Rationale The financial maths website is a resource for teachers who want their students to build mathematical skills and understanding in the context of live data and contexts taken from the real world. In the context of education as we move towards the new millennium it is no longer appropriate to present students with a financial schema which assumes fixed or constant interest rates, fails to mention management and establishment fees, ignores the effects of inflation, depreciation and taxation on returns, fails to mention the technological tools of the trade which are now in common use in 'the real world', deals with irrelevant and unrealistic situations. Unfortunately many of the textbooks used in schools reflect the stable post-war financial environment of the gold standard, fixed exchange rates and lifetime mortgages at fixed interest rates. In writing materials for the 'new' syllabi, many authors appear to have collected examples from earlier texts and simply reshuffled them to fit the syllabus topics.
Financial mathematics is more than the application and solution of algebraic equations and puzzles.
The complexity of the financial world directly impacts on all of us, and increasingly on our students as they are required to make decisions concerning pre-payment of HECS, HECS loan repayment schedules, credit and bank cards, personal finance loans, leasing mobile phones, and choosing a bank. Internet access and globalisation provide opportunities and traps for us all, especially those not aware of import duties, exchange rate fluctuations, the use of credit cards in unsecured environments, and the pressures of network marketing. Financial Mathematics in Context presents teachers with ideas and resources to use in planning and delivering their senior mathematics programs. The material presented is not a recipe or a course and does not contain neatly packaged assessment tasks. The site contains several ingredients which can be used to meet the spirit and intent of the senior syllabuses in a way which is interesting and relevant to students and teachers alike.