Example 1

You are borrowing $5000 to purchase a used car. You want to find out how much the car will cost if you  borrow the $5000 at an interest rate of 8% for 4 years.

Step 1

Present Value: 

Future Value:

Number of Periods:

Interest  Rate(%):  

Enter 5000 as the Present Value. Enter 8 for interest rate and 4 for the number of Periods.

Step 2

Present Value: 

Future Value:

Number of Periods:

Interest  Rate(%):  

 

Click on Calculate in the 2nd row. 
6802.445 appears against Future Value.
The amount you are actually paying for your car is $6802.445.

Example 2

20 years ago you bought your house for $18,000. Today it is worth $200,000. At what rate has the value of your house appreciated?

Step 1

Present Value: 

Future Value:

Number of Periods:

Interest  Rate(%):  

Enter 18,000 as the Present Value, 200,000 as the Future Value and 20 as the Number of Periods

Step 2

Present Value: 

Future Value:

Number of Periods:

Interest  Rate(%):  

Press Calculate in the 4th Row. 
12.79 appears against Interest Rate. 
 The value of your house has appreciated at 12.79% per annum for the last 20 years.

(Note that the interest rate is rounded down to 2 decimal places)