Using Wolfram Alpha for your finance needs
In case you haven’t heard of it, Wolfram Alpha is a new calculation engine that puts the power of a supercomputer in every bedroom – a step towards the semantic web that is the future of the web.
However, before such lofty aims, WA can be used to help with your financial decisions – like so:
- Need a rough figure on how much a mortgage will cost you over 25 years at 5% fixed rate interest?
- How much will you need to invest now at 6% to get £20,000 in 5 years time?
- How much pension will you get if you earn £20,000 now, expect pay rises of 4% a year, am 32 and expect to retire at 70?
- How long will it take to pay off £3000 on your credit card at 25%
- The GDP of the UK?
..and so on.
The tool has its limitations (for instance couldn’t understand £ to $) but its very powerful when applied to what it knows, mainly mathematics related.
