well, when they tell you that u need to have a certain, amount, say $2000, in like 20 yrs, they will ask u how much u need to put in 2 satrt with, or sumthing, then u use the present value formula.
and when they say that sumbody invests $400 a motnth, how much will they have in 20 yrs, u use future value
u probably already no that and like that was no help at all but anyway, i tried...nobody else answerd
good luck