Technical notes for Dr. Straw's Retirement Game


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General Notes

  1. Worksheets are locked so that most, but not all, formulas are protected from accidental change.
  2. Formulas on the Projection worksheet that may eventually be replaced with year-end actuals are not locked.
  3. Worksheet unlocking does not require a password.
  4. Several intermediate-step columns are hidden on the Projections worksheet to enhance readability.
  5. State tax worksheets are hidden. There is one worksheet for each state.

Formulas

   You can download the .txt file with all formulas and comments. Commenting my formulas is the only way I can keep track of what I intended with each formula. You can change the file extension and use an editor to display color coding. Color coding will help you follow the formulas. I use Notepad++ and .bat.


Timing the execution of formulas

   I use Microsoft's measuring calculation time VBA code to find and prioritize calculation obstructions. Here is my standard work (i.e. process).
  1. Save a new copy of the Excel workbook as an Excel with Macro Enabled
  2. ALT + F11 to open VBA (Visual Basic for Applications)
  3. Select Insert, then Module
  4. Copy and paste both blocks of VBA code from Microsoft's measuring calculation time into the new module; or, download a .txt file with Microsoft's VBA code and the VBA code I added to average 100 runs on a specific range, then copy and paste all the VBA code from the .txt file into the new module
  5. Save the Excel workbook with VBA code
  6. On any given worksheet, ALT + F8 to open the macro list window
  7. Conduct one or more of the following timing tests to locate bottlenecks