| You may have walked out of meetings with bankers, | | | | Probably the most basic of the financial calculators, |
| accountants, and CPA's thinking you were at a | | | | the HP10B (now the HP10B-II) or the TI BA-II Plus |
| "financial disadvantage" as they danced their fingers | | | | will get the job done. |
| across a financial calculator and reported their results. | | | | Created in competitive nature, both deliver the basic |
| You may have even wished you could "crunch the | | | | needs of a financial calculator. Along with the |
| numbers" yourself for piece of mind or to make sure | | | | standard capabilities of time-value-of-money, accrued |
| no one was taking advantage of you. | | | | interest, amortization, cost-sell-margin, and |
| If either of those situations sounds familiar, then you | | | | depreciation, users will calculate more advanced |
| need to learn how to use a financial calculator. | | | | business and finance related issues. |
| There are some great books and training materials | | | | If you are wondering what exactly the "plus" buys |
| out there, but you first must start with the calculator | | | | you in the TI BA II Plus model, you have to look |
| itself. | | | | pretty close (initially the only extra things found were |
| You want something that can efficiently calculate | | | | keystrokes). The BAII Plus does allow differing |
| credit lines, mortgages, notes, investments, and loans | | | | compounding periods to payment periods. You can |
| with ease - well, there are plenty to choose from. | | | | even calculate bonds to call as well as yield. |
| The big question now is, "Which one?" | | | | With that said, for basic workhorse calculators, you |
| Many calculators can handle financial functions and | | | | can't go wrong with either the Texas Instruments |
| some are much easier to operate than others. Here | | | | BA II Plus Professional Financial Calculator or the HP |
| is the top four used in our industry. If you want | | | | 10bII Financial Calculator. |
| avoid the technical stuff just skip to the bottom and | | | | Texas Instruments Financial Analyst |
| discover what we use personally! | | | | This out of production calculator is still a favorite and |
| The HP12C | | | | worth keeping an eye out for at local garage sales |
| Clearly the industry's front-runner, the HP12C was | | | | and eBay. |
| THE standard for anyone in real estate for years and | | | | In addition to great speed, the TIFI has a large |
| can still be found in most investors' desks. | | | | screen that is capable of holding up to four different |
| The HP12C is very powerful but comes with some | | | | calculations simultaneously (Column A, B, C, and D). |
| initial challenges. You may have noticed that it does | | | | Additionally, the TIFI can easily amortize any cash |
| not have an "equal" sign. The HP uses Reverse Polish | | | | flow and give you the balance at any given point in |
| notation so 1+1=2 would be calculated as 1 [enter] | | | | time. |
| 1[+] (then you get the answer of "2?). The catch | | | | So, what calculator do we use personally? |
| here is that if you don't already know how to use | | | | Well my wife always grabs the HP12C while I prefer |
| one, it may be worth skipping on to the next model. | | | | the TIFI (yes a house divided). When teaching |
| The newest model has six times faster speeds for | | | | workshops we typically gravitate towards the HP10B |
| calculating TVM, loan payments, interest rates, | | | | due to the affordability and ease of use for new |
| standard deviation and more. Work more efficiently | | | | learners. |
| with memory for up to 80 cash flows. Ideal for real | | | | No matter which calculator you choose, the time |
| estate, finance, accounting, economics and business | | | | spent learning the calculator will no doubt be worth it! |
| work. The HP 12C Platinum Financial Calculator is a | | | | Going forward you will save time and money, but |
| classic! | | | | perhaps more importantly have better control of you |
| The HP10B and TI BA-II Plus | | | | cash flow. |