The Course: Mathematical Finance elective
The Teacher: Math Teacher Dan Chestnut
The Goals: To build an understanding of personal finance and the financial world through five units: budgeting, credit and loans, stocks and bonds, real estate, and insurance. Students also learn about saving for life goals such as home ownership and retirement.

Hands-on

Students took a field trip to a local Safeway to get prices for their first budget assignment: writing a budget as a 20-year-old student who is living in an apartment with one other person. With $1,200 per month, each student must cover all their needs aside from college tuition and health care. Realizing money was tight, some students chose to live in cities with lower costs of living.

A Valuable Lesson

Students learned about credit and loans by finding a car to purchase and using a spreadsheet to structure their loan amortization. Assuming increased prices to allow for 10 years of inflation for a purchase when they are 27 years old, each student was allotted $3,000 for a down payment and $800 monthly budget to cover gas, maintenance, and loan payments. Each student was assigned a credit score of 650, which meant the interest rate was as high as 13.92 percent for a used car loan. Learning how credit scores are calculated and their impact on borrowing illuminated aspects of how the financial apparatus tries to efficiently utilize resources to serve people’s needs. With project-based learning such as this, students picked up many smaller takeaways such as car maintenance schedules and the significance of rebuilt titles.

Class Goals

Math Teacher Dan Chestnut aims to prepare students for making future financial decisions. The other three major class assignments are purchasing a home at age 35, getting life insurance at age 45, and creating a comprehensive budget for an adult who intends to retire at 68. “Students in college email to thank me for teaching them how to make a budget,” said Dan. “I hope students learn to spend significantly less than they earn, to invest what they can for the long term,
to protect themselves from financial loss through purchasing insurance, and to give to charity.”

What I've Learned 

Twelfth grader Yanwen S. said he knew interest rates and credit scores existed, but this class contextualized their importance. “Honestly, I am not going to get a car in my 20s. It’s not a worthy investment. I’m still not over learning about the
recurring cost of gas and how big a bite that takes out of your budget, especially paired with a car payment,” he said. Yanwen also became more aware of utilities. “I didn’t even know there was a sewage bill,” he said. “Before, I thought it was fine to take a 20-minute shower, but now I’ll be more frugal with water. I took this class because I wanted to learn how to make informed choices.”

About the Teacher
Math Teacher Dan Chestnut has taught mathematics for more than two decades. Before arriving at UPrep in 2009, he taught at Saint Dominic’s International School in Portugal, the Astley Cooper School in England, and Soundview School in Lynnwood. He believes that humanity needs to understand math in order to make sound decisions. “The better we understand mathematics, the better off we are going to be. Math uniquely develops abstract thinking skills,” said Dan. “The students challenge me and keep me honest and with it.” He is the advisor for the Jewish Student Union, Investing Club, and Skateboarding Club. A musician, he has played guitar and bass and currently plays guitar in two bands. Dan loves traveling and does so almost every school break. His favorite destinations include Tokyo, Japan, and Spain.