Now more than ever, average people need to take steps to gain control over their financial situation. With the world’s economy teetering on the brink, it has become imperative that people understand their finances and, more importantly, the numbers they face. Our entire reality has been built upon numbers and those numbers have become increasingly complex, putting most people in a passive position, unable to calculate their way out of a problem.

A wonderful and incredibly powerful calculator called powerOne Financial Calculator for iPad hopes to change that. Think of this app as a secret weapon, a code book of sorts, able to penetrate the often obscure language of mortgage lenders and real estate agents. Now when they spit out numbers encased in acronyms, explaining your potential financial obligations, you can meet them on the battleground with an equal footing. “Excuse me chump, while I validate your numbers.”

powerOne for the iPad (also available for iPhone) has a slick, crisp design, offering fast access to an impressive array of calculator templates. You won’t find any fancy graphics or sounds here, which is great because such things would only get in the way of powerOne’s excellent interface, detracting from its brilliant simplicity.

powerOne features over 60 templates covering an impressive spectrum, which includes the following:

401(k)

Area Conversion

Auto Lease

Auto Loan

Black-Scholes

Bonds

Breakeven

Capitalization Rate

Cash Flows

Certificate of Deposit

Commercial Lease

Currency Conversion

Date Conversion

Debt Coverage Ratio

Depreciation

Discount

Equity Dividend Rate

Equity Yield

Financial Statement Analysis

Fuel Efficiency

General Lease

General Loan

Inflation

Interest Conversion

Investment Return

Investment Value

IRA

Lease Analysis

Length Conversion

Loan Constant

Loan Qualification

Loan Refinance

Loan w/Deferral

Markup

Mass Conversion

Mileage Reimbursement

Mortage

Mortgage, ARM

Mortgage, Interest Only

Percent Change

Percent Total

Price Comparison

Probability

Profit Margin

Property Analysis

Regular Withdrawals

Sales Tax

Savings

Seller’s Net

Series Loan

Statistics, One-Variable

Statistics, Two-Variable

Summary Data

Time Value of Money

Tip

Volume Conversion

That represents a hell of a lot of power at your fingertips. Even more impressive, powerOne allows you to create your own templates, so if you have a special need that isn’t satisfied by the default offerings, simply plug in your own equations. This alone makes powerOne the ultimate calculator, allowing it to step outside its financial orbit.

A very nice touch in powerOne is its customization, allowing users to easily delete and organize templates from the main list, ensuring you only see what you want to see without scrolling through stuff you’ll never use. One thing powerOne doesn’t currently do is work in landscape mode, but I am assured by the developer that an update is right around the corner that will support landscape mode, as well as additional features.

Now the real question: is powerOne worth $5.99? Considering the sheer amount of options on offer, its great interface and ability to add custom templates, it doesn’t take a calculator to appreciate the value on offer. This is the kind of app that could literally change your life for the better, as it may expose you to various financial concepts that, once tinkered with, could dramatically alter your economic situation for the better. At a time when every money expert is on TV blabbing about how people need to get control of their finances and better understand their respective situations, there simply is no better app than powerOne to get you started on that journey.

Rating: 5/5

powerOne Financial Calculator

Infinity Softworks

$5.99 for iPad

$5.99 for iPhone

Lately, everyone has an opinion about the Federal budget, executive bonuses and government spending. In fact, everyone seems to think they are an economic genius and have the answer for everything, despite the very real likelihood they don’t have a clue of what they speak and are probably just repeating some talk-radio mantra from either side of the political fence. Now you can literally put your money where your mouth is by playing Budget Hero, a new flash-based game that is surprisingly detailed and, don’t panic, educational.

Budget Hero is created by American Public Media, a nonprofit organization that supplies and distributes public broadcasting content.

Play the game by clicking me!

Like everyone else, Sony is suffering from the global economic collapse and is taking steps to regain profitability. Sony is now freezing employee salaries for one-year and lowering worker bonuses to four months instead of six. Additionally, annual compensation for managers will fall 10-20 percent and their bonuses will be cut 35-40 percent.

Sony is expected to report an operating loss of $2.65 billion for the year.

It was only two years ago that Iceland was selected as one of the great places to live. Booming economy, cheap goods, extremely high standard of living, etc. What a difference a year can make. The global economy has been punishing for nearly every country, but none has suffered quite like Iceland.

From Vanity Fair:

Iceland’s de facto bankruptcy—its currency (the krona) is kaput, its debt is 850 percent of G.D.P., its people are hoarding food and cash and blowing up their new Range Rovers for the insurance—resulted from a stunning collective madness. What led a tiny fishing nation, population 300,000, to decide, around 2003, to re-invent itself as a global financial power? In Reykjavík, where men are men, and the women seem to have completely given up on them, the author follows the peculiarly Icelandic logic behind the meltdown.

Read the full article by heading here.

Use an real-time fuel economy meter. If you don’t have a hybrid with a built-in meter, get yourself something like theScanGuage II.
Inflate tires to much higher pressures. Higher tire pressures -> Lower rolling resistance -> better fuel economy. They recommend not just inflating to the psi recommended by your car, but the maximum sidewall rating allowed by your tire manufacturer. Some members even take advantage of the “factor of safety” that engineers use and pump it up to 25% over the max rating. 50+ psi is not unheard of.
Switch to a special motor oil. Using low kinematic viscosity oil helps improve mpg.
Forced Autostop: Turn off engine whenever possible. If you’re slowly stopping to a red light or just coasting, turn off your combustion engine completely (”force” it to “stop”). Keep the engine off while idle, and only start it up when you’re ready to go again. This reduces losses due to running the engine at idle.