Imagine you showed up to the park, and found some folks playing an unfamiliar game. It looks fun and you would like to join them, but you don’t know the rules of the game they’re playing or even the language in which the rules are expressed. How, then, can you participate?
This may sound a bit far-fetched, but believe it or not this situation is analogous to that of the vast majority of people in our consumer capitalist society. Living in such a society requires participation in the game called Finance, even if you’re not fully aware of your participation. This game, whose most important role is to facilitate the exchange of goods and services, is essential for the smooth functioning of the modern society. To be a successful participant in this game, you need to at least master your own personal Finances.
In order to achieve this mastery, it’s necessary to understand the rules of the game of Finance. These rules are quantitative in nature. In other words, Math is the language of Finance. While it may be possible to understand the rules of the game at a high level qualitatively, for understanding the rules of the game of Finance at a deeper level, you need to familiarize yourself in the language of basic Math. Developing fluency in basic Math is the only reliable way to make the rules of personal Finance work in your favor instead of against you.
Unfortunately, many people today find Finance and/or Math confusing (as a result of how these subjects are approached in traditional schooling). Even those who are formally trained in Math lack sufficient training in Finance, and don’t really seem to be able to translate their knowledge to the domain of personal Finance (and vice versa). As a result, it’s not uncommon to see even highly qualified professionals making very high incomes still ending up bankrupt today! Consequently, mastery over one’s own personal Finances is a very rare skill, even among professionals.
In our Play Studio, we’ll learn how one can master the personal Finance game using nothing more than basic Math, and conversely, develop fluency in basic Math using examples from personal Finance.