Financial Math Basics
Budgets, loans, depreciation and savings using percent and exponents.
Key idea
Budgets, loans, depreciation and savings using percent and exponents.
In depth
Money problems combine percentages, interest and ratios: income, expenses, savings, loans. Interest on debt compounds against you, so compare real costs and always include the time period.
Worked example
Saving 200 a month for 12 months at 0 % interest gives 2,400. At a 24% annual card rate, debt of 2,400 costs about 576 in interest in a year.
Real-world uses
- Working out loan repayments, depreciation of a car and building a monthly budget or savings plan
Common mistake
Comparing monthly and annual rates directly.
How to learn this
- Read the key idea and say it in your own words.
- Work through the worked example, then try a similar problem.
- Use the interactive lesson’s visual and mini-quiz to check the pattern.
Frequently asked questions
What is Financial Math Basics?
Budgets, loans, depreciation and savings using percent and exponents. It is a topic at the advanced level in Arithmetic & Number Sense.
Where is Financial Math Basics used in real life?
Real-world examples: Working out loan repayments, depreciation of a car and building a monthly budget or savings plan.
What should I learn before Financial Math Basics?
Make sure you are comfortable with Complex Word Problems, the previous topic in Arithmetic & Number Sense.
What is a common mistake with Financial Math Basics?
Comparing monthly and annual rates directly.
How can I practise Financial Math Basics?
Open the interactive lesson, play with the visual, then answer the three-question mini-quiz. Getting two right marks the topic complete.
Related advanced topics in Arithmetic & Number Sense
- Repeating Decimals – Decimals with a repeating block are rational and convertible to fractions.
- Compound Interest – Interest earned on principal and past interest.
- Inverse Proportion – When one quantity doubles, the other halves.
- Rational Numbers – Numbers expressible as p/q with integers p, q, q≠0.
- Irrational Numbers – Real numbers that cannot be written as a fraction, such as √2 and π.
- Real Numbers – All rational and irrational numbers; the continuous number line.