Future and Present Value Project
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MATH-1090
April 27, 2018
Reflection
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MATH-1090
April 27, 2018
I was most interested in the Future and Present Value project as it directly applies to my current career as a real estate agent. I regularly work with people who are saving for a down payment towards the purchase of their first home, but don't quite understand the concept of interest. They are especially confused about how interest affects the loan amount and monthly payments. This project gave me the opportunity to learn to create an amortization schedule that I can use to help demonstrate how interest affects those payments. I can also use it to model the scenario of making payments that are higher than the minimum payment to show how much money can be saved over the life of the loan. I can also see the benefit in understanding this concept as it relates to my private life. With this tool, I can quickly analyze my own finances and create strategies to pay off debt at a quicker pace. Additionally, I can use it to evaluate different investment options pertaining to my retirement.
This project helped to support my ability to apply the mathematical concepts of present and future value by translating the equation into an easy-to-use spreadsheet using a modern business tool such as Excel. It has always been difficult to recognize a practical use for most algebraic equations, but this class was tremendously helpful in helping me to find many uses as they apply to my personal life, and also in different business situations. This semester I am also taking Business Statistics, which I have found pretty fascinating as well. I loved the cross-over with the module on polynomial regression, so I would like to further explore that topic as I think it would also further my understanding of statistical analysis.