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howdoistudy

Learn finance by running the numbers yourself

Start a finance plan, first lesson free
Chart · compound growthYEAR 22 IS THE TURN
balanceyearsyear 22
Paid in$60k
Interest$79k
Final balance$139k

From year 22 the interest is doing more of the work than you are: everything above the green line is money the account made on its own. Over 25 years you pay in $60k and it earns $79k.

What compounding does to a monthly habit, and the year the interest starts out-earning you.

Finance is arithmetic with consequences. The arithmetic is easy. The hard part is feeling how much small changes compound over time, and you get that by moving the inputs and watching the curve, not by being handed a formula. The block below marks the year the interest starts out-earning you.

What people come here to do

You describe the goal in your own words and the plan asks questions back until it is one you would follow. Goals usually look like these.

  • “Get through a corporate finance module”
  • “Understand my own pension and mortgage properly”
  • “Prepare for a finance interview”
  • “Read a set of accounts without bluffing”

What a finance plan covers

There is no fixed syllabus. The plan is built around your goal and drops what it does not need. These are the topics it draws from.

  • Compound interest and the time value of money
  • Discounting, NPV and IRR
  • Reading a balance sheet and income statement
  • Risk, return and diversification
  • Valuation and cost of capital
  • Debt, equity and capital structure

Other subjects

Each one has its own lesson block to try.

See how it works and what it costs.