Khan Academy course review: Finance and capital markets / Interest and debt

I watched the first module of the course Finance and capital markets: Interest and debt. It’s a series of 16 videos about 10 minutes long. I had rudimentary knowledge of finance and accounting before watching these videos, here’s what I learned.

I learned the term Principal, it’s the initial amount of money invested or loaned from which interest are calculated. The course also introduced the Rule of 72 that I already knew, went into more details explaining why it was a good heuristic. I learned about the credit card system, the interchange fees, where the money goes and in what proportion. I learned about payday loans and how they work, and how some people get around the credit system to still get some money when they need it to pay their bills. Finally I learned more about the eerie number e, and how it can be used to calculate interests continuously.

The pace of the lectures is mellow, but one needs to actively pay attention to absorb the material. I casually watched most of these videos years ago, and I didn’t retain much, I took note this time, and felt I covered and absorbed the material much better this time.