Advanced Concepts in Time Value of Money (TVM)

This week we will start this course with the first Mega Application that will expose us to more real-world situations confronted by us all. You are strongly encouraged to think through an application and draw timelines to realize that complex applications are a collection of the simpler ones we dealt with Course 1. As you work through the four Mega Applications in this course, look to find the common themes. In this application, we will start with a classic example of saving for a future need - to attend college.

This week's second Mega Example is about financial planning, agin something that can serve very useful because we typically work for some time and then want to maintain a standard of living. The key concepts here are again the same as those developed in the first course, but the issue is one of breaking down more difficult problems into bite-size pieces that resemble the simpler applications and assignments in Course 1. You are strongly encouraged to start attempting the Practice and Graded assignments - each has TEN questions with deliberate overlap with Course 1 and then some challenging scenarios in the later part of the assignments.

This week's Mega Application is my favorite because it shows you both the power of finance and its ability to simplify seemingly complex transactions. We all borrow and lend, though at different points in time, and even at the same time. This application is very detailed because it is meant to demonstrate the intuitive power of finance that makes calculations easy.