Full Description of File
use loan analyzer. Uses a fill-in-the-blank
interface. Includes an amortization schedule,
& 6 calculators: loan, refinance, remaining
balance, accelerated payments, interest due &
balloon payment. 25 new features: user can
set payment, irregular length 1st periods,
payment date/due date schedules, tax
consequences of a loan. Supports irregular,
skipped & extra payments; adjustable rates.
AmortizeIT! 2.1 a fast, flexible, easy use loan analyzer. Uses a fill-in-the-blank interface. Includes an amortization schedule & 6 calculators: loan, refinance, remaining balance, accelerated payments, interest due | |||
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File Name | File Size | Zip Size | Zip Type |
242_9192.800 | 0 | 0 | stored |
730_1430.609 | 0 | 0 | stored |
AMORTIZE.DOC | 156998 | 39567 | deflated |
AMORTIZE.EXE | 305344 | 126308 | deflated |
AMORTIZE.HLP | 112966 | 48651 | deflated |
AMORTIZE.OVR | 205022 | 73781 | deflated |
AMORTIZE.PIF | 545 | 141 | deflated |
AMORT_1.ICO | 766 | 124 | deflated |
AMORT_2.ICO | 766 | 141 | deflated |
BENEFITS.COM | 7722 | 4881 | deflated |
ERRORS.COM | 6668 | 4340 | deflated |
FILE_ID.DIZ | 453 | 289 | deflated |
LICENSE.COM | 6362 | 4101 | deflated |
NEW.COM | 6952 | 4463 | deflated |
OMBUDSMN.ASP | 1672 | 541 | deflated |
ORDER.BAT | 21 | 21 | stored |
ORDER.DOC | 2371 | 939 | deflated |
PRINTDOC.BAT | 156 | 100 | deflated |
SLVIT4.COM | 27152 | 10549 | deflated |
TPCREAD.ME | 199 | 165 | deflated |
VENDINFO.DIZ | 23380 | 9612 | deflated |
VENDOR.DOC | 8215 | 2935 | deflated |
WARRANTY.COM | 6861 | 4543 | deflated |
WHERE.COM | 5786 | 3936 | deflated |
WINDOWS.COM | 8937 | 5014 | deflated |
Download File AMORT21.ZIP Here
Contents of the AMORTIZE.DOC file
AMORTIZEIT! (tm)
USER GUIDE
VERSION 2.1
Pine Grove Software
23 Flower Hill Drive, Suite 1600
Trenton, NJ 08638-1203
(609) 730-1430
(800) 242-9192
Fax: (609) 730-1530
Copyright, 1995 Pine Grove Software, All Rights Reserved.
AmortizeIT! is copyrighted software and as such is protected by
the laws of the United States. You may distribute a shareware
version of this software to others but you may not sell it. If
you are a distributor of shareware software, you may charge up to
$5 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.
There are other terms that you must meet in order to distribute
this program. Please see the README.com, VENDINFO.diz and
VENDOR.doc files for additional details.
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 1
SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT
The registered user of AmortizeIT! 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
AmortizeIT! on one computer at a time. You may use your copy of
AmortizeIT! on different computers provided 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 we choose to use to
distribute version 2.1 of this software is simply on a
"try-before-you-buy" basis. AmortizeIT! 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.
If you have any questions concerning this license agreement,
please call us at (800) 242-9192 or (609) 730-1430.
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 2
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This is the second major release of AmortizeIT!. Version 2.1 has
incorporated many of the changes that have been requested by our
users. We hope you find it useful as well as a pleasure to use.
AmortizeIT! 2.1 has been two and a half years in the making.
During this time, we've had many people look at the program to
get input from actual users. This in and of itself has been a
valuable experience for us. It has also been trying at times.
(Because a user made an excellent case for a change, we threw out
about 3 months worth of programming effort.) But we think that
we...and you...have a better program because of it.
While many people have contributed to this program, we would like
to thank the efforts of two individuals, Morris A. Nunes of
Falls Church, Virginia, and Bruce Genereux of Palm City, Florida.
Both made a number of very useful suggestions. Mr. Nunes also
kindly contributed an explanation of the Rule of 78's that is
used in an appendix of this manual.
A special note of thanks also goes out to Keith Aleshire of
Computer Consumer Services, Inc. Keith wrote a large part of this
manual. He is to be commended for his patience and for his
fortitude in putting up with this project over the better part of
the year that he worked on it. I know that you will find his work
to be excellent. And rest assured, any shortcomings in the manual
lay on my shoulders and not his.
Finally, AmortizeIT! v2.1 was written using Borland's Pascal
version 7.0. We having been using versions of Borland's Pascal
ever since we released our first software package for the IBM PC
in 1985. However, as fine of a tool as this is, we simply would
not have been able to have a program that is of a high a quality
as we hope we have without the tools from Turbo Power Software.
Turbo Power publishes Object Professional which is used
extensively throughout AmortizeIT!.
To these individuals and companies, our heartfelt thanks.
Karl Thompson
President
Pine Grove Software
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT .....................2
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................3
INTRODUCTION ......................................7
DISCLAIMER ........................................8
ABOUT THIS MANUAL .................................9
KEYSTROKES .....................................9
PROCEDURES .....................................9
* To understand a procedure .................9
MENU NAMES .....................................9
PREPARING TO USE AmortizeIT! .....................10
FIRST THINGS FIRST ............................10
What You Need .................................10
Microsoft Windows Users .......................10
Upgrading From Earlier Versions ...............10
INSTALLING AmortizeIT! ........................12
* To install AmortizeIT! automatically .....12
* To install AmortizeIT! manually ..........13
STARTING AmortizeIT! ..........................15
* To start AmortizeIT! .....................15
Mouse Support .................................15
GLOBAL OPTIONS ................................16
* To set AmortizeIT! global options ........16
Registered User Options .......................17
THE AmortizeIT! FILES .........................17
OVERVIEW .........................................19
WHAT'S A ROUTINE? .............................19
LOAN CALCULATOR ...............................20
AMORTIZATION SCHEDULE .........................21
Local Menu ....................................21
INTEREST DUE/CALENDAR MATH ....................22
REMAINING BALANCE .............................23
ACCELERATED PAYMENT ...........................24
BALLOON PAYMENT ...............................25
REFINANCE LOAN ................................26
A GUIDED TOUR ....................................28
IMPORTANT KEYS ................................28
ENTERING INFORMATION ..........................29
GETTING HELP ..................................30
EXPLORING THE LOAN CALCULATOR .................31
* To use the Loan Calculator routine .......31
EXPLORING THE AMORTIZATION SCHEDULE ...........33
The "Correct" Payment .........................33
* To use the Amortization Schedule routine ..33
There's More to Learn .........................43
AmortizeIT! REFERENCE ............................44
ACCELERATED BIWEEKLY ..........................46
ACCRUED RATES .................................46
APR DETAIL SCREEN .............................47
BALLOON SCHEDULES .............................47
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 4
CALENDAR YEAR TOTALS ..........................47
CANADIAN MORTGAGES ............................48
COMPOUNDING PERIODS ...........................48
CONSTRUCTION LOANS ............................48
CUSTOM PAYMENT OPTION .........................48
Method One ....................................48
Method Two ....................................49
CUSTOM REPORTS ................................49
CUSTOM SETUP ..................................49
DATE X DAYS FROM DATE .........................49
DAYS BETWEEN DATES ............................50
DBASE FILE FORMAT .............................50
DISCOUNTED MORTGAGE ...........................50
DUE DATE OR PAYMENT DATE SCHEDULES ............50
EXACT DAY INTEREST ............................50
EXTRA PAYMENTS ................................51
FILE MAINTENANCE ..............................51
FISCAL YEAR TOTALS ............................51
FIXED PRINCIPAL PAYMENT LOANS .................51
INITIAL INTEREST ONLY PAYMENTS ................52
INTEREST BETWEEN DATES ........................52
INTEREST ONLY LOANS ...........................52
INTEREST PAID .................................52
INTEREST SAVED ................................52
INTEREST FOR NUMBER OF DAYS ...................53
INTERNATIONAL CURRENCY SUPPORT ................53
INTERNATIONAL DATE FORMATS ....................53
LEASE .........................................53
LOAN ADVANCES .................................53
LOAN TOTALS (RUNNING TTLS) ....................54
LOAN YEAR TOTALS (YTD TOTALS) .................54
MISCELLANEOUS FEES ............................54
MORTGAGE ANALYSIS .............................54
NEGATIVE AMORTIZING LOANS .....................54
ONE TIME FEES .................................55
ORDINARY INTEREST .............................55
PAYMENT PERIODS ...............................55
PENALTIES .....................................55
PERIODIC ADJUST VS. ANNUAL ADJUST .............55
POINTS ........................................56
PREPAID PRINCIPAL ACCELERATION ................56
PRINCIPAL PAYMENTS ............................56
PRINT SKIPPED PERIODS & PROOF PAYMENT FEATURE ..56
PRINTING PROBLEMS .............................57
QUICK PRINT SCHEDULE ..........................57
RANDOM PAYMENTS ...............................57
REGULATION "Z" APR DISCLOSURE .................57
RULES OF 78'S .................................58
RUNNING TOTALS (RUNNING TTLS) ...............58
SHORT/LONG FIRST PERIODS .....................58
SKIPPED PAYMENTS ..............................58
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 5
SOLVE FOR UNKNOWN .............................59
SPEED ENTRY ...................................59
TAX CONSEQUENCES ..............................59
TAXES .........................................60
U.S. RULE LOANS ...............................60
YEAR-END TOTALS (YTD TOTALS) ..................60
APPENDIX A: COMMAND LINE OPTIONS .................61
Printing Problems .............................61
APPENDIX B: REALLY CUSTOMIZING AmortizeIT! .......62
* To customize AmortizeIT! .................62
APPENDIX C: FREE MEMORY AND AMORTIZING PERIODS ...63
APPENDIX D: AmortizeIT! UNDER WINDOWS ............64
* To use AmortizeIT! under Microsoft
Windows 3.1 ..............................64
AmortizeIT! for Windows? ......................65
APPENDIX E: NEW FEATURES IN VERSION 2.1 ...........66
APPENDIX F: TECHNICAL SUPPORT ....................67
APPENDIX G: DATA FILE SPECIFICATION ..............68
dBASE Data File ...............................69
Notes .........................................69
APPENDIX H: EXPLANATION OF THE RULE OF 78'S .......71
The printed manual provided with the registered version
of the program has a very detailed index.
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 6
INTRODUCTION
Thank you for selecting AmortizeIT!. We believe you have chosen a
program second to none for loan calculations. AmortizeIT!
performs more calculations faster and with less effort than any
other program we have seen. There is never any programming needed
to solve a problem. You simply fill in the blanks and press
to calculate for any unknown variables.
While AmortizeIT! is widely used by professionals who work in
many industries, we also hope this version is useful for the
non-professional. We have made every effort possible to make
AmortizeIT! an educational program. If you are not familiar with
different ways to amortize a loan or with the concept of present
value, play with this program and read the help screens. You will
be better informed because of it.
Much of what is found in this manual is also available through
the program's help function. If you need assistance, press the
the main menu and need information about one of the routines,
simply highlight its name and press
displayed.
Since the help text is so extensive, most of this manual
discusses how these routines can be used. After we review several
of the basics of this program in the overview section of this
manual, we discuss features that may not be so obvious. These
examples are not meant to be exhaustive. Rather, they illustrate
several ideas and are meant to get you thinking about the power
of the program you are about to use. We hope 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 reading it. We
want you to get the most from our software as you possibly can.
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 7
DISCLAIMER
While these routines are easy to use, financial planning requires
careful study.
Therefore, Pine Grove Software specifically 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, incidental, 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 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. When using this program, please use
common sense. If you are about to make what could be an important
financial decision, triple-check the results obtained with this
or any calculator.
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 8
ABOUT THIS MANUAL
This manual uses a few simple conventions of which you should be
aware.
KEYSTROKES
Throughout this manual, we mention keys or key combinations such
as
the first key (such as Ctrl) and PRESS the second key (such as
R).
We may also require you to press the function keys, such as
or
the top or left side of your keyboard.
See "Important Keys" later in this user guide for details on what
each key does.
PROCEDURES
Step-by-step procedures are marked by a heading preceded by a
square box and usually the word "To," such as:
* To understand a procedure
DOS COMMANDS: Commands you give your computer are followed by the
word
"
DIR
MENU NAMES
We indicate a menu choice by placing it within curly brackets
({}). For example, {Loan Calculator} is the first menu choice
from the main menu.
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 9
PREPARING TO USE AmortizeIT!
FIRST THINGS FIRST
If your AmortizeIT! disk contains a README.COM file, the
information contained in it may supersede the directions found in
this manual. To check the README.COM file, put the original disk
in drive A or B.
Next, change to that drive by typing:
A:
where A: is the letter of your disk drive. Next, type:
README
You will see any last-minute instructions for using AmortizeIT!
program. You can print the instructions by pressing
What You Need
AmortizeIT! requires the following:
* An IBM or IBM-compatible computer using MS-DOS or PC-DOS
version 2.1 or greater.
* A hard drive with at least one megabyte (1024K) of free disk
space.
NOTE: You may run AmortizeIT! on a 720K floppy, but you have to
have a hard drive to install it first.
* 512K of free random access memory (RAM).
NOTE: The more free memory, the more amortizing periods
AmortizeIT! can calculate. See "Appendix C: Free Memory and
Amortizing Periods" for more information.
Microsoft Windows Users
You should exit Windows and install AmortizeIT! from the DOS
prompt. After AmortizeIT! is installed onto your hard disk, see
the instructions in the Appendix D for instructions on running
AmortizeIT! under Windows.
Upgrading From Earlier Versions
If you are upgrading to this version of AmortizeIT!, make sure
that you install to a new directory on your hard drive. The data
files created by this version of AmortizeIT! ARE NOT compatible
with earlier version of the program. Therefore, you may want to
keep an earlier version of your program on your hard drive until
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 10
you re-enter any loans that you may be tracking.
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 11
*SUPERSEDED BY README FILE* INSTALLING AmortizeIT!
NOTE: Before you install AmortizeIT!, exit all programs, such as
Microsoft Windows or DOS shells. Go to the drive that you wish
to install to, such as C:\. (You can run AmortizeIT! under
Windows but you should install it when Windows is not running.
You can install AmortizeIT! either automatically using its
built-in installation program or manually. The procedures for
both methods are provided below:
NOTE: We strongly recommend that you use the automatic
installation program.
* To install AmortizeIT! automatically
If you received AmortizeIT! on a disk, use this procedure.
1. Place the AmortizeIT! disk into drive A: or drive B:.
2. Type:
A:INSTALL
where A: is the letter of the drive in which you installed
the disk.
3. Press any key to bypass the welcome screen and continue
installation.
NOTE: If you want to cancel installation, press the Escape (Esc)
key at any time.
4. Enter the drives to install to and from.
You must tell AmortizeIT! from which drive you are installing
the program. You also must tell it to which drive you are
installing the program.
5. Enter the name of the directory to which you are installing
AmortizeIT!.
The default directory name for AmortizeIT! is \AMORT20.
6. Press the
process.
NOTE: If you are installing from 5 1/4" double-density disks, you
may be asked to insert a second disk.
7. Verify your drive and directory choices by pressing
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 12
(Yes).
AmortizeIT! will install its files onto your PC's hard disk.
NOTE: AmortizeIT! does not modify any of your PC's start-up
files, such as AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS.
8. Press the
9. Type:
AMORTIZE
You then need to customize AmortizeIT! for your computer.
10. Enter your name and answer yes or no if you see different
colors.
11. Press the function key F9 when finished and confirm your
choices with
When finished the AmortizeIT! main menu appears.
12. Press
to Quit.
* To install AmortizeIT! manually
1. Place the original AmortizeIT! disk into your floppy disk
drive.
2. Switch to the hard disk onto which you want to install
AmortizeIT!.
For example, you may type:
C:
to place AmortizeIT! onto drive C:.
3. Create a directory for AmortizeIT!.
You may create a directory by typing, for example:
MD \AMORT20
4. Switch to your new AmortizeIT! directory.
If the directory you may is \AMORT20, you would type:
CD \AMORT20
5. Copy the AmortizeIT! files from the disk to your directory.
From the DOS prompt, type:
COPY A:*.*
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 13
where A: is the letter of the floppy disk drive containing
the AmortizeIT! disk.
NOTE: If you are installing from 5 1/4" double-density disks,
repeat this step for the second disk.
6. Decompress the AmortizeIT! files.
The AmortizeIT! files copied to your AmortizeIT! directory
are compressed into the single file AMORT20.EXE. To
decompress these files, type:
AMORT20
7. Delete the AMORT20.EXE file.
Once the AmortizeIT! files are decompressed, you can delete
the compressed file AMORT20.EXE. Type:
DEL AMORT20.EXE
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 14
STARTING AmortizeIT!
Once AmortizeIT! is installed, you can start it using these
steps.
* To start AmortizeIT!
1. Change to the drive onto which you loaded AmortizeIT!.
For example, you may type:
C:
if AmortizeIT! was installed on drive C:.
2. Change to your AmortizeIT! directory.
For example, you may type:
CD \AMORT20
3. Start AmortizeIT!.
To start AmortizeIT!, type:
AMORTIZE
When AmortizeIT! starts, you will see its logo. You may
quickly proceed to the main menu by pressing the.
NOTE: For information on some command-line switches you can use
when starting AmortizeIT!, see "Appendix A: Command Line
Options." One of these switches, for example, bypasses the
graphical start-up screen.
NOTE: For information on using AmortizeIT! from within Windows,
see "Appendix D: AmortizeIT! Under Windows."
You may pick a menu choice in either of two ways. You may use
your cursor keys to highlight a choice and press the
key. Otherwise, you can type the highlighted or uppercase
letter of the choice you want.
Mouse Support
Version 2.1 of AmortizeIT! supports a mouse. For example, you may
do the following:
* Menus. Double-click on any menu item to select it.
* Routines. Click on any field prompt (the question text) or
field (the input areas) to move to a particular field. If the
field is one that you can change it's value by pressing the
spacebar, then you can also change it's value by clicking on
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 15
the question text with the mouse. If the routine needs to be
calculated (the "Calc" message is displayed in the upper
right-hand corner of the screen), then you can calculate the
result by clicking on the "Calc" indicator.
* Amortization Schedule Routine. When a schedule is displayed,
you can click on an item on the bottom help line to access
certain functions. For example, if you wish to display the
next year of an amortization schedule, you can click on the
text on the help line rather than pressing the PgDn
key on your keyboard.
* Help Window. If there is more help text for a subject than
what fits in the window, you can click on the up or down
arrows on the right side of the help window to view this
text. If there is a cross reference help topic, you can
select that topic by clicking on it. If the help index is
displayed, you can select a topic by double-clicking on it.
The help window will also have a diamond shape in the upper
left corner. When the help index is displayed, clicking on
the diamond will close the help window, otherwise clicking on
it will display the previously selected help topic.
GLOBAL OPTIONS
You set AmortizeIT!'s global options such as currency type and
date formats from the program's "Global Options" menu.
* To set AmortizeIT! global options
1. Go to the main menu of AmortizeIT!.
2. Pressto open the options menu.
3. Make your selections.
You can make several choices from the options menu, such as:
* Currency. Select German Deutschemarks, Japanese Yen or any
other of 18 currencies.
* Date. Select one of five date formats, including YY-MM-DD.
* Rounding. Select your rounding method for payment. For
example, selecting Payment will round payments up from
1.012 to 1.02. Otherwise, normal rounding is used. The last
three choices allow you to round by adjusting the last
payment, the last interest amount, or do no adjusting and
show the error amount.
NOTE: Since rounding usually affects only pennies, AmortizeIT!'s
defaults will probably work just fine for most situations.
* Port. Select to which printer port you want to print. The
default is printer port one (LPT1).
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 16
When you finish with an option choice, you are immediately
returned to the main menu.
Registered User Options
Registered users of AmortizeIT! receive the separate utility
SLVSETUP.EXE for further customizing the program. With
SLVSETUP.EXE, you can:
* Change the number of lines per page.
* Change the printer port.
* Change the calculation options, including default interest
rates and points.
* Tell AmortizeIT! whether your monitor is color or monochrome.
* Customize the AmortizeIT! menu colors.
* Change the way menus appear and are chosen.
* Set a default data path for storing amortization tables.
THE AmortizeIT! FILES
After installing AmortizeIT!, you should have the following files
in your directory:
File Name Purpose Required
AMORTIZE.EXE AmortizeIT! main program file. Yes
AMORTIZE.HLP AmortizeIT! built-in help text. Yes
AMORTIZE.OVR AmortizeIT! companion file used to Yes
reduce memory needed by AmortizeIT!.
AMORTIZE.PIF Windows PIF file to run AmortizeIT! No
best under Microsoft Windows
(386 Enhanced or Standard mode)
AMORT-1.ICO AmortizeIT! Windows icons No
AMORT-2.ICO
ERROR.COM List of known errors or bugs. No
ERRORS.DAT Installation errors, if any. No
README.COM Utility to view or print any No
last-minute information about
AmortizeIT!
SLVIT4.COM SolveIt! 4.3 feature list No
SLVSETUP.EXE Setup utility for AmortizeIT! to No
customize colors, printer and more
(registered users only)
WHERE.COM Utility to view or print information No
about getting technical support from
Pine Grove Software
WINDOWS.COM Utility to view or print information No
about using AmortizeIT! with
Microsoft Windows
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 17
NOTE: To save disk space, you may delete all files except those
marked as required.
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 18
OVERVIEW
AmortizeIT! is an umbrella under which several loan calculators
reside. The program is tailored to the analytical needs of
financial professional yet is simple enough for use by consumers.
WHAT'S A ROUTINE?
Throughout this manual, we refer to "routines." A routine simply
is a calculation or series of calculations that are represented
by a choice from the opening menu. Presently, AmortizeIT! has 7
routines. They are:
* Loan Calculator
* Amortization Schedule
* Interest Due
* Remaining Balance
* Accelerated Payments
* Balloon Payment
* Refinance Loan
Most routines are designed for a single purpose. However, some
routines contain multiple functions. For example, the
Amortization Schedule routine contains a Calc APR (annual
percentage rate) function. Below, we provide a quick overview of
each routine.
NOTE: If you are interested in what new features are supported in
AmortizeIT! 2.1, see "Appendix E: New Features in Version
2.1."
NOTE: The Amortization Routine is designed for detailed analysis
of a loan. All of the other routines are designed to do
very fast "what-if" analyses.
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 19
LOAN CALCULATOR
The Loan Calculator helps you analyze a loan.
NOTE: For a detailed analysis of a specific loan, use the
Amortization Schedule. The Loan Calculator is for what-if
analyses only.
There are four basic variables for any loan:
* Amount of loan
* Interest rate
* Length, or term, of the loan
* Regular payment amount.
With Loan Calculator, you provide the values for any three of the
variables, and AmortizeIT! will solve for the others. The Loan
Calculator also lets you fine-tune your analysis. For example,
the payment method may be either payment in advanced or payment
in arrears. Also, you can change the compounding period (such as
quarterly vs. monthly) or amortizing method.
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 20
AMORTIZATION SCHEDULE
The Loan Calculator helps you evaluate many loan scenarios very
quickly. The Amortization Schedule is the most powerful routine
in AmortizeIT!. It is meant to display a classic loan
amortization schedule with little effort. On the other hand, it
allows you much flexibility and power.
You enter a loan amount plus origination date, points paid, first
payment date, amortizing method and more. You then can:
* Display a loan schedule.
* Print the loan schedule.
* Save the loan to a unique file for future analysis.
When a schedule is displayed, you can press the letter to
jump to any year of the amortization. Meanwhile, AmortizeIT!
displays the yearly and running interest and principal totals.
There is a fundamental difference between the Amortization
Schedule routine and the other routines in AmortizeIT!. The
Amortization Schedule provides detailed analysis of a loan, such
as:
* Interest saved as the result of random extra payment.
* Taxes saved as the result of mortgage interest.
* Remaining balance on an exact date.
* Interest paid in a tax year.
All other routines, such as the Loan Calculator, are more
theoretical in nature. They are designed for, primarily, very
quick "what-if" analyses.
For example, imagine you want to calculate your mortgage payment
if the adjustable rate mortgage goes down 3/8's of a point. For
such a calculation, use the Loan Calculator routine. On the other
hand, if you need to see how much interest you will pay in the
first year of a loan, use the Amortization Schedule routine.
Local Menu
The Amortization Schedule is the only routine in AmortizeIT!
where there is a local menu. Simply pressto access the
menu. Using this menu, you can enter miscellaneous fees in
addition to principal and interest, calculate APR interest rate,
save loan date and more.
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 21
INTEREST DUE/CALENDAR MATH
The Interest Due routine calculates the interest due between any
two dates or for any number of days.
For example, you enter the first date (often the day the last
payment was made) and then enter the date the loan is being paid
off or the date funds are being withdrawn. Otherwise, you can
skip to the next field and enter the number of days; the ending
date is automatically calculated for you.
When finished, the interest due for that period is then
calculated. This routine also lists the days of the week the
payments and payoffs are being made. You can also calculate
simple interest by setting the compounding period to "None."
Overall, this routine provides a quick way to audit interest due
or payable for any financial instrument.
NOTE: Since you can key in a date and a number of days, the
Interest Due is very handy for calendar math.
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 22
REMAINING BALANCE
The Remaining Balance routine calculates exactly what the
remaining balance is after any particular payment.
With every type of loan (except interest-only loans), the
remaining principal balance decreases with each payment received
unless there is no negative amortization. You enter:
* Loan amount
* Total periods
* Annual interest rate
* Payment number at which you want to know the loan balance
You can also enter the payment period, compounding period,
payment method and amortizing method. Knowing these, AmortizeIT!
then calculates the remaining balance and payment amount.
This routine helps you do a series of "what-ifs" when deciding to
pay off a loan after a certain number of payments. With Remaining
Balance, you can calculate how much the payoff is after so many
payments.
NOTE: Use the summary feature in the Amortization Schedule
Routine to calculate the remaining principal balance for a
specific date.
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 23
ACCELERATED PAYMENT
The Accelerated Payment routine quickly allows you to see the
interest saved as the result of extra payments.
If you pay a little extra toward principal on a regular basis,
you can save a substantial amount of interest over the course of
a mortgage. You can even enter when the accelerated payments will
begin, such as the sixth month of a 20-year loan. You simply tell
AmortizeIT!:
* Loan amount
* Total periods
* Annual interest rate
* At what period you want to increase the payment
* The extra amount you wish to pay
You can also enter the payment period, compounding period, and
payment method. Knowing these, AmortizeIT! then calculates the
number of periods to pay off the loan, the total interest paid
the and total interest saved due to the extra payment.
NOTE: This routine will handle REGULAR extra payments, while the
Amortization Schedule will allow you to key in IRREGULAR
extra payments.
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 24
BALLOON PAYMENT
The Balloon Payment routine allows you to customize your own
loan. You enter the following:
* Loan amount
* Interest rate
* Balloon payment
* Payment number when the balloon is due
Knowing these, AmortizeIT! then calculates your payment. For
example, imagine you want to loan $125,000 with a balloon of
$75,000 due after 5 years. This routine tells you what the
periodic payment will be to end up with a remaining balance of
$75,000 after 60 monthly payments.
NOTE: You may need to change your expectations of this routine.
In earlier versions of AmortizeIT!, we often had customers
requesting AmortizeIT! to calculate the balloon payment and
not the periodic payment that results in a desired balloon.
AmortizeIT! already does that! If you need to know what the
balloon payment is after say 60 periods, use the Remaining
Balance routine. The balloon payment is simply another name
for the remaining balance!
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 25
REFINANCE LOAN
The Refinance Loan routine lets you analyze if it's economical
for you to refinance your loan.
This routine considers points paid, up-front loan costs, taxes
and projected length of ownership. It reports the dollar cost
difference between the two mortgages in discounted dollars. It
also considers the effect of reinvesting idle dollars and the
effect a lower-interest payment will have on income taxes.
For example, if you have a mortgage at 9.5% and can get a
mortgage with a rate of 7.75%, should you refinance? This routine
considers the refinancing costs, your tax bracket, length of time
you'll own the property and other factors before giving you a
recommendation.
If the two loan amounts are the same, then the Refinance Loan
routine calculates the interest accrued until either both of the
loans are paid off or until the property is sold. The total
interest is discounted to today's dollars (if "0" is not entered
for a discount rate.)
If the payment for the second loan is less than the payment for
the current loan and if the interest is deductible, AmortizeIT!
calculates the amount of additional taxes that would be due
because of the lost deduction.
Next, if the TOTAL of the second loan's payments are less than
the TOTAL of the current loan, then the extra monies are invested
at the assumed discount rate.
NOTE: The discount rate is the rate of return that you can expect
(or that you desire) to earn on your cash investments, such
as a 7-percent municipal bond or a 15-percent aggressive
mutual fund.
The Refinance Loan routine calculates the bottom line by taking
the difference paid in direct loan costs (interest, points,
closing costs, etc.) and subtracting the extra taxes that will
have to be paid if the proposed financing is less costly than the
current financing. It then adds any possible extra investment
income as the result of lower payments and subtracts any lost
investment income if the proposed payments are higher than the
current financing.
NOTE: If the possible financing is for more than the current
financing, the results of the additional borrowed monies
are calculated and added to the results outlined above. If
the possible financing is for less money than the current
financing, then the lost investment opportunity for the
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 26
monies used to pay down the loan are calculated and
subtracted from the results outlined above.
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 27
A GUIDED TOUR
In this chapter, you will be led on a tour of two of
AmortizeIT!'s routines: the Loan Calculator and the Amortization
Schedule. This tour will help you better understand the program.
First, though, you should learn the basics of operating
AmortizeIT!.
IMPORTANT KEYS
AmortizeIT! often relies on a handful of function keys for
important parts of the program.
*. The function key prints the financial calculations
to the printer. Occasionally, you may have a choice to print the
results to the printer, screen or a disk file.
*. The function key sends a line feed to the printer.
Use this key to advance the paper one line at a time to give you
proper spacing between printing each routine.
NOTE: By usinginstead of your printer's line feed key, you
can keep AmortizeIT! in synch with the printer, thus
preventing printing from splitting across two pages.
*. The function key sends a form feed to the printer,
ejecting the current piece of paper. Use this key to advance the
paper one page at a time. Use this key instead of the form feed
button on your printer.
NOTE: If you are doing "what-ifs" with, say, the Loan Calculator
routine and you want to print the results for two
calculations, presstwo or three times after printing
the results from the first calculation but before you print
the results for the second calculation. Print the second
calculation and then pressto eject the page.
*. The function key does an action, typically
calculating the results of the routine you are using. Consider
this the "DO IT" key.
*. The function key displays the local menu. The
Local Menus provide additional options for the given routine.
From the main menu, for example, you can use the local menu to
change items such as currency type, date format, rounding method
and printer port.
OTHER KEYS: AmortizeIT! uses other keys to do certain functions.
They are:
*or - Accepts your changes for the current field
and moves you to the next field or menu.
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 28
*- Moves you to the previous field.
*- Restores the original values of a field.
*- Clears the values of a field.
NOTE: If AmortizeIT! keeps beeping at you when you are entering
information, try clearing the field using this key
combination.
*- Deletes the word to the right.
*- Moves the cursor from one field to the next.
*- Moves the cursor elsewhere on the current
field.
*- Moves you to the top or bottom of the column,
respectively.
NOTE: When an amortization schedule is displayed,/
will change the year displayed.
*- Moves you to the first or last field,
respectively.
*- Moves the cursor one word at a time
to the left or right, respectively.
*- Deletes words from the beginning of the
subfield to the cursor. For example, when
entering a date in the MM-DD-YY format, use
when on the second D to delete just
the day part. (DD is one example of a
subfield.)
*- Deletes words from the cursor to the end of the
subfield.
*- Deletes the character at the cursor.
*- Moves the cursor backwards, deleting any character
there.
*- Exits you from a menu, help topic, or routine. In
essence, pressing the Esc key means "I don't want to
be here," returning you to the previous menu, topic,
or position.
*- Jumps the cursor to the start of a field.
*- Jumps the cursor to the end of a field.
* - Lets you insert characters at the cursor.
ENTERING INFORMATION
When entering information into an AmortizeIT! routine, follow
these guidelines:
* When entering a date in the format MM-DD-YYYY, do not type
the slashes separating each part. AmortizeIT! automatically
provides them. With a date, you can use thekey to move
to any of the three subfields (month, day or year). For the
year subfield, you can enter the last two numbers of a year
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 29
and AmortizeIT! will complete the rest if the year is in this
century.
NOTE: If you do not enter a valid date, AmortizeIT! will warn you
through a beep when you press thekey.
* For numeric values such as a dollar amount or number of
payments, simply enter the numbers. To clear a value from the
field, press. To restore the original values, press
.
* Some AmortizeIT! fields have limited choices, such as
possible payment frequencies (Monthly, Bimonthly, etc.). For
such fields, you either can press theor the dark
gray <+> or <-> keys found on your keyboard's numeric keypad.
Once your choice is displayed, press theor key
to accept the value and move on.
GETTING HELP
If you ever need help with any menu choice or item at any time,
simply press thefunction key. This key provides pop-up text
that will help you through your mastering of AmortizeIT!. For
example, if you move the highlight bar to one of AmortizeIT!'s
main menu choices and press, you can see a description of
the features under that menu choice. This help is
context-sensitive; the help text displayed depends on which area
or field you are in. Make sure you are in the field for which you
want help before pressing.
If you pressagain, you can also see a list of AmortizeIT!
features. For example, imagine you want to make an extra payment
that is applied to the principal of a loan, but you don't know
how to go about it. The solution is simple. Presstwice to
get to the help index. Highlight "Feature List" and press the
key. Pick "Extra Payments" from the Feature List and the
next help screen will walk you through the steps in entering
extra payments.
Lastly, the combinationdisplays the previously called
help topic.
NOTE: If using a mouse, you can access the help text by pressing
both the left and right mouse buttons. To exit the help
screen, press the right mouse button.
Now that you are aware of some basic keystrokes and concepts, we
can begin the tour of two of AmortizeIT!'s routines.
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 30
EXPLORING THE LOAN CALCULATOR
The operation of the Loan Calculator routine is representative of
all AmortizeIT! routines: very simple and direct. You enter
certain values and calculate for the unknown ones.
We will use the Loan Calculator to accomplish a simple objective:
calculating the payment on a simple $5,000 personal loan/credit
card balance you wish to pay off in 12 months at 16 percent
interest. Next, you can view the change in payment if the
interest is reduced to 9 percent, such as using a home equity
loan in lieu of a conventional credit card. Finally, you will see
how many months it takes to pay off the loan using a comfortable
payment.
* To use the Loan Calculator routine
1. Start AmortizeIT! and bypass the graphic screen.
Typically, you would change to the AmortizeIT! directory and
type:
AMORTIZE /G
NOTE: Note that the /G start-up switch forces AmortizeIT! to
bypass the opening graphic title screen (registered users
only).
2. Select {Loan Calculator} from the main menu.
You can use your mouse to double-click on this choice, or
press the letter "L" to start the Loan Calculator. Otherwise,
highlight the name (it already is since it is the first
choice from the main menu) and press. The Loan
Calculator appears.
3. Enter a loan amount of $5,000.
You do not enter the comma or dollar symbol. Simply type:
"5000." The program will automatically fill in the commas.
4. Enter 12 as the total periods of the loan.
Use the, or key to move to the
Total Periods field (the second row). Enter the number of
loan periods, such as "12" for a 12-month loan.
5. Enter 16 percent as your annual interest rate.
For a personal loan or credit card balance, imagine your
interest rate is 16 percent. Press the arrow keys oror
key to move to the Annual Rate "16" as the number of
points. You do not type the percentage symbol.
6. Calculate your payment.
When finished entering your numbers, press, the
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 31
Calculate key, to calculate your monthly payment. The payment
would be $453.65 per month. In all the AmortizeIT! routines,
the Calculate key calculates the remaining value(s) that are
blank or zero.
7. Change your loan interest to 9 percent.
Imagine you consolidated your credit card debt to a home
equity line of credit. How low would your payments be? Simply
type the number "9," which overwrites the 16 percent interest
and pressor . In the Periodic Payment field,
type a "0" to "zero out" the payment amount of $453.65. (This
zeroing out tells AmortizeIT! to use the other values to
solve for this last unknown.) Pressto recalculate the
loan payment. You should have a value of $437.26.
NOTE: The word "Calc" appearing in the upper right-hand corner
indicates that a value has changed requiring the routine to
be recalculated. Press thekey to recalculate using
the new values. If using a mouse, click on this corner to
recalculate the results. If you change the value of a
multiple-choice field, such as Compounding Period, the
"Calc" message won't be displayed until you leave that
field.
8. Change your payment amount to $300.
With a home equity loan, you can often make variable
payments. Imagine you felt more comfortable paying $300 per
month, instead of more than $400. At $300 per month, how many
months before the balance is paid off. Enter the Periodic
Payment of "300" to replace the payment of $437.26. Next, use
the up arrow key to move to the Total Periods field. Type a
"0" to "zero out" the number of periods. Pressto
recalculate the number of periods. You should have a value of
almost 18 months.
9. Make any other adjustments.
You can change other facets of the Loan Calculator routine,
including the compounding period, payment method, and
amortizing method. Change each of these and see how it
affects the payment amount.
NOTE: If using a mouse, you can toggle the payment period by
highlighting the choice with your mouse cursor and pressing
the left mouse button.
10. Pressto return to the AmortizeIT! main menu.
11. To exit AmortizeIT!, pressto quit or highlight the word
"Quit" and press.
NOTE: If using a mouse, double-click on the word "Quit."
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 32
EXPLORING THE AMORTIZATION SCHEDULE
The Amortization Schedule routine is the "meat and potatoes" of
AmortizeIT!. With it, you can get a detailed analysis of your
loan, including calculating the annual percentage rate (APR),
tracking property taxes and insurance payments, adjusting your
interest rate if you have an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), and
more.
The "Correct" Payment
Pine Grove Software often gets asked questions about loan
payments. Just remember:
There is no such thing as a "correct" loan payment.
Any payment can be deemed "correct" so long as both the lender
and debtor agree to it. What is important however, is the amount
of interest that is being billed for a particular period.
Interest due for a period must be calculated within certain
bounds as prescribed by law. The method used should be clearly
stated by the lender. And the amount of interest that is being
charged in any period is what the debtor should audit. After all,
that is the fee being charged for borrowing the money. If the
interest amount agrees but the payment amount differs, the
difference between the two is being applied to principal. Since
principal is owed regardless, it doesn't really matter if the
difference between two payment amounts is being applied to
principal.
* To use the Amortization Schedule routine
The Amortization Schedule is the most powerful of the AmortizeIT!
routines.
1. Start AmortizeIT! and bypass the graphic screen.
Typically, you would change to the AmortizeIT! directory and
type:
AMORTIZE /G
NOTE: Note that the /G start-up switch forces AmortizeIT! to
bypass the opening graphic title screen (registered users
only).
2. Select {Amortization Schedule} from the main menu.
You can use your mouse to click on this choice. Otherwise,
press the down arrow key to highlight the name and press
. The Amortization Schedule appears.
NOTE: You may also press the highlighted capital letter of a menu
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 33
choice. For example, pressing "S" opens the Amortization
Schedule routine.
3. Enter a loan amount of $100,000.
You do not enter the comma or dollar symbol. Simply type:
"100000." The program will automatically fill in the commas.
4. Enter 240 as the total periods of the loan.
Use the, or key to move to the
Total Periods field in the right-hand column. Enter the
number of loan periods, such as 240 (20 years x 12 months).
NOTE: To set a custom payment in the Amortization Schedule
routine, enter all values known for the loan. For Total
Periods enter a "0." When you pressto calculate the
amortization, you will be shown a window asking for the
Payment Amount. Enter any payment amount. Press,
and an amortization schedule will be displayed. If you want
to quickly see when the loan will be paid off, press
for previous orand the last year of the loan will
be displayed. For more info and an alternate method, see
the "Custom Payment Option" in the reference section.
5. Enter the today's date as the origination date of the loan.
Use the, or key to move to the
Origination Date field in the left-hand column, and enter a
date. The origination date is the date the monies were
received. By default, the suggested date is today's.
NOTE: To clear the current date, either type over the current
value or pressto clear its contents.
6. Enter next month as the date of the first payment.
The Amortization Schedule enters a default date of the first
day of the first month more than 30 days from today's date.
For example, a loan originating on January 12, 1994, will
have a recommended first payment date of March 1, 1994. If
you wish to change the first payment date, use theArrow>, or key to move to the 1st Payment Date
field in the right-hand column. Enter the date you expect the
first payment to be made. For this example, change it to one
month from the origination date.
NOTE: If the number of the month or day of the month is less than
10, you should preface the number with a "0." Otherwise,
use thekey to jump to the next subfield. For
example, to enter the date January 1, 1995, you would type
"010195." Otherwise, you could type "11 95".
NOTE: When the origination date and first payment date are the
same, the payment method is known as payment in advance,
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 34
since a payment was made prior to the user actually having
use of the funds. Leases usually use a payment in advance
method.
NOTE: When the origination date and the first payment date
differ, the payment is known as payment in arrears, since a
payment is made after the funds were available for use.
Auto loans and mortgages usually use a payments in arrears
method.
7. Enter "Monthly" as the payment period.
Pressor to move to the Payment Period field.
You can change the length of each period (such as weekly,
quarterly, etc.). Use theor <+> or <-> keys to
toggle the field to "Monthly."
NOTE: If using a mouse, you can toggle the compounding period by
highlighting the choice with your mouse cursor and pressing
the left mouse button.
8. Enter "Monthly" as the compounding period.
Pressor to move to the Compounding Period
field. You can change the compounding period to daily,
weekly, monthly, etc. Use theor <+> or <-> keys
to toggle the field to "Monthly." Most loans are compounded
the same as their payment period. For example, a home
mortgage is compounded monthly and paid back through monthly
payments.
NOTE: When the payment period and compounding period are equal,
there is actually no compounding and the loan is known as a
simple interest loan.
NOTE: Canadians typically make monthly payments with semiannual
compounding. The optional AmortizeIT! Setup Program will
allow you to set Canadian as the default method.
9. Enter 1 percent as your number of points.
Press the arrow keys oror key to move to the
Points field. Often, a mortgage loan may require a point or
two. A point is a percentage of the loan you must pay up
front for the privilege of acquiring a lower-interest loan.
For this example, we'll use 1 percent. Enter "1" as the
number of points. You do not type the percentage symbol.
10. Select "Normal" as the amortizing method.
Press theor key or use the arrow keys to move
to the Amortizing Method field. There are several ways a loan
can be amortized, or calculated. AmortizeIT! supports six
amortization methods:
* Normal
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 35
* Rule of 78's
* U.S. Rule
* Fixed Principal
* Interest Only
* Canadian
Use theor <+> or <-> keys to toggle the
amortizing method to "Normal." If using a mouse, you can
toggle the amortizing method by highlighting the choice with
your mouse cursor and pressing the left mouse button.
NOTE: See the reference section for a detailed description of
each amortizing method.
NOTE: For Canadian loans, which are paid monthly and compounded
semiannually, press theuntil {Canadian} is
displayed. When the loan is calculated, payment period and
compounding period will be changed to these values.
11. Select "Ordinary" as your rate basis.
Press theor key or use the arrow keys to move
to the Rate Basis field. The rate basis is the percentage of
annual interest applied to the loan for any period. You can
select from one of three rate bases:
* Ordinary
* Exact/360
* Exact/365
Leave the rate basis to the default of "Ordinary." All
periods are assumed to be of equal length for interest
calculations. (For example all months have 30 days under
this method.) Years are assumed to be 360 days in length.
The remaining two rate bases use an exact day technique to
calculate the interest. The percentage of interest due is
either the exact number of days in the period divided by 360
or 365.
12. Enter an annual interest rate of 8 percent.
Press theor key or use the arrow keys to move
to the Annual Rate field. Enter an interest rate of 8
percent. You do not type the percentage symbol.
13. Calculate your payments.
When all finished entering your numbers, periods, methods,
etc., press. This key calculates the loan using your
entered numbers. AmortizeIT! displays a table showing the
payment, principal and interest for the first year of the
loan. The yearly totals and running totals are displayed at
the bottom of the screen.
AMORTIZEIT! USER MANUAL page 36
14. Change your loan interest to 10 percent.
Press the "R" (Repeat) key to return to the last field you
were on (the mortgage interest). Simply type the number
"10," which overwrites the 8 percent interest. Pressto
recalculate the loan.
NOTE: The word "Calc" appearing in the upper right-hand corner
indicates that a value has changed requiring the routine to
be recalculated. Press thekey to recalculate using
the new values. If using a mouse, click on this corner to
recalculate the results. If you change the value of a
multiple-choice field, such as Compounding Period, the
"Calc" message won't be displayed until you leave that
field.
NOTE: If you don't change any of the AmortizeIT! values, you can
simply press "D" to re-display the amortization results.
However, if you change any values, you naturally must
recalculate the results using.
15. Change the mortgage amount to $150,000.
Imagine you need a larger loan. Press the "R" key to return
to the data entry screen. Pressto jump to the
Amount of Loan field. Enter "150000" as your loan amount and
pressto recalculate the loan.
16. View the total interest and payments.
While viewing the first year of the table of monthly
interest and principal payments, press theor