Category Archives: Financial

Conversion Cost Mathematics in Mathcad

Posted on 13-April-2013 by mathscinotes

Introduction Normally, I use Excel for analyzing financial data. Today, I encountered a financial problem for which Mathcad seemed appropriate-- there was a bit of algebra involved. Let's see what you think ... Background Before I can state my problem, … Continue reading →

Posted in Financial | Comments Off on Conversion Cost Mathematics in Mathcad

Age Distribution of US Health Care Expenditures

Posted on 25-January-2013 by mathscinotes

I have been wondering why US health care costs are so high. I just read this report that claims that the US spends a far greater percentage of its health care dollars on the elderly than other countries. I decided to plot the data from the report myself to make viewing the data a bit easier -- see Figure 1. The expenditures are normalized to the costs for people in the 50 to 64 year old age range (arbitrarily given a value of 1 unit). Continue reading →

Posted in Financial | 4 Comments

Magic Number Analysis - "Money Factor" in Auto Leasing

Posted on 2-March-2011 by mathscinotes

Introduction One of my sons is a newly minted accountant. He dreams of someday managing a hedge fund. We spend hours talking about modeling data and making predictions. These discussions have convinced me that I need to know more about … Continue reading →

Posted in Financial | 12 Comments

A Product Cost Reduction Example

Posted on 23-October-2010 by mathscinotes

Introduction Maintaining good product margins is crucial to maintaining a healthy business. In the electronics business, customers have come to expect prices to drop every year. This means that I need to incorporate frequent cost reductions just to maintain margins. … Continue reading →

Posted in Financial, Management | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on A Product Cost Reduction Example

Rule of 72 Redeux

Posted on 12-July-2010 by mathscinotes

I frequently have to work on “time value of money” problems. Good approximate solutions to these problems can often be obtained by using the “Rule of 72.” The Rule of 72 will tell you approximately how many interest payment intervals … Continue reading →

Posted in Financial, Management | 1 Comment