applied toward
principal. Even though we have clearly stated in letters that
were included with these checks that we were making a payment to
be applied toward principal, our bank has used it to pay the next
payment early in more than half the cases that we sent in the
extra payments. (That is they use the extra payment to pay the
next payment due, rather than to apply the entire check toward
principal. Of course this does not save the borrower any money!)
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
LOAN ANALYSIS:Interest Due
It is often necessary to know how much interest is due when
1) a loan is being paid off on other than a payment due date or
2) to check the interest being paid on an investment. The Inter-
est Due routine will calculate the interest that is due between
any two dates or for any number of days. Enter the first date
(usually the day the last payment was made) and then enter either
the date that the loan is being paid off or skip to the next
field and enter the number of days for calculating the interest.
Start/Last Date
Enter the Start and Last Dates for the period that the money
is outstanding.
NOTE: It is not necessary to enter a Start or Last date. If
you enter a Start Date and enter a positive number for the Number
of Days, then the Last Date is automatically calculated. If you
enter the Last Date and enter a negative number for the Number of
Days, then the Start Date is automatically calculated. Using the
above procedure, it is possible to determine the date X days from
a specific date.
Number of Days
The number of days for which interest is due.
NOTE: It is not necessary to enter a value for the Number of
Days. If you enter both a Start Date and a Last Date, then the
number of days is automatically calculated for you. This, of
course, is the classic days between dates routine.
The range of acceptable values here is from -9,999 to 32,000.
If you enter a negative number of days, SolveIt! will calculate
the Start Date. If you enter a positive number, the Last Date
will be calculated.
Compounding Period
This routine supports 10 compounding periods. Besides the
normal daily, weekly, biweekly etc., this routine supports simple
interest and continuous compounding as well.
"None" is to be selected when you want to calculate simple
interest. That is, there is no compounding.
"Continuous" compounding assumes that funds are earning
interest constantly. This is a higher frequency of compounding
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than daily and of course will result in the largest return on a
deposit. (Or the highest interest bill if you are paying inter-
est!)
Further Note: The last two fields on the Interest Due screen
tells you the day of the week for the Start and Last Date.
Enter the amount that is outstanding on the loan and the
interest rate. Select the compounding period and days per year.
Press <F9> to calculate the results.
Example: If you need to find the interest due for 45 days and
you are assuming monthly compounding enter the Start Date, skip
the Last Date, and enter 45 for the Number of Days. Enter $20,000
for the Amount. Enter an interest rate, say 7.675% and set the
compounding period to monthly and the days per year to 360. The
result will be $20,187.99
While this routine is designed to find the interest due and
future value of a single amount, it is possible to calculate both
for a series of payments. The method is simple but tedious.
Calculate the results for each payment and then sum the results.
(You should use the future value routine under the finance menu
to calculate the FV of a series. The only reason you would use
the Interest Due Routine is to achieve a higher degree of
accuracy needed because of fractional periods.)
This routine uses a technique that converts the nominal rate
at the compounding frequency that you select to an equal nominal
rate for daily compounding. Interest is then calculated for the
exact number of days. This MAY result in a SLIGHTLY different
amount of interest due if the rate had not been converted but
rather interest was figured using a fractional period technique
at the compounding frequency selected.
NOTE: The calendar math routine from version 3.0/3.1 has been
incorporated into this routine.
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DEPRECIATION
NOTE: What ever appears in quotes, is a quote from IRS Publi-
cation 534 Depreciation, For Use In Preparing 1989 Returns. Pine
Grove Software makes no attempt to interpret the regulations and
laws governing depreciation. Please consult your accountant, tax
advisor or another specialist regarding the application of these
routines. You should also have a copy of Publication 534.
"Depreciation is the annual deduction you can take to recover
the cost of business or income producing property that is used
for more than one tax year. The section 179 deduction lets you
deduct in the tax year you first use certain business property a
limited amount of the cost of that property." Certain limits
apply.
"Before ACRS was enacted, other methods were used to figure
depreciation if you placed your property in service before 1981,
or if your property does not qualify for ACRS or MACRS, you must
still use these methods. However, you cannot use these methods
for property that qualifies for ACRS or MACRS."
"There are many different methods of figuring depreciation
that are acceptable. You may use any acceptable method that is
reasonable if you apply it consistently. It is your responsi-
bility to show that your method is reasonable. The conditions at
the end of your tax year during which you depreciate a piece of
property determine whether or not your method is reasonable."
Five Depreciation Methods Defined
1) MACRS
"The modified accelerated cost recovery system (MACRS), also
referred to as the 'General Depreciation System' or 'GDS,'
applies to all tangible property placed in service after 1986.
You could have made a property by property election to use MACRS
for tangible property placed in service after July 31, 1986, and
before January 1, 1987."
NOTE: Currently, SolveIt! does NOT support a MACRS deduction
in a short tax year.
2) ACRS
From the IRS Publication 534 for 1989 returns:
"ACRS (accelerated cost recovery system) was mandatory for
most tangible depreciation assets placed in service after 1980
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and before 1987. You must continue to figure your depreciation
under ACRS for assets placed in service after 1980 and before
1987. You must use MACRS for assets placed in service after 1986
except for transition property and certain excluded property."
"You cannot use ACRS for property you placed in service
before 1981 or after 1986. ACRS also cannot be used for intangi-
ble depreciable property."
NOTE: ACRS deduction in a short tax year is NOT supported
3) Sum-of-Years
This depreciation method multiplies the remaining book value
by the ratio of the number of remaining years to the sum of the
years of life. If the life of the asset is five years, the sum of
the years of life is:
5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 15
4) Straight Line
From IRS Publication 534 for 1989 returns:
"You may use this method for every kind of depreciable prop-
erty. It lets you deduct the same amount of depreciation each
year."
"To figure your deduction, first determine your property's
adjusted basis, salvage value, and estimated useful life..."
"If in the first year, you use the property for less than a
full year, your depreciation deduction must be prorated for the
number of months in use."
"This calculation is automatically made for your and is
determined by the date that you enter for the 'placed in service
date.'
5) Declining Balance
From IRS Publication 534 for 1989 returns:
"For certain type of property, the declining balance method
allows you to use a speeded-up rate of depreciation. The rate may
be one and one-half times or one and one-quarter times the
straight line rate."
Enter either 125 or 150 for the acceleration percentage.
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Questions/Terms common to the Depreciation Routines:
Declining Balance Acceleration Percentage
From IRS Publication 534 for 1989 returns:
"One and one-half times the straight line rate. Under the
declining balance method, you may use a rate of depreciation
equal to 150% of the straight line rate for certain types of
property. To use this rate the property must be used tangible
personal property (used section 1245 property other than MACRS or
ACRS property) with a useful life of 3 or more years."
"One and one-fourth times the straight line rate. Under the
declining balance method, you may use a rate of depreciation of
125% of the straight line rate of certain used residential rental
property... To qualify, the property must have a useful life of
20 years or more..."
Enter either 125 or 150. DO NOT enter a percent sign.
Recovery Period
Enter values from 1 to 42. For the Straight Line, Sum-of-
Years and Declining Balance methods, this is also known as the
useful life. It is an estimate of how long you can use a piece of
property in your trade or business.
Book Value or Basis
Your original basis is usually the purchase price of the
item. You may enter values from $1 to $99,999,999.
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DEPRECIATION:MACRS Methods
Per IRS Publication 534 for the 1989 Tax Year:
Accelerated (Declining Balance) Method:
"For property in the 3-,5-,7-, or 10-year class, you use the
double (200%) declining balance method over 3, 5, 7, or 10 years
and a half-year convention (defined later). For property in the
15- or 20-year class, you use the 150% declining balance method
over 15 or 20 years and a half-year convention. For these classes
of property, you change to the straight line method for the first
tax year for which that method when applied to the adjusted basis
at the beginning of the year will yield a larger deduction. You
always use the straight line method and a mid-month convention
for nonresidential real property and residential rental property"
NOTE: This program will automatically make the switch to the
straight line method when appropriate.
Alternate MACRS Method ("Alternative Depreciation System" or
"ADS"):
"If you choose, you may use the alternate MACRS method...for
most property. Under this method depreciation is figured using a
straight line method..." (S/L) "... of depreciation with no
salvage value. The recovery periods for property under the
alternate MACRS method are as follows:
Personal property with no class life 12 years
Nonresidential real and
residential rental property 40 years
Section 1245 property that is real property
with no class life 40 years
Automobiles and light duty trucks 5 years
Computers and peripheral equipment 5 years
Single purpose agricultural
and horticultural structures 15 years
Any tree or vine
bearing fruit or nuts 20 years
Most other property class life"
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"The convention for nonresidential real and residential
rental property is the mid-month convention. For all other
property the half-year or mid-quarter convention is used."
MACRS Basis/Book
From IRS Publication 534 for 1989 returns:
"Basis. To deduct the proper amount of depreciation each
year, you must first determine your basis in the property you
intend to depreciate. The basis used for figuring MACRS deprecia-
tion is your original basis in the property reduced by any
section 179 deduction claimed on the property. Your original
basis is usually the purchase price. However, if you acquire the
property in some other way, such as inheriting it, getting it as
a gift, or building it yourself, you may have to figure your
original basis in another way."
NOTE: The 179 deduction is automatically handled by the program
using MACRS but NOT using the ACRS method of depreciation.
The range of values accepted is from $1 to $99,999,999.
IRS Convention
From IRS Publication 534 for 1989 returns:
"A half-year convention is used to figure the deduction for
property other than non-residential real and residential rental
property. Under a special rule, a mid-quarter convention may have
to be used as discussed later. For non-residential real and
residential rental property, a mid-month convention is used in
all situations."
"Half-year convention. Under MACRS, the half-year convention
treats all property placed in service, or disposed of, during a
tax year as placed in service, or disposed of, on the midpoint of
that tax year."
"A half-year of depreciation is allowable for the first year
property is placed in service, regardless of when the property is
placed in service during the tax year."
"Mid-quarter convention. If during any tax year the total
bases of depreciable property placed in service during the last 3
months of that tax year exceed 40% of the total bases of all
depreciable property placed in service during that tax year
(whether or not all of the property is subject to MACRS), you use
a mid-quarter convention instead of a half-year convention. In
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determining the total bases of the property, you do not include
the basis of either:
Residential rental property,
Nonresidential real property, or
Property placed in service and disposed of in the same tax
year."
"Under a mid-quarter convention, all property placed in
service, or disposed of, during any quarter of a tax year is
treated as placed in service, or disposed of, on the midpoint of
the quarter."
"A quarter is a period of three months. The first quarter is a
tax year begins on the first day of the tax year. The second
quarter begins on the first day of the fourth month of the tax
year. The third quarter begins on the first day of the seventh
month of the tax year. The fourth quarter begins on the first day
of the tenth month of the tax year. A calendar year is divided
into the following quarters:
First ........... January, February, March
Second........... April, May, June
Third ........... July, August, September
Fourth .......... October, November, December"
NOTE: SolveIt! only supports calendar year tax years!
However, by using a date other than the actual "Placed into
Service" date you can trick the program to give you the correct
amount of depreciation for any year. Example: If your tax year
ends on June 30 and you place a depreciable piece of property
into service on May 15, you would tell the program that you place
the item into service on November 15.
"Mid-month convention. For nonresidential real and residen-
tial rental property, a mid-month convention is used in all
situations. Under a mid-month convention all property placed in
service, or disposed of, during any month is treated as placed in
service, or disposed of, on the midpoint of that month.
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Placed Into Service
From IRS Publication 534 for 1989 returns:
"For depreciation purposes, property is considered placed in
service when it is in a condition or state of readiness and
availability for a specifically assigned function whether in a
trade or business, in the production of income, in a tax-exempt
activity, or in a personal activity. However, depreciation
applies only to property placed in service in a trade or business
or in the production of income. For example, if property is
placed in service in a personal use, no depreciation would be
allowable. If the use of the property is changed to a business or
income producing activity, depreciation would begin at the time
of the change in use."
You must enter the date in a MM/DD/YYYY format. The program
will not accept dates that are not allowable under a particular
method of depreciation.
IMPORTANT NOTE: While the program does, to some degree,
restrict the range of allowable dates. It only does so for a
particular method. While ARCS is from 1981 through 1986, the 18
year recovery "is section 1250 class property placed in service
after March 15, 1984." The program WILL allow you to pick a date
before this date because ARCS, in general, is permitted prior to
this date. Again, BE CAREFUL!!!!!
MACRS Recovery Period
From IRS Publication 534 for 1989 returns:
"Under MACRS, tangible property that you place in service
after 1986, or after July 31, 1986, if elected, falls into one of
the following classes.
3-year property. This class includes property with a class
life of 4 years or less....
5-year property. This class includes property with a class
life of more than 4 years but less than 10 years...
7-year property. This class includes property with a class
life of 10 years or more but less than 16 years...
10-year property. This class includes property with a class
life of 16 years or more but less than 20 years...
15-year property. This class includes property with a class
life of 20 years or more but less than 25 years...
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20-year property. This class includes property with a class
life of 25 years or more...
Nonresidential real property. This class includes any real
property that is not residential rental property and any real
property that is section 1250 property with a class life of 27.5
years or more. This property is depreciated over 31.5 years.
Residential rental property. This class includes any real
property that is a rental building or structure (including mobile
homes) for which 80% or more of the gross rental income for the
tax year is rental income from dwelling units. If any part of the
building or structure is occupied by the taxpayer, the gross
rental income includes the fair rental value of the part the
taxpayer occupies. This property is depreciated over 27.5 years."
179 Deduction
From IRS Publication 534 for 1989 returns:
"You may elect to treat all or part of the cost of certain
qualifying property as an expense rather than as a capital
expenditure. You must decide for each item of qualifying property
whether to deduct, subject to the yearly limit, or capitalize and
depreciate the property's cost. If you make the election for a
deduction, a limited amount of the cost of qualifying property
you purchase for use in your trade or business is deductible in
the first year you place the property in service."
"Amounts to deduct. The total cost you may elect to deduct
for a tax year may not exceed $10,000."
"While the maximum amount that may be deducted is $10,000,
there are certain provisions that can reduce the maximum."
NOTE: The program recognizes this $10,000 limit and will not
allow you to claim a larger amount. HOWEVER, there is no way we
can determine whether or not you are entitled to the maximum
amount. CHECK WITH YOUR TAX ADVISOR!
FURTHER NOTE: The limit has not always been $10,000. In
earlier years (prior to 1989) it was less. Again, check with an
authority.
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MACRS Acceleration
From IRS Publication 534 for 1989 returns:
Under MACRS and "for property in the 3-, 5-, 7-, or 10-year
class, you use the double (200%) declining balance method over 3,
5, 7, or 10 years and a half-year convention... For property in
the 15- or 20-year class, you use the 150% declining balance
method over 15 or 20 years and a half-year convention..."
Toggle between either 150 or 200 using either the <SpaceBar>
or the <+> or <-> keys on the numeric keypad.
If the property is not used 100% for business, enter the
percentage of business use.
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DEPRECIATION:ACRS
From IRS Publication 534 for 1989 returns:
"You figure your ARCS deduction by multiplying your unadjust-
ed basis in recovery property by its applicable percentage for
the year. Unadjusted basis is the same amount you would use to
compute a gain on a sale not reduced for any depreciation but
reduced by the amount you properly amortize or by the amount you
elect to deduct under section 179., as discussed earlier. If you
buy property, your unadjusted basis is usually its cost minus any
amortized amount and any section 179 deduction elected. If you
acquire property in some other way, such as by inheriting it,
getting it as a gift, or building it yourself, you must figure
your unadjusted basis under other rules. See Publication 551."
The range of values accepted is from $1 to $99,999,999.
Accelerated Method:
From IRS Publication 534 for 1989 returns:
The Accelerated Method "allows you to recover the unadjusted
basis of recovery property over a recovery period... The deduc-
tion is figured by multiplying your unadjusted basis in the
property by the applicable recovery percentage."
SolveIt! already knows the "applicable recovery percentage"
so you are NOT prompted to key it in.
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Alternate ACRS Method S/L
"At your election you could have used a method for recovering
the unadjusted basis of your recovery property that used a
recovery percentage based on a modified straight line method.
Generally, this alternate ACRS method uses percentages other than
those from the tables."
The program specifically supports the following Alternate
ACRS Percentages:
3 years................33.333%
5 years................20.000%
10 years...............10.000%
12 years................8.333%
15 years................6.667%
25 years ...............4.000%
35 years ...............2.857%
It specifically does NOT support any Alternate ARCS calcula-
tions that are based upon the IRS tables. (These tables may be
incorporated in a later version of the program.)
From IRS Publication 534 for 1989 returns:
"Each item of recovery property is assigned to a class of
property. The classes of recovery property establish the recovery
periods over which the unadjusted basis of items in a class are
recovered. The classes of property are:
3-year property
5-year property
10-year property
15-year real property
Low-income housing (not supported)
18-year real property
19-year real property"
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Tables I, IV, V, and VI are specifically incorporated into
the program.
Since the ARCS method of depreciation is history as they say,
and therefore not likely to be changed, you can only select
recovery periods that are allowed under the regulations. You
change the periods by pressing the <+> or <spacebar> to increase
the value and the <-> key to decrease the value. (The <+> and <->
on the numeric keypad are used.)
Salvage Value
Per IRS Publication 534 for the 1989 Tax Year:
"It is important for you to accurately, determine the correct
salvage value of the property you want to depreciate. You may not
depreciate property below a reasonable salvage value."
"Salvage value is the estimated value of property at the end
of its useful life. It is what you expect to get for the property
if you sell it after you can no longer use it productively. You
must estimate the salvage value of a piece of property below a
reasonable salvage value."
"Net salvage. Net salvage is the salvage value of a piece of
property minus what it costs to remove it when you dispose of it.
You may choose either salvage value or net salvage when you
figure depreciation...Your salvage value can never be less than
zero."
NOTE: Under the declining balance method, salvage value is
NOT subtracted when yearly depreciation is calculated. Under the
straight line method and the sum-of-years method the salvage
value IS deducted.
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GENERAL BUSINESS:Gross Profit
This routine calculates the gross profit margin of a series
of transactions. Enter quantities, purchase price (cost) and
selling price. The routine reports not only the profit made, but
also the total gross sales and cost. The gross profit margin and
the return on investment (mark-up) are also calculated.
A common use for this routine is to determine the profit made
on a series of stock purchases. If you are a trader this routine
is particularly useful. You can record up to 50 different pur-
chases of a particular stock and 50 different sales of the stock,
and SolveIt! will calculate the gross profit on the trades.
NOTE: It is NOT necessary to have the purchases and sales
"balance" on each line. That is, you can first make 3 different
purchases and no sales on the first three lines and then 4
different sales on the next 4 lines.
Of course this routine can be used to find the profit made
selling any item, not just stocks. For example, if you run a
retail store and you purchase an item at three different volumes
and prices and sell the inventory at different prices as the
season changes, it is a fairly simple task to determine the gross
profit on the item using this routine.
Quantity
This is the number of units bought or sold. Acceptable range
of values is from 0 to 10,000.
NOTE: to clear values, enter a 0 in the quantity column and
press <F9>. All subsequent values will be cleared. To clear all
values, enter a 0 for the first quantity and press <F9>.
Unit Cost
Enter your cost. The range of acceptable values is from 0 to
100,000. Note that by entering a 0 value here, you can record a
sale of a previously purchased item.
Selling Price
Enter the selling price. The range of acceptable values is
from 0 to 100,000. Note that by entering a 0 value here, you can
record a purchase only.
Example: In September of 1990 The Market was moving down. You
decided to buy 1000 shares of a hot new software company at
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$12.50. Enter the first transaction by entering 1000 for Quantity
and $12.50 for Unit Cost. As the market began to turn around
later in the year you bought 500 more shares at $13.50 a share.
This is the second transaction.
Then in January of 1991, when the market really took off, you
decided to sell half of your position. Enter the third
transaction by entering 750 for quantity and $18.00 for Selling
Price. (If you press <F9> now, you will see that you are still in
the hole.) Finally, in early February, when you think that things
may have topped out, you liquidate the remaining 750 shares at
$20 a share. Press <F9> for the bottom line result of these
trades.
You made $9,250 in four or five months for a total return of
48.05%. Congratulations! We only wish we had done as well!
Of course, you are not limited to keying in transactions for
one stock. The more you trade the more useful this routine
becomes. Also, if does not matter if you key in gross prices or
prices after commission. Just be consistent.
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GENERAL BUSINESS:Weighted Average
This routine does an analysis of a series of purchases and
sales. It determines the weighted average purchase and selling
price as well as the high and low values for each.
If you have keyed in data from the Gross Profit Margin rou-
tine, you may use that data here without keying it in again.
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GENERAL BUSINESS:Break-Even
This routine will determine the break-even point for a small
business. The business can be either a service or manufacturing
entity.
Besides calculating a break even point, the routine also
calculates the gross sales volume at break even. By knowing this
figure, you can easily see if you are ahead or behind since it is
often easier to track gross receipts than it is to track inventory.
This routine also reports what the variable, fixed and prod-
uct (if there is a product) costs are as a percentage of sales.
We suggest that you calculate your break-even point based
upon monthly data.
Total Fixed Costs
If you know your bottom line fixed costs, enter that amount
here. The range of acceptable values is $1 to $99,999,999. Do not
enter a dollar sign.
If you do not know your total fixed costs, do not fret.
Simply press <F10> and you will be given the opportunity to enter
up to 20 individual fixed costs. Once these are entered, press
<F10> again. And the total of your fixed costs will be calculated
and inserted into the program.
If 20 fixed costs are not enough. You can always calculate
the total for the first twenty items. Then use that total for
item 1 on a second go through and continue adding in your costs.
As the name suggests, fixed costs are those business expenses
that change very little over a course of some time. Examples of
such items may be rent, utilities and insurance.
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Total Variable Costs
If you know your bottom line variable costs, enter that
amount here. The range of acceptable values is $1 to $99,999,999.
Do not enter a dollar sign.
If you do not know your total variable costs, press <F10> to
enter individual values. Use the same technique that is described
under total fixed costs.
Variable costs are those expenses that can vary from period
to period. Examples of such items are, advertising, research,
possibly legal fees and entertainment.
Total Cost of Unit
If you are running a break even for a service business, the
value entered here would be $0. (Do not enter the $ sign.)
If your business is either a manufacturing concern or a
reseller, then this is the cost of goods sold (or manufactured)
field. You may enter the total of all cost of goods, or you may
press <F10> to add up individual costs. You may do a break even
analysis for an individual item, for a series of items, for a
department of for an entire company.
Unit Selling Price
Enter either the selling prices of the item or items sold. Or
enter your hourly rate if you are a service company.
The resulting calculation will tell you how many units you
have to sell or how many hours you have to bill to break even.
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GENERAL BUSINESS:EOQ
EOQ is Economic Ordering Quantity. If you are a large volume
buyer, this routine will calculate the best quantity of an item
to buy considering the costs to purchase and the value of money.
Cost to Write PO
Enter your estimated overhead costs to write a PO.
Annual Units Used
Enter an estimate for the number of units you expect to use
over the next 12 months.
Purchase Price
Enter the cost of the item that you want to buy.
Price Per Number of Units
If the Purchase Price is for one unit, then enter 1. Other-
wise, enter the number of units that the purchase price will buy.
Example, if you have to buy bolts, and the price is $6.48 per
dozen, then you would enter 12 for price per number of units.
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REAL ESTATE:Affordable Property
How much can you afford to pay for a house or property?
This routine looks at the Buyer's Annual Income, Cash
Available, projected property taxes, maintenance, insurance and
the Percentage of Income for Payments that is available for
housing to determine the price of an affordable property.
Besides reporting the price of an affordable house, SolveIt!
also calculates what percentage the available cash is of the
affordable price. This is calculated so that you can see if you
meet the minimum down payment requirements of your lending
institution.
Annual Income
Most banks look at your gross annual income.
Cash Available
How much cold, hard cash do you have for a down payment.
Annual Interest Rate
Enter the interest rate that you expect to finance your
purchase at. You may enter from 1 to 49%.
Number of Periods
How many monthly periods do you want a mortgage for? The
duration cannot be longer than 40 years or 480 months.
Est Tax & Insurance
How much do you expect to pay for property taxes as well as
fire and liability insurance? This is an annualized figure. The
range of acceptable values is from $1 to $99,999,999. Do not
enter a dollar sign.
Est Maintenance
How much do you expect to pay for annual maintenance? This is
an annualized figure. The range of acceptable values is from $1
to $99,999,999. Do not enter a dollar sign.
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Percent of Income
What percent of your gross income do you want to commit to
this purchase. Often banks will allow you to spend up to 28% of
your gross income for housing. You may enter a range of 1% to 49%
here. Do not enter the percent sign.
Example: You are looking for your dream house. Your Annual
Income is $95,000. You have $30,000 cash available and you are
seeking a 30 year mortgage. Enter 360 in the Number of Periods
field. Since the current mortgage rates are 10%, we will use that
for an Annual Interest Rate. Home owners in the community you are
looking in pay $4,000 annually for property taxes on homes that
you like and you estimate that annual maintenance will run about
$2,000. Your bank will allow you to carry a mortgage plus
maintenance and taxes that is about 30% of your income.
Using these assumptions, you will be able to afford a home
that costs $243,657.79. Your mortgage will be $213,657.79 and the
cash available is 12.3% of the house price. (This could signal a
problem since while you have the income to afford the mortgage,
you may not have enough cash to meet the down payment
requirements of most banks.)
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REAL ESTATE:Second Mortgage
Determines the payment for a second mortgage. It is assumed
that the second mortgage is an interest only mortgage. Besides
the second mortgage payment, the size of the second mortgage is
calculated as well as the total payment for both mortgages.
The typical application for this routine is when you are
planning to buy a home and you have a home on the market. If you
go to closing on the new home before you have sold or closed on
the home that is for sale, you may need to have a loan until you
can tap the equity in the property that is for sale.
If this is the case, you will often be offered an interest
only mortgage for a small amount. Of course the idea being that
you will pay off this second mortgage once you have the proceeds
from your sale.
You may wonder why this routine does not ask for the term of
the second mortgage. The answer is simple, since it is an inter-
est only mortgage, it has no duration. It goes on infinitely!
This routine is assuming monthly payments in its calcula-
tions.
Purchase Price
What is the purchase price of the house? Acceptable range is
from $1 to $99,999,999 for this and all other dollar fields in
this routine. As usual, do not enter a $ sign.
Cash Available
What is the amount of cash that is available to put down on
the house. This is the actual cash available, and does not
include the cash that may be available later from the sale of a
home.
First Mortgage
What amount can you finance? This is primary mortgage.
NOTE: if the cash available and the amount entered here for
the first mortgage is equal to or greater than the purchase
price, then there will be no need for a second mortgage, and
SolveIt! will tell you so.
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First Interest Rate
What is the interest rate of the first mortgage? The accept-
able range of values here is from 1% to 49%. Do not enter a %
sign.
First Term
Enter the duration of the first mortgage. This is in terms of
monthly periods. That is if it is a traditional 30 year mortgage
then you would enter 360 here.
Second Interest Rate
Enter the rate for the second mortgage. The acceptable range
of values here is from 1% to 49%. Do not enter a % sign.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
REAL ESTATE:Rental Analysis
SolveIt! will do a detailed analysis of rental income. It
allows for an inflation adjustment on rents, expenditures and
property taxes. The value of the property can also be increased
annually by an inflation factor.
An analysis of income with or without the effects of Federal
Income taxes can be done. One or two mortgages are supported. And
either mortgage can be normal, fixed principal, or of an interest
only type. Points are also taken into account.
Depreciation is calculated using the Alternate/MACRS method
as defined by the 1986 Tax Code. You may show or not show the
impact of depreciation on the cash flow.
Press <F2> to save the data entered in this routine.
Purchase Price
Purchase price of the building and property. (This is not the
figure used for depreciation.) The maximum value acceptable here
is $99,999,999.00
Date of Purchase
Closing date of the purchase. The range of values acceptable
here is from 01/01/1987 to 12/31/2049.
Business Use
If the property is not used 100 percent for business use,
then you cannot depreciate the portion of the property that is
used for personal use. Enter the percentage of the property that
IS used for business. (Check with your tax advisor.)
Useful Life
This is the useful life of the building. This value is used
for depreciation calculations. Check with the IRS publication
#534 or your tax advisor for the acceptable life of your proper-
ty. Presently, you can use 31.5 years for commercial property or
27.5 years for residential property.
The acceptable range of input values here is from 0 to 39
years. That is not to say that this is the range of values
accepted by the IRS.
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Selling Price
You must enter EITHER an assumed selling price OR a projected
annual appreciation factor. The projected profit from the sale of
the property is reflected in the cash flow statement.
The acceptable range is from $1 to $99,999,999.00
Date of Sale
Projected date of sale.
The longest duration that you can hold a property for is 39
years.
Annual Appreciation
If you do not enter a selling price, then you must enter an
appreciation factor. It may be easier to assume that property
will appreciate at an assumed rate of say 9% than to calculate a
selling price 10 years out.
The acceptable range is from 0 to 99 percent.
Selling Costs
When you sell property, you usually have to pay a commission.
Enter a percentage here. The acceptable range is from 0 to 99
percent.
Mortgage
The amount of the first or second mortgage. The acceptable
range of values is from $0 to $99,999,999.00. Do NOT enter the $
sign.
Interest Rate
This is the interest rate for the loan. The acceptable range
of values is from 0 to 49%. If you enter a 0 then there is no
calculations done for the mortgage.
Term
The term of the loan in months. Thus a 30 year mortgage has a
term of 360 months. The range of acceptable values is from 0 to
480 months. If you enter a 0, then no mortgage calculations are
done.
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Type
1) The normal loan is where the monthly payments are equal
and the amount applied toward principal increases slightly from
one month to the next as the remaining balance of the loan is
less and the interest due is reduced.
2) A fixed loan is when the amount of each payment varies but
the amount applied toward principal is the same each month.
Payments will decrease month to month.
3) Interest only is when the entire principal is due on the
last payment date. Often second mortgages or bridge loans are of
the interest only variety.
Points
Enter the origination points for the loan. If you are using
"All Tax Advantages" for the analysis, then points are added to
the basis of the property. Otherwise they are deducted in the
first year. The acceptable range of values is from 0 to 49%.
Tax Bracket
Enter your federal income tax bracket here.
Allowable Loss
Presently, the allowable loss as set by the Tax Reform Act of
1986 is $25,000 per year. (This is NOT per property.) It is
subject to a limitation of $1 for every $2 by which your adjusted
gross income exceeds $100,000. Therefore, your allowable loss
would be $0 if your adjusted gross income exceeds $150,000. Check
with your tax advisor for the latest interpretation of the law.
(This loss limitation is referred to as the Passive Activity Loss
Limitation.)
Suspended or unrecognized losses are NOT carried forward due
to the complexity of the tax laws governing how such losses can
be utilized.
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Monthly Expense
Enter the monthly maintenance expenses here. The acceptable
range is from $0 to $9,999,999.00.
Also note that expenses can be increased by an annual infla-
tion factor.
Monthly Rents
This is the entire rental income that the property is expect-
ed to generate each month. If the building has 100 rental units
and each unit rents for $1,000. per month, you would enter
$100,000. (Do not enter the $ sign.) The gross potential rental
income is affected by the percentage of occupancy.
Note that since rents are paid in advance. The cash flow
statement does not consider any rents collected in the last
fractional month of ownership. If a building is purchased on
10/05/90 and sold on 10/31/92, then the last month is considered
a fractional month for the purposes of this program. The building
would have to be sold on 11/05/92 to have the last months rent
impact the cash flow statement.
Also note that the rental income can be increased by an
annual inflation factor.
Annual Expense Increase
This is the inflation factor that you expect expenses to
increase by. If you set a percentage here (acceptable range is
from 0 to 99%), the costs will go up on the anniversary date of
the purchase.
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Annual Rent Increase
This is the inflation factor that you expect to be able to
increase the rents by. If you set a percentage here (acceptable
range is from 0 to 99%), the rents will go up on the anniversary
date of the purchase.
Initial Fix Up
This is a figure for MAJOR improvements that you might make.
This amount is NOT expensed but rather depreciated for tax
purposes.
Occupied
Rental property is seldom 100% occupied. Enter the average
occupancy percentage here. Acceptable range of values is from 0
to 100%.
Property Taxes
Enter the annual property taxes that you expect to pay. You
may increase this amount by an inflation factor if you wish.
Tax Effect
The cash flow analysis may be impacted by taxes in one of
three ways:
1) All advantages. All tax deductions are taken including
depreciation. Points on the mortgages are depreciated over the
useful life.
2) No depreciation. The cash flow report does not take into
account depreciation. Points and initial fix up costs are deduct-
ed in the first year. This option allows you to see how the
actual cash out affect your taxes.
3) Not Considered. If you want to analyze an investment on
its own merits, use this option.
Annual Property Tax Increase
This is the inflation factor that you expect property taxes
to go up by. If you set a percentage here (acceptable range is
from 0 to 99%), the increase will be in effect as of the first of
the year.
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Depreciation Basis
This is the figure that the depreciation calculations are
based upon. Presently, land cannot be depreciated. Since it is
very likely that the purchase price would include the price of
the land that the building is sitting on, it is necessary to
enter the value of the building only.
Note that the initial fix up costs are automatically added to
this figure for depreciation purposes in the cash flow statement.
Cash Flow Report
When all values are entered into the Rental Analysis work
area, press <F9> to display an annual cash flow report. Press
<F3> to print the report.
This report will show the actual cash in, cash out, net tax
effect, after tax cash flow and the cumulative cash flow.
The cash in/cash out should be self explanatory. The net tax
effect is the amount of taxes paid or saved. If the number is
positive, you can expect to save that amount on your annual
taxes. If the amount is negative, you will be paying that amount
in additional taxes. After tax cash flow is the bottom line of
the deal. It is the result of cash in less cash out PLUS the tax
savings or LESS the taxes paid. A negative after tax cash flow,
of course, indicates the annual loss on the property.
Cumulative cash flow is a running total of how the property
is doing. Look at the very last figure in this column to know the
bottom line of the investment.
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NET WORTH:
Net Worth
Just exactly how much am I worth?
This routine will calculate net worth. Of course the net
worth is the value of the assets after the liabilities are paid.
When you select this item, you will be presented with the usual
data entry type screen asking you for your current assets. To key
in liabilities, simply press <F10> to switch to the liabilities
data entry screen. (The Net Worth figure is shown automatically
on the liabilities screen.)
<F10> switches between the assets and liabilities screen.
<F3> will print a net worth statement.
To save the net worth data, press <F2> for the files menu.
Liabilities
Enter an amount for each applicable liability item. You can
enter a value in the range of -9,999,999.99 to 9,999,999.99. (A
negative value is allowed here so that you can accurately reflect
the value of an mistakenly over paid liability. For example, if
you have over paid on a credit card, you would in fact have a
negative liability while you are waiting for a cash refund of the
credit balance.)
Assets
Enter an amount for each applicable Asset item. You can enter
a value in the range of -9,999,999.99 to 9,999,999.99. (A nega-
tive value is allowed here so that you can accurately enter the
value of an item that might usually be an asset, but in fact
would cost you more to junk than it is actually worth!)
Remember, you can change the title (description) of each item
via the install menu. (see Setting Other Options, The Install
Menu in the appendix.) By customizing the descriptions for this
routine, you can easily calculate the net worth for a small
business.
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BUDGET:Projected
BUDGET:Actual
This routine has been greatly enhanced since the last version
of SolveIt!. You can now key in both a projected budget and the
actual results. The summary data will then compare and analyze
the projected budget vs. the actual results. You can track up to
12 monthly budgets. Annual totals for each category can be
displayed by pressing <Alt><T> while keying in data. Or summary
data can be displayed by pressing <Alt><S>.
This routine is no longer restricted to personal use. The
power of the routine has been significantly increased because the
user can change the title (description) for any of the items via
the install menu. (To run Install see Setting Other Options, The
Install Menu in the appendix.) So if you want to change "Car Pay-
ment" to say "Newspaper Advertising", you can do it. This will
allow you to get meaningful cash flow data for a small business
from this routine.
The printed report will show a budget for each month on a
different page. Each projected item will show you what percent it
is of the total income figure. And each actual item will show you
what percentage it is of the projected budgeted amount.
When you select the budget routine you will be prompted for
the following information:
The cash on hand is the initial amount of cash that you have
at the start of the first budget period. This figure is used in
the cash flow analysis. You may enter a negative number as would
probably be the case if you are dealing with a bankruptcy situa-
tion and more cash is owed than is actually available.
As mentioned, the Budget Routine will track a budget for up
to twelve months. Please note that the first month of the budget
process DOES NOT have to be January. Enter the number of the
month (1-12) that you want for the first month, and the routine
will allow you to track budget items for the following 11 months.
Once the initial screen is filled in, press <F9> to accept.
Then enter an amount for each applicable income item. Range of
acceptable values are from -9,999,999.99 to 9,999,999.99. (This
routine allows for a negative income value to allow for the
possibility that you might have to "give back" some income that
was mistakenly paid.)
Press <F10> to switch between expenses and income items.
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Enter an amount for each applicable expense item. Range of
acceptable values are from -9,999,999.99 to 9,999,999.99. (This
routine allows for a negative expense value to allow for the
possibility that you might receive a refund for an overpayment.)
The following keys are used in the Budget Routine:
Use <Ctrl><Enter> to quickly enter repeated expenses or
income items. For example, if the monthly salary is a constant
$7050, then use <Ctrl><Enter> whenever you are on the Salaries'
Field to pick up the value from the previous month. MAKE SURE YOU
UNDERSTAND THIS FEATURE. IT IS A MAJOR TIME SAVER!
Use <PgUp> or <PgDn> to change months.
Use <Alt><T> to display annual totals for each category.
(Press <Esc> to exit the total screen.)
Use <Alt><S> to display the summary information for your
budget. While viewing summary information, press <N> to see the
next summary screen or <Esc> to exit the summary area.
Press <F2> to save the budget data to a disk file.
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The Questions
Amount Returned
When you liquidate your investment (cash it in) how much do
you have left.
Annual Rate
This is the nominal or stated annual interest rate either
charged or earned. The range of values is 1 to 49 percent. Do NOT
enter a percent (%) sign.
Pressing <F10> in SOME routines will bring up an interest
rate menu that will allow you to make changes to the rate. Rate
changes can be made either annually or periodically.
Cash Flows
Enter the cash flows for each period. Acceptable range:
-99,999,999.00 to 99,999,999.00.
When you have entered all of the cash flows, enter a zero (0)
to clear any remaining values that may have been entered from a
previous calculation. To clear ALL values enter a 0 in the first
year.
Press <F10> to go back and change the initial investment or
year or in the case of the NPV routine the discount rate. Press
<F9> then to calculate.
Compounding Period
SolveIt! supports 8 different compounding periods. (Daily,
Weekly, BiWeekly, Monthly, Bimonthly, Quarterly, Semiannually,
Annually) To change from one payment period to another, tap
either the space bar <SP> or the dark gray plus <+> or minus <->
keys on the right side of the keyboard.
NOTE: You CANNOT select a compounding period that is of a
longer duration than the payment period. If you want to calculate
a loan with semiannual compounding, first make sure that either
an annual or a semiannual payment period is set.
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Days Per Year
Payments and amortization may be calculated using either a
360 or a 365 day year. The 360 day year is the most commonly used
value, and this is the default for SolveIt!.
Discount Rate
Enter the desired rate of return or the firm's cost of capi-
tal.
Acceptable range of values is 1% to 49%. (Do not enter the
percent sign.)
First Year
This is the first calendar year. No calculations are based
upon this entry. The program only uses it so the display will
show the cash flows or inflation rates in real time instead of a
less meaningful year 1, year 2, year 3 etc.
Future Value
This is the projected value of money at some point in the
future. Because of risk and the time value of money, monies due
in the future must be greater than monies in hand. Or to look at
it another way, if you owe someone a $1,000 and it is due a year
from now, you should be able to settle the debt for something
less than the $1,000. What you should be able to settle the debt
for is the Present Value.
Payment Required Routine: this is the amount that you want to
reach after the stated number of payments.
Present Value Routines: this is the amount that is payable or
due in the future.
Enter the amount. Acceptable range of values is from $1 to
$99,999,999.00. Do NOT enter a $ sign.
Gain
This is the dollar amount returned above the amount invested.
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Inflation Rate
In the Annuity Payout routine, entering a value here other
than a 0 will cause the withdrawn amount to be increased by this
rate.
Enter rates from -49 to 49% in the Purchasing Power routine
and from 0 to 49% in the Time to Withdrawal routine. The minus
value, of course, is so that you can allow for deflation.
Initial Amount
What is the amount of the initial investment? Enter a value
between a $1 and $99,999,999.00. (Do not enter a $ sign.)
Loan Amount
Total amount that is being financed. You may enter a value up
to $99,999,999. (Do not enter a $ sign.)
Loan Table or Amortization Routine: You will NOT be allowed
to make a 0 entry. While in this field, press <F10> to add extra,
short, or skipped payments.
Calculator Routine: Will solve for the amount if a 0 is
entered.
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Payments
Number of total payments that one expects to make. There are
several things to consider. First this is not the number of
payments per year. Secondly, the maximum total number of payments
is 480 but the term can not exceed 40 years (see note below).
Loan Table or Amortization Routine: Note that you cannot
amortize a loan that exceeds 40 years. So if you are amortizing a
loan with semiannual payments, then the maximum total number of
payments is 80 (2 payments per year X 40 years = 80 payments). If
one is amortizing a mortgage with an extra payment(s) the number
of periods entered is the total number of periods as if there
were NO extra payments made. SolveIt! will automatically calcu-
late the effects of early payments. Also, if you want to do a 15
year accelerated biweekly mortgage, you would enter 360 payments.
One (1) is the minimum value that can be entered while in the
amortization routine
Calculator Routine: If zero (0) is entered then SolveIt! will
solve for the number of payments. While you can not enter a
fractional number of payments (that is, you can only enter full
payments such as 48 and not 48.5), SolveIt!, while solving for
the total number of payments, will display the fractional part of
a payment in the interest of accuracy. You will have to decide if
the amount of the loan, the payment or the rate is to be adjusted
to eliminate the fractional period.
Payment Amount
Enter payment amount. Acceptable range: $1.00 to $99,999,999-
.00. Do NOT enter a $ sign. Initially, it is assumed that the
same amount is to be paid for each payment period.
If you want the payment amounts to change, press <F10> while
entering data in this field. A menu will appear that will allow
you to enter different payment amounts. The amount may be adjust-
ed annually or periodically (when any payment is made). Selecting
"fixed" from the menu, will reset all payments equal to the first
payment.
Payment Date
Date of first payment. Note, for a loan that is calculated
using the Payment in Arrears Method, it is assumed that the
origination date of the loan is exactly one period before the
first payment date.
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Payment Method
Payments (or deposits) may be made either in advance of or
after a periodic interest calculation. (Or at the beginning or
end of the period.) Deposits in advance are credited before
calculation and thus earn interest more than one made in arrears.
Payment Period
This is the frequency at which payments are made. That is
payments may be made daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, bimonthly,
quarterly, semiannually, or annually. This is equivalent to 365,
52, 26, 12, 6, 4, 2 or 1 periods per year.
To change from one payment period to another, tap either the
space bar <SP> or the dark gray plus <+> or minus <-> keys on the
right side of the keyboard. In most cases, you CANNOT select a
payment period that is a shorter duration than the compounding
period.
Periodic Payment
This is the amount that would be paid on each payment date to
amortize the loan.
Loan Calculator: Enter zero (0) and press <F9> to solve for
payment amount.
Present Value
Enter a dollar amount. The range is between $1.00 and $99,99-
9,999.00.
The present value is what an amount is worth in current
dollars. It is always less than the future value except in maybe
cases of extreme deflation.
Starting Date
This is the starting date for the routine. All ending dates
are based on this date.
To enter a date, you do not need to enter leading zeros. That
is to enter June 8 1990, you may enter 6/8/90 or 06/09/1990.
There is no need to type the "/". Also, if you just need to edit
the day, for example, you can use the <tab> key to tab to the day
field.
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Total Periods
Number of total periods one expects. There are several things
to consider. First this is NOT the number of periods per year.
The lowest value that can be entered here is 1 and the maximum
total number of periods is 480. HOWEVER, the maximum number of
years that the program will accept is 40. Therefore, you cannot
enter 180 here if the payment period is set to quarterly. 180
divided by 4 is 45 years, which is over the maximum.
Please see the appendix for a chart that shows the acceptable
number of payment periods.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
Files
Pressing <F2> from almost anywhere in the program will
display the Save/Retrieve Menu. The only time <F2> will not be an
option is while another menu or message window is displayed.
You next will have to choose what data it is that you want to
save or retrieve. (see below, under File Structure)
After selecting the data, you will be prompted for a file
name. You may either enter a file name, or you may enter a DOS
wild card character (Examples: *.*, S*.*, S???.???, A:*.*). If
you enter part of a file name or a name containing a wild card,
you will be presented with a list of the files on the drive. Use
the cursor keys, to move the highlight selector to a file name.
If you are saving data, you will be prompted to confirm that you
want to overwrite the existing file. If you are saving only some
data, (i.e. adjustable rates), you will only replace the adjust-
able rate part of the file.
SolveIt! automatically checks to see that you are updating a
SolveIt! file. It will not allow you to alter a file that is not
one of its own. You will also not be allow to retrieve a file
that is not a SolveIt! file.
The file structure was changed between SolveIt! 3.1 and
SolveIt! 4.0. The two structures are NOT compatible and therefore
a file from version 3.1 and earlier cannot be used with versions
from 4.0 on.
One final note, the file structure for all of our financial
programs is the same. So if you have AmortizeIt! and you want to
upgrade to SolveIt!, you will still be able to use your data
files from AmortizeIt!.
File Structure
All of the data that can be saved, is saved to one file. That
is, the budget, net worth, amortization data for one client can
be kept in one file. We feel that this is easier for the user
than keeping track of say 4 or 5 different files for one client.
On the other hand, you have to give it some thought as to what
data you are working with when you do a save or retrieve.
For example: If you are doing amortization projections for a
client, and you want to save the data to an existing file, you
must be careful to select just the Loan/Amortization data. This
is done in order not to overwrite the information in the file
that might be there for the budget, net worth or IRR/Net Present
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Value routines.
Likewise, when you retrieve data, you must pick the data that
you want to retrieve. That is to say, if you are currently
working on a budget for Mr. & Mrs. Rivadeneyra and Mr. Langenhahn
calls with a question about a prospective mortgage for a summer
house, you must make sure that you only retrieve the
Loan/Amortization data in order that you do not overwrite
(destroy!) the information that you have keyed into the budget
routine for Mr. and Mrs. Rivadeneyra.
The program's data file is structured so that the following
elements of data can be saved, updated or retrieved individually:
Adjustable Rates, eXtra Payments, Budget Data, Net Worth Data,
Cash Flows, Inflation Rates, Rates & eXtra Payments,
Loan/Amortization, Rental Analysis, Everything. In addition to
these elements, the current value of Present Value, Future Value,
Payment Method, Payment Period, Compounding Period and Starting
Date are also saved.
To give you a few examples, if you want to save the deposit
amounts in the future value routine, you would save the eXtra
Payments. (Extra Payments and Deposits are the same thing to the
program. This is so that you can easily see what the future value
or present value of the extra monies is that you applied toward
the principal of a mortgage. That is, if you key in extra loan
payments, you do not need to rekey in the values as a deposit in
the future value routine.)
If you want to save the cash flow values from the Net Present
Value or the IRR routines, you would save the Cash Flows. If you
want to save the inflation rates for the Purchasing Power Rou-
tine, you would save the Inflation Rates. And if you have a ARM
(adjustable rate mortgage) and you make extra payments to reduce
the outstanding principal, you would save Rates & eXtra Payments
or the Loan/Amortization data.
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Some Relationships Between the Routines
As we have stated, the help screens can actually provide you
with all of the information that you need to operate SolveIt!.
The purpose of this section is to show with examples how you can
solve financial problems with the program where the choice of
routine may not be obvious.
Let us look at how two professional people might use the
program to solve problems for their clients. Mr. I. M. Smart is a
financial planner. He often, as might be expected, needs to do
financial presentations and he finds SolveIt! very useful for
generating figures to back up his opinions.
Ms. Penney Rich is an attorney whose cliental includes a
number of sports stars and entertainment personalities. She is
often involved with negotiating settlements that require her to
use the financial, budget and net worth routines.
Let us start with an example for one of Mr. Smart's clients.
Reds Mason is a builder who also likes to speculate in the real
estate market. He owns several properties which he rents out to
commercial tenants. He wants to know the best way to manage his
money. He particularly wants to know the effect of prepaying his
mortgages. (Three routines will be used to arrive at an answer.)
First, Mr. Smart goes to the Remaining Balance routine to see
how much is still owed on one of the loans. He enters the origi-
nal loan amount of $250,000, 180 for the number of monthly
periods and 11% for the rate. Since the loan has been held for
exactly 2 years, he enters 24 to find out the remaining balance
after the 24th payment. The result is that there is sill $235,315
owed on the loan.
After this calculation, Mr. Smart goes to the Loan Table
Routine and notes that the details of the mortgage are already
entered as the result of having entered them in the remaining
balance routine. The only thing he needs to do is to change the
amount of loan to equal the remaining balance ($235,315) and to
change the term from 180 to 156, since there are only 156 remain-
ing periods.
At this point, while he is on the amount of loan field he
presses <F10> to enter the extra payments that Mr. Mason wants to
make. Mr. Mason feels that he can pay an extra $2,000, once a
year. SolveIt!'s copy feature is used to enter the extra pay-
ments. Once that is done, the amortization table is displayed and
it shows that the loan is paid off after 138 payments instead of
the 156 payments it would have taken if the extra payments were
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
not made.
To summarize the details of the savings, press <F10> and
summarize the loan through the 138th period (156 is NOT entered
here since there are no longer 156 periods.) Mr. Smart can now
show Mr. Mason that his extra $2,000 a year, if paid for a total
of 12 years, will save him $25,222 in interest payments.
Now that sounds pretty good to Mr. Mason. But in fact, Mr.
Smart has to point out that this is not the real savings to him.
He suggests that Mr. Mason could do something else with the
$2,000 rather than apply it toward his mortgage. What happens if
he decides to invest the money in tax free bonds? How much would
$2,000 a year grow to after twelve years?
Again, Mr. Smart turns to use SolveIt!. He taps <Esc> a few
times to get back to the main menu. He picks the future value
routine from the finance menu. Once in the routine he changes the
present value to $0 and the interest rate to 8.5% which is the
going rate for the bonds. Since the $2,000 payments were entered
in the Loan Table, there is no need to re-enter them in the
Future Value routine. Therefore, all that is left to do is to
press <F9> and the Future Value Routine calculates that the
$2,000 deposited every year for 12 years will grow to $41,329.70
over the 138 periods. It also shows that there is a gain of
$17,329 over the $24,000 that was invested.
Now the idea of making extra payments does not look as good
as it did at first. Mr. Smart is able to demonstrate to his
client that the actual cash savings is only $7,893 (The $25,222
interest savings less the $17,329 gain.) when the future value of
the series of $2,000 payments is taken into consideration. And in
fact, the savings is even less when you consider that the inter-
est on the mortgage is probably tax deductible. If Mr. Mason is
in a 28% tax bracket and if he pays the $25,222 interest he will
realize an additional tax savings of $7,062. So therefore, as
incredible as it may seem, Mr. Mason would actually LOOSE $267.
if he makes the extra payments!
Now that Mr. Mason knows that he does not want to make the
extra payments. He changes the subject to ask about his rental
properties. He knows (or at least he thinks that he knows) that
he his making money. The question is, is he making a reasonable
return on his investment. (Two routines will be used to arrive at
an answer.)
To answer this question, Mr. Smart uses SolveIt!'s Rental
Income Analysis Routine. We wouldn't bother you with lots of
details here since there are thirty variables involved in analyz-
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
ing rental income. But so you can follow along using the program,
let us assume that he bought a building for $300,000 and he has a
mortgage of $250,000 for 180 months at 11%. There are 2 points
charged on the loan. Also assume that the building will appreci-
ate at 9% per year. We will not allow for any inflation of
expenses, income, or property taxes. In fact, we will not even
have a property tax figure! (Don't we wish!) The monthly expenses
will be $3,000 and the total monthly rental income will be
$6,000. The depreciation basis is $275,000, the useful life is
31.5 years, the purchase date is 10/11/1990 and the date that the
property is sold is 4/11/2000. This scenario will generate a
bottom line cash flow of $339,502.
But remember, the question is, "Is this a good investment?".
Mr. Smart hits the <Esc> key a few times and goes to the finance
routines. Under Evaluation he chooses the IRR routine. The
internal rate of return is used to determine the rate of return
on a series of complicated cash flows. In this case the cash
flows are already entered, since they are carried over from the
calculations of the Rental Income Analysis routine. All that is
left to do is to press <F9>. The result is that the annual rate
of return is less than 1%. No comments needed. Changes must be
made!
Moving on to Ms. Rich, we find her in the middle of nego-
tiating a contract for a local sports star. The client, Sam
Fielder, wants to sign for $1,000,000 bonus, payable at the start
of the new contract. The owners of the franchise, who are anxious
to keep the local hero on their payroll, fear that they will
severely jeopardize the financial health of their organization if
they meet his demands. They counter propose that they will pay
him, $200,000, a year for ten years starting after five years.
Of course, the challenge here is to see if the offer is as
good as the current demand. Ms. Rich uses the Present Value of a
Series Routine to see if it is. Before entering the Payment
Amounts, she sets the Total Periods to 15, the Payment Period and
Compounding Period to annual. She assumes a nominal rate of 6.5%.
Once these are entered she returns to the Payment Amount field.
Instead of filling in an amount, she press <F10> to enter
individual cash flows. She selects "extra periodically". (Since
payments are annual, extra annually and extra periodically give
the same result here.) She then uses the copy feature to copy
$200,000 as the amount from period 6 through period 15.
(Remember, the proposal on the table is for $200,000 a year
starting in the sixth year.)
Once this is done she escapes out. She presses <F9> to solve
for the result. Ms. Rich sees that the series of future payments
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is worth $1,046,864.50. She can therefore advise her client that
the two compensation packages are essentially the same. And in
fact, she points out that if Mr. Fielder does not need the cash
now, then he may be better off postponing the income to a time
when his cash flow may be less.
Next, Mr. Fielder wants to provide some income for his Mother
who has nearly reached retirement age. Initially, he thought that
he would buy her an annuity to generate income. His goal is to
provide her with $5,000 a month for the next fifteen years. He
has $400,000 readily available for this investment.
As would be expected, Ms. Rich uses the Time to Withdrawal
Routine to check the feasibility of this plan. She discovers that
$400,000 invested earning 8.5% annually will pay the desired
$5,000 a month for only 119 periods, or for a little less than
ten years.
Now the question is, if Mr. Fields wants to provide the
$5,000 a month, and he wants to do so for fifteen years, how much
would he have to invest? To arrive at the answer is simple, but
not so obvious. Ms. Rich exits from the Time to Withdrawal
routine and from the main menu she selects the Loan Analysis
Calculator Routine. There she keys in 0 for the Amount of Loan
and she enters 180 for the term. (Monthly payments for fifteen
years is 180 payments.). She assumes the same rate of return or
8.5% and she sets the payment to $5,000. When she solves for the
result they learn that it will take an initial investment of
$507,748.47 to generate the kind of income that Mr. Fields is
seeking. (You can go back to the Time to Withdrawal Routine to
confirm this calculation.)
There we have it. These are some real life examples of how
users use SolveIt!. We hope that these illustrations expand your
understanding of how the program can be used. Again, these are
only some to the applications for these routines. We strongly
encourage you to "play" with the program. Experiment and try to
answer other "what if" questions. Let us know what you find out.
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APPENDIX
Inflation rates based upon the US CPI (Consumer Price Index) US
City Average for all urban consumers for the last 30 years are as
follows:
U.S. Consumer Price Index
1955 : -0.4% 1967 : 2.9% 1975 : 9.1% 1983 : 3.2%
1960 : 1.6 1968 : 4.2 1976 : 5.8 1984 : 4.3
1961 : 1.0 1969 : 5.4 1977 : 6.5 1985 : 3.6
1962 : 1.1 1970 : 5.9 1978 : 7.6 1986 : 1.9
1963 : 1.2 1971 : 4.3 1979 : 11.5 1987 : 3.7
1964 : 1.3 1972 : 3.3 1980 : 13.5 1988 : 4.1
1965 : 1.7 1973 : 6.2 1981 : 10.4 1989 : 4.8
1966 : 2.9 1974 : 11.0 1982 : 6.1 1990 : 6.1
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ALLOWABLE TOTAL PERIODS FOR EACH PAYMENT/COMPOUNDING PERIOD
YEARS WKLY BIWKLY MONTH BIMNTH QRTRLY SEMIANNL
1 52 26 12 6 4 2
2 104 52 24 12 8 4
3 156 78 36 18 12 6
4 208 104 48 24 16 8
5 260 130 60 30 20 10
6 312 156 72 36 24 12
7 364 182 84 42 28 14
8 416 208 96 48 32 16
9 468 234 108 54 36 18
10 260 120 60 40 20
11 286 132 66 44 22
12 312 144 72 48 24
13 338 156 78 52 26
14 364 168 84 56 28
15 390 180 90 60 30
16 416 192 96 64 32
17 442 204 102 68 34
18 468 216 108 72 36
19 228 114 76 38
20 240 120 80 40
21 252 126 84 42
22 264 132 88 44
23 276 138 92 46
24 288 144 96 48
25 300 150 100 50
26 312 156 104 52
27 324 162 108 54
28 336 168 112 56
29 348 174 116 58
30 360 180 120 60
31 372 186 124 62
32 384 192 128 64
33 396 198 132 66
34 408 204 136 68
35 420 210 140 70
36 432 216 144 72
37 444 222 148 74
38 456 228 152 76
39 468 234 156 78
40 480 240 160 80
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MESSAGES
"CALC"
When the "CALC" message is displayed in the upper right hand
corner of the window, this means that the results that are
currently shown are not accurate. To get rid of this message and
to display the correct calculations, press the <F9> key.
"Out-of-Range"
Occasionally, you will see an "Out-of-Range" message dis-
played in the upper left corner of the window. When you see this
message, it means that the resulting answer to a calculation
produced a result that was too large to display. Therefore, DO
NOT accept the displayed answer as being correct!!
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Printing to Disk
When you print to disk, the report or schedule is saved in a
standard ASCII file on the designated drive. The purpose of being
able to print to disk is so that you can later load the file into
your favorite word processor for editing. This will allow you,
for example, to bold face selected numbers in a report. Of course
you can also change the numbers that SolveIt! gives you, if you
desire!
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Local Menus
DESTINATION MENU
This menu is displayed when you are starting a schedule or
preparing to send an amortization schedule to the printer. There
are three destinations to pick from:
Screen : Printer : Disk File
Pick the screen option to display the schedule to the screen.
Pick the printer option to print the schedule. The next
window that you see will ask a series of questions that will be
used to customize the title page of the printed schedule.
The Disk File option will send the schedule to a disk file.
By "printing to disk" as it is sometimes called, you will be able
to take the resulting ASCII text file and load it into a word
processor so that you can highlight important points. You will
also be able to add notes or modify the title page.
INTEREST RATE MENU
When applicable, the interest rate menu may be accessed by
pressing <F10> when the cursor is in the interest rate field on a
routine's main screen.
Fixed Rate
This option will allow you to reset all of the rates for each
payment or deposit period equal to the value entered on the
routine's main screen. This is the quick and easy method to
change an adjustable rate loan to a fixed rate loan.
Adjust Annually
This option will allow you to set an interest rate for an
entire year. The rate changes one payment period prior to the
anniversary date of the loan if the payment is in arrears. It
changes on the anniversary date of the loan if the payment is in
advanced.
Adjust Periodically
This option will allow you to change the interest rate on any
payment or deposit date.
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FISCAL MONTH MENU
To access this menu, you must be on the Display Year field in
the Loan Table routine. Press <F10> for this menu.
Select the first month of the fiscal year from the list by
typing the capital letter in the months name or, alternatively,
by using the cursor keys to move the high light bar over the
month's name and pressing <Enter>.
EXTRA PAYMENT MENU
When applicable, the payments or deposited amount may be
altered. To do this, access the extra payment menu by pressing
<F10> when the cursor is in the Deposit, Payment or Amount of
Loan field on a routine's main screen. Watch the help lines at
the bottom of the screen to know when this is an option.
No Extra Payment
Selecting this option will cancel all previously entered
extra payments or deposits.
Extra Annually
This will allow you to enter an extra payment or deposit once
a year on the anniversary date of the loan.
Note however, if you use the copy function to copy an annual
payment or deposit across several years that if you pick a
starting period other than on the anniversary date, the amount
will be copied every twelve months from the period you select.
This will happen even though the period are not displayed on the
screen.
For example: If your mortgage's origination date is in
November but you expect to receive tax refunds in about April
that you would use to pay principal on the loan. You can copy the
extra amount from the 18th period on if you want to start making
the payments in April in the second year of the mortgage.
Extra Periodically
This will allow you to enter extra payment(s) on any payment
date. This is the option that you want to select if you wish to
schedule a series of regular extra payments. (Follow the menus
from the entry screen that allows extra payments to be copied.)
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COPY RATE
Press <F10> for the local menu to copy a rate over many
periods when interest rates are being added. This is a very fast
way to set one rate over a block of many periods.
Once the copy window is displayed, you will be asked for an
interest rate, a starting period and an ending period. If you are
adjusting rates by the period, then you will be able to copy the
rate from any period to any period.
If you are adjusting the rate annually, the program will copy
the rate starting at any period and use that rate for a minimum
of at least a years worth of payments. This is to say, that if
you are adjusting the rate annually, and the loan is being paid
quarterly, then the interest rate that you enter in the copy mode
is used for determining the payment amount for at least 3 payment
periods following the initial period.
When you are in the copy window, you may press <Esc> so that
the copy does not take place and the rates are left unchanged, or
you press <F9> to perform the copy.
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COPY AMOUNT
Press <F10> for the local menu to copy an extra payment over
many periods when payments are being added. This is a very fast
way to set or schedule one regular extra payment over a block of
many periods.
Once the copy window is displayed, you will be asked for a
dollar amount, a starting period and an ending period. If you are
adding extra payments by the period, then you will be able to
copy the amount from any period to any period.
If you are adding payments annually, the program will copy
the amount from the starting period and copy it to the period
that is on the anniversary date of the starting period. For
example, if the payment period is quarterly, and you are adding
extra payments annually, then if you use the copy feature to copy
an extra payment from period 10 to period 20, then the extra
payments will be made when the regular payments are made for
periods 10, 14, and 18.
Please note that when you are copying extra payments that are
being made once a year, that you are not restricted to making
those extra payments on an anniversary.
When you are in the copy window, you may press <Esc> so that
the copy does not take place and the rates are left unchanged, or
you press <F9> to perform the copy.
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Setting Other Options, The Install Menu
The install (or setup) function will allow you to customize
certain features of the program.
To start install, you must first be in the directory that
SolveIt! is located in. If you set the program up on your hard
disk the way we suggested at the start of this manual, you would
log on to the drive that SolveIt! is located on and type "CD
SLVIT4" Then from there enter:
SLVIT4 /I
You will then be shown a menu from which you can set the follow-
ing items:
Color Picker
Selecting the color picker will give you another menu of
choices so that you can completely customize SolveIt!'s screen
colors. You will be able to change:
Frame (menu frame or window border)
Title (menu/window title background)
Unselected Text (normal menu and screen text)
Selected (text in menu's cursor)
Pick (character that is menu choice)
Help (help lines at bottom of a window)
Before you start to change the default colors, please make
sure that you are working with a backup copy!!
You may pick a color for SolveIt!'s text by picking the unse-
lected text option. By selecting this or any color option, you
will be shown a box with text written in it. If you press the
space bar the colors will change. Note how first all possible
text colors are displayed for a particular background color. Once
all text colors are shown for the background color, the back-
ground color will change and you will be rotated through all of
the text color combinations again for the new background color.
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You can move "BACKWARD" or "FORWARD" through the color choic-
es by using the <+> or <-> keys on the right side of the keyboard
near the numeric keypad.
Once you see a color combination that you like, press <Enter>
to accept it. If you wish, you may press <Esc> to cancel the
color picking option and to return to the install menu without
setting a color.
You may set the colors for any of the options using the same
technique. When you are finished setting the colors, hit <Esc>
from the "color picker" menu to return to the main install menu.
(Remember, If you hit <Esc> while the color pick window is shown
you will not be setting the new color, <Esc> is to exit the color
pick menu only.)
Default Subdirectory
The default subdirectory is the directory that SolveIt! looks
into to find its overlay and data files. There is no need for you
to install a default subdirectory if the program is started while
you are in the subdirectory that SolveIt! is in on your hard
drive.
If you do set a default subdirectory, when you want to save
or retrieve your data files (files with interest rates, budget
info, etc.) you will be prompted with the default directory.
This, of course, will keep your data files from being scattered
all over your hard disk. (You can override this setting when you
are doing a save or retrieve.)
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Budget Items
You can change the titles (descriptions) of all of the items
listed in the budget. This way, the budget routine is not limited
to being a personal budget program. Rather, if you run a small
business, you can change the category name for example from
Mortgage Payment to Rent. The item descriptions that are preceded
by a "T" are the descriptions of "TOTAL" items. That is the
descriptions that are entered into these field should say some-
thing such as "Advertising Total". These total descriptions are
referencing the items immediately preceding the "T". The total
descriptions appear in the reports.
You are limited to 21 characters plus a ":" including all
punctuation and spaces for all descriptions.
Net Worth Items
You can change the titles of all of the items listed in the
Net Worth Statement. This way, the Net Worth Routine is not
limited to personal use. Rather, if you run a small business, you
can change the title for any category. (Don't forget to work with
a copy of the program before you start to modify it!!)
You are limited to 21 characters plus a ":" including all
punctuation and spaces for all descriptions.
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Page Length
Page length in this case is actually a misnomer. Entering a
value here will actually set SolveIt! for the number of lines
that you want to print on a page.
For standard 8.5 x 11 inch paper we suggest a setting of 60
line to allow for an appropriate bottom margin. You can set any
value from 5 lines to 255 lines.
Save Changes & Quit
This option will save the changes that were made while using
the install routine. Thus, when you start SolveIt!, these changes
will become the program's default settings.
Quit Install/No Save
This option will ignore all changes that were just made while
in the install routine.
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Pine Grove Software
Pine Grove Software was founded in 1984. MoneyCalc!, RentIt!,
SolveIt!, Budget Plus! and SolveIt!, The Financial Calculator,
are our five software packages. We offer custom programming
services as well as modification of our programs for your use.
Pine Grove Software
67-38 108th St., Suite D-1
Forest Hills, NY 11375
(800) 242-9192 or (718) 575-9192
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
Other Programs
SolveIt! is our flagship product. Our other programs at this
time are subsets of this program. They offer an even more econom-
ical way to buy just the routines that you need.
MoneyCalc! Includes routines in SolveIt's finance menu.
AmortizeIt! Includes the routines in SolveIt's loan menu.
Budget Plus! Includes Budget & Net Worth routines.
RentIt! Includes the routines in Real Estate Menu
As of January 1991, each of the above programs sells for $50
plus $5 for shipping. After you register a program with us you
will automatically receive the next upgrade at no charge.
Subscription
Pine Grove Software has a subscription service for SolveIt!.
For $20 plus $4 shipping/handling per year you will automatically
receive at least two upgrades to SolveIt!. This subscription is
included at no charge for the first year after you register the
program.
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
References
Haim Levy & Marshall Sarnat, Capital Investment & Financial
Decisions, Prentice/Hall International, 1978
Hewlett-Packard Business Calculator Owner's Manual HP-10B,
Edition 2, June 1989
Shillinglaw, Gordon, and Ronen, Accounting, A Management Approach
Trost, Stanley R., Useful Basic Programs for the IBM PC, SYBEX
1983
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SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
COMING FEATURES
We plan to add the following features to SolveIt! (We will make
these features available as soon as they are completed to all
subscribers of the SolveIt! Update Service):
Bond Yield Routines: Current Yield, Yield to Call, Yield to
Maturity
Net Present Value & I.R.R schedules
Life insurance needs calculator
Lease vs Buy comparisons
Tax Free vs Non Tax Free Investments
Amortization Routine: Short and long beginning periods
Amortization: Exact day interest rate calculation
Amortization Routine: Interest change on any date, not just
payment dates
Amortization: Matrix display that displays different rates and
different loan amounts and calculates the resulting payments
Amortization: APR factoring in points and extra payments
Amortization: Ability to compare 2 or 3 loans at the same time
Foreign Exchange Calculator : calculates exchange rates
simultaneously for a half dozen to a dozen currencies
POP-UP Math Screen : Add, Subtract, Multiply, Divide and
Percentages : move the results into a SolveIt! field
Comparison of PV and FV showing 3 different interest rates at one
time. (This is required to meet certain reporting requirements of
the Federal Government.)
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INDEX
"CALC" . . . . . . . . . 83 Consumer Price Index 81
"DO-IT!" . . . . . . . . 7 Continuous . . . . 36
"Out-of-Range" . . . . . 83 Copy Amount . . . . 88
<Ctrl> . . . . . . . . . 6 Copy Rate . . . . . 87
<Esc> . . . . . . . . . . 6 Cost of Unit . . . 54
<F1> . . . . . . . . . . 6 Cost to Write PO . 55
<F10> . . . . . . . . . . 7 Date of Purchase . 60
<F2> . . . . . . . . 6, 75 Date of Sale . . . 61
<F3> . . . . . . . . . . 6 Days Per Year . 27, 70
<F4> . . . . . . . . . . 6 Declining Balance . 39
<F5> . . . . . . . . . . 6 Declining Purchasing
<F9> . . . . . . . . . . 7 Power . . . . . . . 24
179 Deduction . . . . . . 45 Default Subdirectory 90
Accelerated Payment . . . 34 Deposit Amount . . 13
Accrued Rate . . . . . . 30 DEPRECIATION . . . 38
ACRS . . . . . . . . . . 38 Depreciation Basis 65
Actual Periods . . . . . 23 Desired Periods . . 23
Adjust Annually . . . . . 85 DESTINATION MENU . 85
Adjust Periodically . . . 85 Discount Rate . . . 70
Affordable Property . . . 56 Display Year . . . 26
Allowable Loss . . . . . 62 EOQ . . . . . . . . 55
Amortizing Method . . . . 27 Equivalent Purchasing
Amount Returned . . . . . 69 Power . . . . . . . 24
Annual Appreciation . . . 61 Equivalent Rate . . 23
Annual Expense Increase . 63 Est Maintenance . . 56
Annual Income . . . . . . 56 Est Tax & Insurance 56
Annual Interest Rate . . 56 Evaluation Methods 17
Annual Property Tax Increase64 Extra $ Paid . . . 34
Annual Rate . . . . . 27, 69 Extra Annually . . 86
Annual Rent Increase . . 64 EXTRA PAYMENT MENU 86
Annual Units Used . . . . 55 Extra Payments . . 28
Annuity Payout . . . . . 19 Extra Periodically 86
Assets . . . . . . . . . 66 File Structure . . 75
Balance After Payment . . 32 Files . . . . . . . 75
Balloon payment . . . 29, 33 First Interest Rate 59
Basis . . . . . . . . . . 40 First Mortgage . . 58
Book Value or Basis . . . 40 First Term . . . . 59
Break-Even . . . . . . . 53 First Year . . . . 70
BUDGET . . . . . . . . . 67 Fiscal . . . . . . 86
Budget Items . . . . . . 91 Fiscal Month . . . 29
Business Use . . . . . . 60 Fiscal Month Menu . 86
Cash Available . . . 56, 58 Fiscal year . . . . 26
Cash Flow Report . . . . 65 Fixed Costs . . . . 53
Cash Flows . . . . . . . 69 Fixed Rate . . . . 85
Color Picker . . . . . . 89 Future Value . . . 70
Compounding Period . 36, 69 Future Value defined 11
Constant Dollars . . . . 24 Future Value Routine 11
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Future Value Schedule . . 14 Placed Into Service 44
FV of a Series . . . . . 13 Points . . . . . . 62
FV of an Amount . . . . . 11 Present Value . . . 73
Gain . . . . . . . . . . 70 Present Value defined 15
Gross Profit . . . . . . 50 Present Value Routine 15
Increase After Payment . 34 Present Value Schedule16
Inflation Rate . . . . . 71 Printing to Disk . 84
Initial Amount . . . . . 71 Property Taxes . . 64
Initial Fix Up . . . . . 64 Purchase Price55, 58, 60
Interest Due . . . . . . 36 Purchasing Power . 24
Interest Only . . . . . . 27 Quantity . . . . . 50
Interest Rate . . . . . . 61 Questions . 11, 26, 69
Interest Rate Earned . . 22 Recovery Period 40, 44
INTEREST RATE MENU . . . 85 References . . . . 95
Internal Rate of Return . 18 Relationships . . . 77
IRS Convention . . . . . 42 Remaining Balance . 32
Liabilities . . . . . . . 66 Rental Analysis . . 60
Loan Amount . . . . . . . 71 Required Payment . 21
Loan Calculator . . . . . 25 Rules-of-78 . . . . 27
Loan Table . . . . . . . 26 Salvage Value . . . 49
Loan Table Display . . . 29 Save Changes & Quit 92
MACRS . . . . . . . . . . 38 Second Interest Rate 59
MACRS Acceleration . . . 46 Second Mortgage . . 58
MACRS Methods . . . . . . 41 Selecting From Menus 5
Monthly Expense . . . . . 63 Selling Costs . . . 61
Monthly Rents . . . . . . 63 Selling Price . 50, 61
Mortgage . . . . . . . . 61 Slvit4 . . . . . . . 4
Negative Amortization . . 30 Slvit4 /G . . . . . . 4
Net Present Value . . . . 17 Slvit4 /I . . . . 4, 89
Net Worth . . . . . . . . 66 Start/Last Date . . 36
Net Worth Items . . . . . 91 Starting Date . . . 73
No Extra Payment . . . . 86 Straight Line . . . 39
None . . . . . . . . . . 36 Subscription . . . 94
Number of Days . . . . . 36 Sum-of-Years . . . 39
Number of Periods . . . . 56 Summary Window . . 31
Occupied . . . . . . . . 64 Tax Bracket . . . . 62
Other Options . . . . . . 89 Tax Effect . . . . 64
Page Length . . . . . . . 92 Term . . . . . . . 61
Paid Rate . . . . . . . . 30 The Questions 11, 26, 69
Payment # Balloon Due . 33 Time to Withdrawal 19
Payment Amount . 20, 33, 72 Total Cost of Unit 54
Payment Date . . . . . . 72 Total Fixed Costs . 53
Payment Method . . . 26, 73 Total Periods . . . 74
Payment Period . . . . . 73 Total Variable Costs 54
Payments . . . . . . . . 72 Type . . . . . . . 62
Percent of Income . . . . 57 Unit Cost . . . . . 50
Periodic Payment . . . . 73 US Rule . . . . . . 27
Periods to Pay Off . . . 34 Useful Life . . . . 60
Pine Grove Software . . . 93 Variable Costs . . 54
98
SolveIt! 4.0b/4.1b (c) Pine Grove Software
Weighted Average . . . . 52
Withdrawal Amount . . . . 19
99
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THE ROUTINES OF BONDCALC!
(BondCalc! in incorporated into SolveIt! 4.2)
A Bond
A BOND is a security which represents a loan from an investor
to the issuer. The face value of the bond is repaid by the issuer
on the maturity date. The coupon rate of interest is paid to the
registered investor usually on a semiannual basis.
YIELDS
This routine solves for three yields: Current Yield,
Yield-to-Maturity and Yield-To-Call. Looking at potential yields
of course allows you to evaluate a bonds attractiveness as an
investment. Yield computations do not however take into account
the risk involved with a particular issue.
The Current Yield is the dollars of interest paid in one year
divided by the Current Price. (One year's interest is equal to
the Par Value multiplied by the Coupon Rate.) The Current Yield
assumes that interest payments are NOT reinvested.
The Yield-To-Maturity assumes that the interest payments will
be reinvested at a rate equal to the bond's original YTM. YTM
calculations do not provide total return information on an
absolute basis since there is this assumption being made. The
value of a YTM calculation is so that different bonds can be
compared to each other on a relative basis.
Often bonds can be called (debt paid off) by the issuer and
they will often do so if interest rates fall. Therefore, it is
often a good idea to see what the rate of return would be if a
bond is called. This is the Yield-to-Call value. The same caveats
apply to YTC as they do to YTM.
Current Price
While bonds are usually issued at Par, they are available in
the resale market at either a premium or a discount. If a bond is
quoted in the papers at a discount of $86, enter $86 here. We are
assuming that the actual Par value is $1000.
Coupon Rate
The rate of interest a bond pays annually. This is usually
compounded semiannually. To determine the dollars of interest
paid, multiply the Par Value by the Coupon Rate.
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BondCalc! 1.0 (c) Pine Grove Software
Settlement Date
This is the date that the buyer and seller exchange cash and
securities. This is usually 5 business days after the trade date
for corporate, municipal and agency bonds. US Government Bonds
settle one business day after the trade date.
Maturity Date
The date that the Par Value must be repaid. Any maturity is
legally permissible, however bonds usually have a maturity of
between 10 and 40 years from the date of issue.
Call Date
Often bonds will be issued with a call provision. The call
can take place on or after a specified call date. This is
important when evaluating a bond because there is no guarantee
that a particularly high rate of return will be maintained until
the maturity date.
Call Price
Usually, if a bond is callable, the issuer pays a penalty for
the privilege of being able to call the bond. This is known as
the Call Price which, of course, is higher than the Par Value.
The Call Price is often equal to the Par Value plus on year's
interest.
Par Value
This is the stated face value of the bond, it is often
$1,000. This is the amount of money that the firm needs to repay
on the maturity date.
Bond prices are usually quoted per $100 of Par Value. That
is, if a bond's par is $1,000 and it's current price is $860, the
price quoted in the business pages of newspapers will be $86.
BondCalc! follows this convention by setting the default Par
Value to $100 to indicate that the price calculated is actually
per $100 of par.
Please note that you don't have to do the calculations per a
single bond. If you want to purchase bonds worth $50,000 at par,
you can enter $50,000 in the Par Value field. The resulting
calculations will show the price that has to be paid for the
entire $50,000.
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BondCalc! 1.0 (c) Pine Grove Software
Bond's Description
Enter a description of the bond here. For example, The New
York Times lists the Shell Oil's 7.25% of 2002 as ShellO 7 1/4
02.
Compounding
Generally, interest on bonds is compounded semiannually.
Day's Per Year
For the purpose of calculating Accrued Interest on corporate
bonds, every month is assumed to have 30 days and each year is
assumed to have 360 days. On the other hand, when calculating
accrued interest on Government Bonds. it is generally assumed
that a year has 365 days in it and the exact number of days are
used.
Current Yield
Current Yield is the number of dollars of interest paid to an
investor over a one-year period divided by the bond's market
price. This figure is expressed as a percentage. Since bonds'
market values change constantly, so do bonds' current yields.
The current yield is a very important value if you do not
plan to reinvest the interest payments.
Yield-to-Maturity
What is the approximate rate of interest if the bond is held
to maturity? We say "approximate rate of interest" here because
we need to assume that ALL interest payments can be reinvested at
the coupon rate. THIS IS HIGHLY UNLIKELY.
The value to the investor of the Yield-to-Maturity figure is
not it's absolute value, but rather its relative value when
compared to other Yield-to-Maturity figures for different bonds.
With the above in mind, it is important to understand that an
investor should NEVER compare a Yield-to-Maturity for one bond
that was derived by using a program or calculator with the Yield-
to-Maturity for another bond that was derived by using another
program or calculator.
The reason for this is simple. Historically, Yield-to-
Maturity values have been determined by using interpolation. That
is, there was no formula that would provide a Yield-to-Maturity
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BondCalc! 1.0 (c) Pine Grove Software
result. This could lead to slightly different answers from one
calculator or program to another. However, this is not a problem,
since ALL Yield-to-Maturity values are going to be, in fact,
erroneous, since they assume that the interest payments will be
reinvested at exactly the same rate as the coupon interest rate.
BondCalc! on the other hand, solves for Yield-to-Maturity, by
using a formula developed by R.J. Rodreguez. Rodreguez's formula,
known as the Rule-of-Thumb Yield, gives slightly different
results that those obtained through interpolation. The reason
that we choose a Rule-of-Thumb Yield for this program is because
it is MUCH faster to solve for Yield-to-Maturity using a Rule-of-
Thumb method than using an interpolated method. (SEE NOTES AFTER
INDEX!)
Yield-to-Call
Some bonds have a Call provision. If interest rates drop, the
issuer of the bond can "call" the bonds, that is buy them back at
a call price which is usually Par plus one year of coupon
interest. The Yield-to-Call will tell you your rate of return if
you held a bond until it was called.
Caution: Watch buying a bond that is selling for a premium
that can be called. It is possible for the bond to be called
which might result in a capital loss. (That is, the issuer of the
bond pays you the Call Price and you paid the premium.)
See Yield-to-Maturity for caveats that apply to the Yield-to-
Call result. (SEE NOTES AFTER INDEX!)
VALUES
If the coupon rate of a bond is 8%, the current price is $105
and market interest rates are at about 7.5%, is this a good
investment? Use this routine to find out.
Besides calculating what the current price of a bond should
be to achieve a desired yield, this routine also calculates the
accrued interest, future value to maturity and, optionally, the
affects of inflation and/or taxes.
Tax Bracket
If you wish to see the total dollar return after an allowance
for taxes, enter your tax bracket here. You may wish to take into
account not only Federal taxes, but State and Local taxes as
well.
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BondCalc! 1.0 (c) Pine Grove Software
Inflation Rate
If you want to see what your purchasing power is after
inflation, enter an estimated rate for inflation here.
Accrued Interest
Accrued interest is the interest that the seller is entitled
to receive from the buyer on the settlement date. Accrued
interest is the interest that the seller has earned while owning
the bond for the time after the last interest payment date up
until the settlement date.
FV w/Compounding
This is the value that the bond will have if held to maturity
allowing for compounding of the interest payments.
Please note, if you are doing calculations for a bond that
actually has a par value of $1,000 but you want to see the price
per $100 by entering $100 in the Par Value field, you will have
to multiply the results in the FV field by 10.
Purchasing Power
This is the future value at maturity allowing for inflation
and/or taxes.
Desired Yield
Enter the desired rate of return. BondCalc! will calculate
the price (Present Value) that you should pay for a bond
considering it's coupon rate and term.
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BondCalc! 1.0 (c) Pine Grove Software
REFERENCES
Haim Levy & Marshall Sarnat, Capital Investment & Financial
Decisions, Prentice/Hall International, 1978
Hewlett-Packard Business Calculator Owner's Manual, HP-10B, Business Calculator Owner's Manual
Edition 2, June 1989
Shillinglaw, Gordon, and Ronen, Accounting, A Management Approach
Trost, Stanley R., Useful Basic Programs for the IBM PC, SYBEX
1983
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BondCalc! 1.0 (c) Pine Grove Software
INDEX
"CALC" . . . . . . . . . 16 Selecting From the Men 5
"DO-IT!" . . . . . . . . 7 Settlement Date . . 12
"Out-of-Range" . . . . . 16 SolveIt! . . . . . 19
<Ctrl> . . . . . . . . . 6 Starting BondCalc! . 4
<Esc> . . . . . . . . . . 6 Tax Bracket . . . . 14
<F1> . . . . . . . . . . 6 unzip . . . . . . . . 2
<F3> . . . . . . . . . . 6 Values . . . . . . 14
<F4> . . . . . . . . . . 6 Yield-to-Call . . . 14
<F5> . . . . . . . . . . 7 Yield-to-Maturity . 13
<F9> . . . . . . . . . . 7 Yields . . . . . . 11
<tab> . . . . . . . . . . 7
Accrued Interest . . . . 15
Bonds . . . . . . . . . . 11
Bonds /G . . . . . . . . 4
Bonds /I . . . . . . 4, 17
Call Date . . . . . . . . 12
Call Price . . . . . . . 12
Color Picker . . . . . . 17
Compounding . . . . . . . 13
Coupon Rate . . . . . . . 11
Current Price . . . . . . 11
Current Yield . . . . . . 13
Day's Per Year . . . . . 13
Default Subdirectory . . 18
Description . . . . . . . 13
Desired Yield . . . . . . 15
Entering/Editing . . . . 10
Expand . . . . . . . . . 2
FV . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Help with help . . . . . 9
Important keys . . . . . 6
Inflation rate . . . . . 15
Initial install . . . . . 3
Installation . . . . . . 2
Interpolated . . . . . . 14
Maturity Date . . . . . . 12
Messages . . . . . . . . 16
Other options . . . . . . 17
Par Value . . . . . . . . 12
Pine Grove Software . . . 20
Premium . . . . . . . . . 14
Purchasing Power . . . . 15
References . . . . . . . 22
Rodreguez . . . . . . . . 14
Routines of BondCalc! . . 11
Rule-of-Thumb . . . . . . 14
Save Changes & Quit . . . 18
23
NOTES:
Since the manual was written, we made a change in the
Yield-to-Maturity and the Yield-to-Call calculations. We
said that we were using a Rule-of-Thumb method. This has
been changed so that we are now using the more conventional
method, i.e. Interpolation. This results in a slight
decrease in performance depending on the computer hardware
that is used.