Pick a lesson — or pick up where you left off.
Six bite-size lessons, one per objective. Most students do them in order, but you can jump around if you want a refresher on a specific idea.
Start Lesson 01What a loan is, and what amortization means.
Identify the four components of a loan (principal, annual rate, term, monthly payment) and explain how amortization gradually pays down principal over time.
Open lessonThe amortization formula, anatomized.
Apply the loan amortization formula to compute the monthly payment given principal, annual rate, and term, and recognize why the formula has a negative exponent in its denominator.
Open lessonAuto loans: the standard amortizing loan.
Compute monthly payment, total cost, and total interest for an auto loan; analyze the impact of term length and down payment on the loan.
Open lessonCredit cards: the minimum-payment trap.
Compute the unpaid balance after a credit card payment and identify why minimum payments dramatically extend the time and total cost of paying off a balance.
Open lessonStudent loans: subsidized, unsubsidized, repayment plans.
Compare subsidized and unsubsidized federal student loans, analyze the effect of interest capitalization on the monthly payment, and identify the standard repayment options.
Open lessonMortgages: 30 years, dollar by dollar.
Analyze a mortgage payment as a split between interest and principal, explain how that split shifts over the life of the loan, and identify the major components of total homeownership cost beyond the loan itself.
Open lesson