Calculators are cool

Raise your hand if you used a TI-85 in high school? What am I talking about? Calculators! For me, that was an actual physical calculator that looked like the image below:

It definitely came in handy when I was growing up. These days, the TI-85 is an app or something online. I kind of miss it. If I were spending money, I might have gone on eBay to purchase a vintage one. But I don’t do that anymore, do I? Nope.

Calculators are awesome. Did you know that Summit Credit Union has a whole page of tools and calculators? When I was figuring out how much to invest in retirement, establishing my budget, determining if I wanted to purchase a new car and going through my house crazy phase, I went to this page. 

It’s quite an impressive amount of information. It prompts you to consider the questions you should be thinking about when managing your money. For example, when budgeting, do you pay off your debt or put that money in savings? Guess what? There’s a calculator for that. 

There are also the home calculators. If you’re house crazy like me, have you thought of the below? 

• 15- or 30-year mortgage?
• Adjustable or fixed-rate?
• Monthly mortgage payments and amortization schedule
• How much can you afford?
• How much should you borrow?
• Should you buy or continue to rent?  

So, if you need help coming up with what you should be considering when it comes to your money, if you are a data visualization geek like me, or if you’re just curious – check out this calculator page. It’s worth spending a few afternoons exploring and you’ll be happy you did.