The Financial Calculator

If you're going to be an investor, you need a good handheld financial calculator, otherwise you'll have to do all of your financial calculations in a computer spreadsheet. Now, there's nothing wrong with relying on a computer spreadsheet, but it's a lot more convenient to keep a calculator handy. Actually, you'll probably find that one is better than the other for specific purposes, so you should have both.

My favorite financial calculator is the HP 17BII. It was designed in the 1980s, when HP still placed a high value on durability. It's rock solid and feels like it. You can drop it many times without it malfunctioning. It also rates high on the tactility scale, as it doesn't feel cheap and each keystroke responds with tactile feedback that lets you know that the stoke has been registered. And it accommodates RPN or algebraic computation. Unfortunately, it's no longer in production, it has been replaced by the 17BII+, which is reputed to be inferior to the 17BII. I bought 3 17BIIs a while ago, so I've had no need to try the 17BII+ yet. You can still find the 17BII, new and used, on eBay. Or you can give its successor a try. The 17BII+ has more memory and is supposedly faster, but it gets low grades for tactility.

The HP 12C has been around for over 25 years and was the predecessor of the 17B. The 12C has been the longtime favorite of bankers and real estate professionals, which is why it's still in production. It, too, is rock solid. The basic 12C is RPN-only, which is fine by me, but if you are averse to learning a superior form of computation, you'll want to go with a calculator that is either algebraic-only or can be toggled to RPN or algebraic. The 12C Platinum can be toggled but it costs a bit more than the basic 12C. I'd definitely recommend the 17B over the 12C unless you're already used to the 12C.

There's also a HP 10BII, which is an entry level business calculator. It has all the basic financial functions and at $30 MSRP is an economical solution that should suffice for the average investor. The only drawback, in my opinion, is that it is algebraic-only, i.e., no RPN.

All HP financial calculators come with excellent documentation that walks you through all the functions with real examples. In fact, you can gain a good understanding of the time value of money (TVM) just by working your way through part of an HP user's manual.

Of course, there are other manufacturers, like Texas Instruments, that also make good financial calculators. If you have been using a particular manufacturer's handheld calculators for years, you may want to stick with them. Just make sure you buy a calculator that does everything you need it to do and that you're comfortable using it.

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