Tools & Resources
Curated extras for Topic 7: 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 7 Cheat Sheet
The one-page anchor: paycheck vocabulary (gross vs net, FICA at 7.65%), the progressive-bracket walk with marginal vs effective rate, ROI and total return on stocks, coupon and current yield on bonds, and the age-based allocation rule. Bookmark it for the Final Exam.
Topic 7 Glossary
Every named term Topic 7 introduces — gross vs net, FICA, marginal rate, effective rate, refund vs owed, dividend, capital gain, ROI, coupon, yield to maturity, glide path, diversification — with one-sentence definitions and where they first show up.
Final Exam Review
The 38-question cumulative review, one page per question with the same walkthrough + interactive practice as every earlier topic. The centerpiece of Topic 7 — work it one topic block at a time (Q1–Q6 = T1, Q7–Q12 = T2, etc.).
Financial Formulas Calculator
The seven-formula hub from Topic 3 & 4. Compound interest, PMT, present value, and the annuity formula — all the machinery the stock & bond math in this topic leans on.
Getting Started with ALEKS
The setup guide for the ALEKS homework tool. The Final Exam itself lives in ALEKS — worth another look if the interface has felt rough all term.
Hands-on widgets for poking at the math. Drag a slider, watch the line move.
Tax Bracket Calculator
Drag the income slider, pick a filing status, and watch the bracket walk fill in. Marginal rate and effective rate appear side by side. Five real-life income presets from entry-level to high earner.
Portfolio Glide Path
How target-date funds automatically reallocate your money as you age. Pick your current age, retirement age, and a rule of thumb (100-, 110-, or 120-minus-age). See the stock and bond allocation slide across decades — and the expected-return trade-off of going more conservative.
Coming soon — extras for this lesson land here as they're curated.
What it means to buy a company's stock
Sal opens with the core concept — buying a share is buying partial ownership — and walks through how shareholders earn returns through price appreciation and dividends. Note: 2013 video, but the mechanics of stock ownership are evergreen.
Why Diversification Is The Only Free Lunch In Investing
Recent (2025) Richard Coffin video. Strong on dividend yield, total return decomposition, and the role of dividends vs price gains. Segues naturally into diversification material for Lesson 7.6.
Introduction to bonds
Sal introduces face value, the coupon, and what it means to lend money to a company or government in exchange for periodic interest. Cleanest possible intro to bond mechanics.
Relationship between bond prices and interest rates
Sal's followup walking through why bond market price moves inversely to prevailing rates, showing how the coupon (fixed at issue) and current yield (changes with price) diverge. Hits the coupon-rate vs current-yield distinction directly.
What the Heck Are Mutual Funds?
Introduces the case for diversification through pooled vehicles (mutual funds) — why owning hundreds of stocks via one fund reduces idiosyncratic risk. Hosted on PBS; the YouTube version is harder to track down. 2019, evergreen.
What The Heck Is An Index Fund?
Follow-up to the mutual fund video. Covers index funds as the practical implementation of diversification for most investors, and includes Warren Buffett's 2007-2017 bet against hedge funds as the worked example. PBS-hosted; 2019, evergreen.
Are 401(k)s a Financial Silver Bullet?
Optional third video for retirement-account context. Covers how 401(k) contributions get invested in stock and bond funds and acknowledges target-date funds — useful for the glide-path concept.