AC's Retirement Savings Calculator

AC's Retirement Savings Calculator easily answers this question, "How much do I need to save or invest each month to reach my retirement goal?". The calculator answers the question and creates a detailed schedule with projected date based investments and charts. A site's users can select their own currency and date convention used in the investment schedule. This is ideal if your site attracts visitors from around the globe. Select from four predefined sizes or modify CSS file to customize size and change colors. Supports touch devices and a responsive designed website. This plugin is based on and uses the code from my Retirement Calculator. Rebranding with your site's brand name is supported and encouraged. The plugin can be used (a) in a post or page’s content area via a shortcode; (b) in a widget area; or (c) in any template file. See usage under installation for details. NEW: Sites are encouraged to install the free, enhanced AC Loan Calculator Plus v2.0 with a printable amortization schedule and dozens of additional configuration and styling options.

You can either (a) upload the fc-retirement-savings-calculator folder with all its files to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory, or (b) unzip the plugin's zip file directly into the /wp-content/plugins/ directory. Activate the plugin through the Plugins -> Installed Plugins menu in the WordPress admin dashboard. Upgrading If you translated the plugin from English to another language, please backup your work prior to upgrading the plugin. Usage There are 3 mutually exclusive ways you can deploy the calculator to an individual page (though you can use all three methods on different pages within a site):

1. If your theme supports widgets, add the plugin to a widget area through the Appearance -> Widgets menu in WordPress. WordPress v5.8 introduced the block editor to the Admin's widget management screen. To install this plugin as a widget in WordPress v5.8 or later, install first the widget shortcode and then copy this plugin's shortcode into it.
2. Add the following code <?php show_fcretiresavings_plugin(); ?> to your template where you want the calculator to appear. See below for options.
3. Add the shortcode [fcretiresavingsplugin] in the content area of your page or post and configure shortcode parameters.

Shortcode parameters

• sc_size= tiny | small | medium | large
• sc_custom_style= No | Yes
• sc_add_link= No | Yes
• sc_brand_name=
• sc_hide_resize= No | Yes
• sc_current_age=
• sc_retire_age=
• sc_current_savings=
• sc_rate=
• sc_goal_amt=
• sc_currency=
• sc_date_mask=

Examples (the first example includes all options): [fcretiresavingsplugin sc_size="medium" sc_custom_style="No" sc_add_link="No" sc_brand_name="" sc_hide_resize="No" sc_current_age="28" sc_retire_age="66" sc_current_savings="16000" sc_rate="5.5" sc_goal_amt="1000000.0" sc_currency="83" sc_date_mask="2"] [fcretiresavingsplugin sc_size="small" sc_custom_style="Yes" sc_hide_resize="Yes" sc_currency="83" sc_date_mask="2"] [fcretiresavingsplugin sc_custom_style="No" sc_add_link="Yes" sc_brand_name="Friendly Financial Planners" sc_hide_resize="Yes" sc_current_age="28" sc_retire_age="62" sc_current_savings="16000" sc_rate="5.5" sc_goal_amt="1000000.0"] Optional array parameter passed to show_fcretiresavings_plugin() Valid values for options are the same as the shortcode above. "large", 'op_custom_style' => "No", 'op_add_link' => "No", 'op_brand_name' => "", 'op_hide_resize' => "No", 'op_current_age' => "28", 'op_retire_age' => "66", 'op_current_savings' => "18000", 'op_rate' => "5.5", 'op_goal_amt' => "1000000.0", 'op_currency' => "999", 'op_date_mask' => "999" )); ?> Notes:

1. To add your brand to the calculator, you must set *_add_link option to "Yes" to add a subtle link to AccurateCalculators.com.
2. When branding, the brand name will be added before "Retirement Savings Calculator".
3. If _custom_style is set to "Yes", the plugin will load fin-calc-widgets-custom.css located in the plugin's CSS folder. If you set the option to "Yes" without making any changes, the calculator will change to a red color to indicate that the custom CSS is in use.
4. The plugin is built and tested on HTML5/CSS3 pages.
5. size (max-width): large: 440px, medium: 340px, small: 290px, tiny: 150px
6. The modal dialog that allows users to select a default currency and date format is NOT compatible with some other dialogs. If you have a modal on the webpage you want to install this calculator on, either your modal or the calculator's modal may not work.
7. Website developers can set a default currency symbol and preferred date format by setting _currency and _date_mask respectively. Refer to the file currency_and_date_conventions.txt in the plugin's root folder for over 90 supported currency symbols and 6 date formats (for example, India uses the Indian Rupee: ₹1,23,45,678.99, which corresponds to the integer value 83).

Enhanced Internationalization Support for over 90 currency signs (using appropriate number formatting conventions) and 6 date formats (mm/dd/yyyy, dd/mm/yyyy, yyyy.mm.dd etc.). If neither the website developer or the user makes a selection, the calculator will read the browser's default currency and date options and automatically use them. Without doing anything, a website visitor from Japan visiting a website hosted in France will initially see a floating yen sign. The website developer can easily override this default behavior by setting either shortcodes or function options. The user (if the website designer keeps the feature enabled) can override both and select a currency and date format. To summarize, the plugin determines what currency symbol (and date format) to use by applying the following rules:

1. If a website allows a user to select a symbol, and the user makes a selection, the plugin uses the visitor's choice first.
2. Otherwise, if a user has not made a selection, and the website owner has set a default currency (i.e., currency does not equal 999), the calculator uses the website's selection.
3. Otherwise, the calculator plugin will attempt to read the browser's currency default and pick a currency symbol.
4. Otherwise, the plugin defaults to using the '$' symbol.

Language Translations New in v1.5, support for 14 languages in addition to English. The plugin also includes a translation template file (.POT) in the "languages" folder. Using a POT/PO file editor, website owners can translate this plugin to any language supported by WordPress. The supported languages are: da : Danish : Dansk nl : Dutch : Nederlandse fi : Finnish : Suomalainen fr : French : Français de : German : Deutsch hu : Hungarian : Magyar it : Italian : Italiano lt : Lithuanian : Lietuvių pl : Polish : Polski pt : Portuguese : Português ro : Romanian : Românesc ru : Russian : Русский es : Spanish : Español sv : Swedish : Svenska Notes: (1) The plugin depends on the site's "Site Language" setting to display to your visitors the correct language. The files in the language folder can be renamed if needed. For example, if you want the plugin to display in Portuguese, the .MO and .JSON files assume your site’s language setting is Portuguese (Portugal), which is locale pt_PT. However, if your site is in Brazil, rename the language files to use pt_BR. (2) At this time, these translations were computer generated. A fluent speaker can edit the included .PO file and regenerate the .MO file to update the translation. (3) If you are willing to allow me to include your edits with the plugin, I'll regenerate the .MO, and if needed the .JSON files for you. I am making the other calculators at my website available free-of-charge to bloggers who are abe to help with translation. See the website for details. Support I'm happy to offer support for all my plugins. If you have a question or encounter an issue, please go to the WordPress plugin's support forum and leave your question. Please specify if you are using the original plugin or the "Plus" plugin. Also, please provide a link to a page where you have installed the plugin. Providing a link to the page where the issue occurs may help me to resolve it faster. Other Calculators As of this writing, AccurateCalculators.com has seven plugins listed in the WordPress Plugin Directory with several more available on the website. All plugins have the same general feature set and are consistent in their styling and the way they work. This means you can install all these plugins and maintain a consistent look and feel for your website or blog. If you blog about money, you are encouraged to install all the plugins on your site. It's simple. The more pages, the more opportunity. We have two more retirement calculators to complement this plugin (all links take you to the indicated WordPress Plugin Directory page).

1. Retirement Age Calculator - answers, at what age will I be able to retire given my investment plan?
2. Retirement Nest Egg Calculator - answers, what will be the value of my retirement fund when I retire?

Plus there are these other plugins:

1. Auto Loan Calculator - solves for several unknowns and creates a payment schedule.
2. Loan Calculator - a general purpose loan calculator with amortization schedule and charts.
3. Mortgage Calculator - optionally incorporates points and insurance and creates a payment schedule
4. Savings Calculator - calculates the results of regular savings and investing

New Plus plugins (links take you to the AccurateCalculators.com website).

1. Auto Loan Calculator Plus Plugin - a car loan calculator with printable amortization schedule and charts. Supports international conventions. (free - with citation or review)
2. Loan Calculator Plus Plugin - a general purpose loan calculator with printable amortization schedule and charts. Supports international conventions. (free - with citation or review)
3. Mortgage Calculator Plus Plugin - a mortgage calculator with printable payment schedule and loads of configuration options. Supports international conventions. (free - with citation or review)
4. Retirement Age Calculator Plus Plugin - At what age will I be able to retire? With a printable investment schedule and charts. Supports international conventions. (free - with citation or review)
5. Retirement Nest Egg Calculator Plus Plugin - Assuming regular investing, what will be the value of my retirement account? With printable investment schedule and charts. Supports international conventions. (free - with citation or review)
6. Retirement Savings Calculator Plus Plugin - Assuming regular investing, how much will I have to invest each period to reach my retirement goal? With printable investment schedule and charts. Supports international conventions. (free - with citation or review)
7. Savings Calculator Plus Plugin - Assuming regular savings, what will be the future value? With printable savings schedule and charts. Supports international conventions. (free - with citation or review)

1.5.4

• Changed all references to author's website from financial-calculators.com to AccurateCalculators.com.

1.5.3

• Fixed issue impacting some IOS devices preventing users from entering decimal precision. Example, users could only enter 4%, not 4.25%.

1.5.2

• Fixed problem initializing calculator when site selected a currency convention that uses ',' as the decimal separator.

1.5.1

• Not released.

1.5.0

• Added initial support for language translations
• Change in the minimum required WordPress version to v5.0 (requires i18n support)
• Added documentation how site owners can hide or disable an input from visitors near the top of source file: en/calulator.gui.php
• Renamed file js/interface.RETIRE-SAVINGS-WIDGET.min.js to js/interface.RETIRE-SAVINGS-WIDGET.js (the file is still minified)

1.4.4

• Fixed a style which made the calculator way too tall on some themes (specifically Neve Theme by Themeisle).
• Fixed a calculation error in the chart. Not all prior values were cleared.
• Fixed PHP 7.4.x error: Deprecated: unparenthesized ternary operator (completely broke the calculator on sites using v7.4)

1.4.3

• Fixed a display bug that only impacted some sites if they installed plugin via a sidebar.
• Tweaked styling to make it cleaner.

1.4.2

• Fixed a bug that prevented your website users from selecting a currency of their choice in some situations.
• Added support for Nigeria's Naira currency symbol

1.4.1

• Fixed a bug that prevented website owners from having a period or comma in the branded name.

1.4.0

• Added currency sign support for 80 plus additional currencies.
• Added three additional date styles.
• Now the first time a visitor tries the calculator, the calculator will detect their browser's currency symbol and date style and use them.
• Website owner has the ability to set a preferred currency sign and date format for all first time visitors.
• Website owner can give the visitor an option to select their preferred currency symbol and date format.
• IMPROVEMENT: on mobile devices calculator opens numeric keyboard by default.
• UPDATE: some layout and style settings
• BUG FIX: Fixed an input issue on Android devices that required a long press to input numbers for some Android users.

1.3.0

• Slight style changes
• Tweaks to work better with WordPress 5.0
• Switched from Bootstrap v3 to Bootstrap v4 utilities. If your site is built using Bootstrap 3, this may cause conflicts. Test on a dev machine.
• Since there are no user enhancements, I would only upgrade if you have experienced a style issue.

1.2.0

• Multiple fc calculators can now be used on a single web page.
• On a few sites, the text in the dropdowns was cut off - fixed.
• Previously, if site had opted to allow backlinks, 2 had been inserted. Now one is inserted.

1.1.2

• Updated the CSS so as to resolve a few reported compatibility issues with some sites.
• Improved layout of international date and currency selection dialogue.

1.1.1

• Fixed - some installations the currency / date dialog was not accessible because the background overlay was on top of the dialog.
• Fixed - some installations the Help text was visible on the main page and not just when the Help button was clicked
• Fixed - missing "+" "-" signs for the optional resizing feature

1.1

• Improved styling
• Converted project to use a single file CSS regardless of calculator size selected. Single file will be compatible across all AccurateCalculators.com plugins so site owners can modify style once and copy to all other plugins.
• Fixed - plugin did not recognize all saved settings in WordPress's widgets page administration area
• Fixed - plugin did not recognize all saved settings passed in option array to show_fcretireage_plugin()

1.0

• First release