Finance is a vast and multifaceted field. Having worked in various finance roles over the years, I've noticed the common stereotypes people hold about finance professionals. A typical exchange might go like this:
Person A: What's your profession?
Person B: I'm in finance at xyz company.
Person A: Oh, so you must be really good with multiplication and all that number crunching, right?
Person B: Sure. (Thinking to themselves - And there's yet another person equating finance with multiplications).
Is it necessary for a finance expert to be a human calculator? Not at all; there have been tools for such tasks for decades. Abacuses, calculators, Excel, and more sophisticated software are all available for complex calculations.
Mastering multiplication tables, often learned in the 3rd grade, is impressive but not necessarily indicative of financial acumen. However, a fundamental understanding of numbers is beneficial for a career in finance.