Tools & Resources
Curated extras for Topic 4: interactive tools, supplemental videos, and references. Pick what helps. Skip what doesn't.
Bookmarks for the pages you'll come back to across the topic.
Topic 4 Cheat Sheet
The one-page anchor: M = P(r/12) / (1 − (1 + r/12)<sup>−12t</sup>), total = M × 12t, interest = total − P, plus the credit-card monthly-rate move and the per-payment split. Bookmark it for the DQs and the review.
Topic 4 Glossary
Every named term Topic 4 introduces — principal, APR, amortization, term, minimum payment, capitalization, PITI — with one-sentence definitions and where they first show up.
Financial Formulas Calculator
The seven-formula hub. The loan amortization formula lives here alongside Topic 3’s growth formulas — pick a formula, pick which variable is missing, fill in the rest. Also surfaced above under Interactive Tools; linked here too so the library has a formula anchor.
Getting Started with ALEKS
The setup guide for the ALEKS homework tool. Worth another look if the amortization topics unexpectedly ballooned your pie this week.
Hands-on widgets for poking at the math. Drag a slider, watch the line move.
Amortization Sandbox
Drag the principal, rate, and term sliders. Watch the monthly payment, total cost, and total interest update live. The balance curve and amortization schedule reveal how each payment splits between interest and principal.
Credit Card Trap
Set a starting balance and APR. Watch three payment strategies race to zero — minimum only, double the minimum, and a custom dollar amount. The minimum-only curve flattens for decades. The picture is the lesson.
Financial Formulas Calculator
All seven ALEKS dictionary formulas in one calculator — including the loan amortization monthly-payment formula. Solve for any variable; Excel workbook included.
Amortization schedules and time to pay off
A concise intro to amortization with a worked schedule. Defines principal, interest, payment, and how each payment splits between the two.
How Cars Keep You POOR!
Accessible 5-minute intro to how a consumer loan actually works, using a car as the concrete example. A great hook before the formula in Lesson 4.2.
How Cars Keep You POOR!
Covers down-payment effect, depreciation vs. interest, and runs the numbers on a 60-month auto loan. The auto-loan deep dive for this lesson.
Should I Lease a Car?
2023 episode covering current auto APRs (4.4% → 7% in recent years) and lease vs. loan trade-offs. Useful counterweight: students see the buy-with-loan path framed against an alternative.
Things you should know about your credit card
2024 release. Explains revolving credit, APR, how interest accrues monthly, and the minimum-payment dynamic in plain language.
How Credit Card Interest Is Calculated
Computes daily periodic rate × average daily balance — the actual math behind why the minimum payment barely dents principal at 18-26% APRs.
The Best Way to Apply for Student Aid!
Covers FAFSA, subsidized vs. unsubsidized loans, grants, and the federal-aid landscape. Note: 2020 release — use for the concept of sub/unsub + capitalization; the repayment-plan landscape has changed since (see next video for current detail).
Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Student Loans: Understanding the Difference
2025 release. Outside the preferred-channel list but currently the cleanest concept-only treatment of the sub-vs-unsub distinction that survives recent policy changes. Pairs with studentaid.gov for the official documentation.