Financial Algebra: free lessons and course outline

Financial Algebra is the rare math course whose problems describe decisions a student will actually make, and most of those decisions are made once, early, with little practice. The eleven units follow the order in which money arrives and leaves. Unit 1 follows a paycheck from the hours worked to the amount deposited, Unit 2 explains the income tax taken from it, and Unit 3 turns what remains into a budget and a bank account. Units 4 and 5 are the mathematical heart of the course: simple and compound interest, then regular saving and the time value of money, where a single idea (money grows in steps, and each step grows on the last) explains savings, loans and retirement at once. Units 6 and 7 run the same idea in reverse for credit cards and loans. Unit 8 prices the two largest purchases most people make, a car and a home. Unit 9 measures risk and what insurance costs, Unit 10 turns to investing, and Unit 11 gathers everything into net worth, cash flow and a complete plan. Every lesson opens with the method, names the specific error that costs the marks, works an example in full, and then gives ten practice problems with complete solutions. Tax rates and brackets used here are teaching figures, stated as such in each problem, and are not current tax advice.