ME443 Midterm Assignment

In order to be sure you are ready to move on to the machine control part of the course we will have a midterm software project.  For your midterm assignment you will hand in a multi-form VB program and report.  The program will be a retirement savings calculator which does the following:

  1. On one form it should allow the user to input the amount they wish to save each year, the assumed interest rate, and the year of retirement.
  2. It should output the account balance every year as well as the total amount that the individual has contributed until retirement.  Make sure the values are formatted as currency when it is applicable.  Keep it simple.  Assume one compounding period per year.  This is not how banks do it, but it is close enough to illustrate the lesson I want you to learn.
  3. There should be an output control for this information and a way to clear the control to try multiple scenarios easily.
  4. On another form you should allow the user to input the price of a standard item such as a gallon of gasoline, an average inflation rate, their year of retirement, and the software should calculate the future price.  Show this in your report.
  5. Include screen shots from your program in operation.
  6. Menus should allow the user to toggle easily between forms.
  7. There should be a graceful exit from the software on each form.
  8. The code should be nicely commented so if you were to come back to it in a year, you would understand what you were doing.

In the report discuss a set of results from your program such as investing $10,000/yr over the course of your career.  A graph should be included showing the amount you contribute and the annual balance of your account.  What are the trends?  Research the typical rates of return for stock groups like the “Dow 30” and “S&P500” over a long period of time.  What is typical?  What are typical values for inflation?  Have we seen spikes in inflation?  If so, when did it occur and how bad was it?

Yes…this is HUGELY important to mechanical engineering!  I am not trying to turn you into economists.

You will submit your midterm to me via email at umaine.mee443@gmail.com .  The email should have your name in the subject line and links to the project’s zip file and report in the body.   Spelling and grammar count!  If you wouldn’t be happy showing the work in a job interview, don’t show it to me.