Dinkytown.net
by CI Staff
Dinkytown.net provides over 350 Java-based financial calculators, including calculators for mortgage and loan payments, investments, savings, taxes and personal finance. Each calculator includes graphs, customizable page layouts, and reports that show amortization trends and future growth.
The calculators at Dinkytown.net are grouped into sections such as mortgage calculators, investment calculators, personal finance, and retirement savings and planning. When you navigate to one of these sections, there is a listing of calculators accompanied by a brief description of what each calculator is intended to do. Clicking on a specific calculator takes you to a breakdown of inputs so you know exactly what figures the calculator needs in order to generate accurate results and reports.
The first set of calculators we will delve into are the investment calculators. In addition to future value and present value calculators (which are always useful), there are a few other calculators worth mentioning. The Asset Allocator asks users to provide information including age, current assets, savings per year, risk tolerance, and economic outlooks, and it presents an asset allocation recommendation based on the responses. The Investment Questionnaire serves a similar purpose. Your answers to a series of investment and risk tolerance questions provide the calculator with information it uses to recommend an income and growth breakdown.
The most useful calculator available in the personal finance section is the Home Budget Calculator. Built-in paycheck and income calculators allow users to break down their income and expenses. The pie graph generated can be toggled to show either the income or expense breakdown.
Unsurprisingly, the retirement calculators section is the most comprehensive. AAII members and Computerized Investing subscribers commonly ask about the differences between Roth and traditional IRAs. The website provides a Roth IRA or Traditional IRA calculator that shows you the differences between the two based on your specific set of circumstances. This calculator is one of the best I have come across online. As always, each required input is defined at the bottom of the screen, which ensures that the figures you enter, and therefore the results, are accurate.
Finally, mortgage calculators are also helpful when making financial decisions. The website provides calculators that help with choosing between ARM and fixed-rate mortgage loans. In addition, a multitude of calculators are available that relate to subjects ranging from amortization to renting compared to buying a home.
The website is available for personal use free of charge. Dinkytown.net also allows users to post the calculators to commercial sites for a fee.