Hewlett-Packard 12C 12C Financial Calculator, 10-Digit LCD

The standard for financial professionals, the HP 12C has been helping people make smart business decisions for over 15 years. It has over 120 built in functions including, TVM, amortization, bond price and yield, and depreciation. This calculator is accepted for use on the CFP, CFA and GARP FRM exams. Certainly, there's been newer, more complex calculators introduced since, but there's something to be said for the quality of classics.

The HP 12C has all the basics--like calculating APR, NPV, and IRR--and statistics are a breeze. For students new to financial calculators, this is an excellent place to start. The manual reads very like a minitextbook, walking you through sample problems and situations followed by graphs and tables demonstrating the technique--and you can even check your results. The section on creating programs seems to address the more technically challenged, addressing in detail how you could possibly benefit from using programs, but it'll still help you get the job done.