Calculator help

Calculator help

 I think I've found a problem with one of the calculators, what should I do?

If you let us know the details of any problem you may have found, we'll work to fix things and get back to you as soon as possible. You can send us feedback or email office@sorted.org.nz.

The more information you can give us about the problem, and what you were doing just before you noticed the problem, the better we can work on it. It would help to know: which calculator you were using, which page you were on, what you clicked just before the problem occurred and/or the results you got, and which browser and type of computer you were using.

I can't seem to save a calculation, why not?

The most common reason a calculator won't save is the user is not logged in to My Sorted. You need to enter your login details in the box to the top right of every page, or have selected 'Remember me' before you last logged in. If you don't have a set of login details yet, you need to register for My Sorted.

If you are logged in, and the calculator is still not saving, send us feedback or email office@sorted.org.nz.

Can you print each page of the calculators rather than only the result page?

Each page on Sorted has a helpful print icon at the bottom left of each page. Simply click this icon and it will send the current page (including your calculations) to your printer.

If you're using a PC you can print each screen of our calculators by hovering your mouse over the part you want to print and right clicking your mouse. An option to print will appear and you can click on this.

Alternately if you're using an Apple computer, there is a print icon at the top of your screen (in your browser menu) that will allow you to print the screen you're viewing.

Can I install copies of your calculators on my home computer, to save me connecting to the Internet each time I want to make revisions?

We have looked into developing downloadable desktop tools in the past, but for maintenance and quality control reasons we've decided not to pursue this. We do understand the desire to limit Internet usage. You can use Sorted's My Sorted tool to save your calculations for future reference and revision.

I can't get to page 2 of the calculator - what's wrong?

If you are using Internet Explorer 6, that may be causing the problem. This browser is now 8 years old and is no longer supported by many websites. You can check your version of Internet Explorer by clicking 'Help' in the browser menu bar, then selecting 'About Internet Explorer'.

You can download the latest version of Internet Explorer, or another up-to-date web browser, below. Note if you are at work you may need to get permission from your IT administrator first.

Retirement calculators

In the Retirement calculator, where do I allow for an employer contribution pension?

If you're using our Comprehensive retirement calculator, page 7 is where you can include ongoing contributions to your retirement savings.

If you'd like to know how much your employer contributions combined with your retirement savings are going to be when you retire, it may be simpler to work this out on the Regular savings calculator. Note you will need to know the dollar value of your employer contributions.

Budget calculator

Even with a positive balance I am being told I am spending more than I earn!

What is probably happening here is you've got all your income/expenses loaded into the 'target' column. What you need to do is load your inputs into the 'amount' column. If you're able to try this it should rectify things.

Why can't I see my saved Budget calculator results?

We launched a new version of our Budget calculator in December 2008.

Any details that you entered into the old calculator were automatically transferred into the new calculator. However, if your details appear to be missing, this may be because they were entered into the "target" column on the old calculator.

To show this column in the new calculator, open your saved budget calculator results in My Sorted and click on the "Show Target Amount" link in the tool box mid way down the right-hand side.

The “target” column will then appear on your calculator page, and this will hopefully contain your missing budget details.


In the new Budget calculator, what are tags?

Tags are keywords or labels that you can add to individual items in our Budget calculator to make them easier to find later.

You can tag a budget item with a word like “holiday’ or a phrase like "summer holiday." Later if you look for all the budget items that are related to your "summer holiday" tag, you simply click that tag in the tool box on the right hand side of the budget calculator. You will then get a list of all budget items that you have tagged "summer holiday".

Tagging budget items is useful when:

  • You've got a big event like a wedding or holiday coming up and you want to keep track of all the costs involved.
  • You want to get an idea of what you’re spending on your car or a favourite pastime.

Mortgage calculators

Why is there a difference between your mortgage repayment figures and my bank's?

Generally our results do differ slightly from some bank calculators as we present our results in today's dollars rather than nominal dollars. We feel this presents a more realistic result for the user.