Question

Assume today is March 16, 2016. Natasha Kingery is 30 years old and has a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science.
She is currently employed as a Tier 2 field service representative for a telephony corporation located in Seattle,
Washington, and earns $38,000 a year that she anticipates will grow at 3% per year. Natasha hopes to retire at age 65 and
has just begun to think about the future.
Natasha has $75,000 that she recently inherited from her aunt. She invested this money in 30-year Treasury Bonds. She is
considering whether she should further her education and would use her inheritance to pay for it.
She has investigated a couple of options and is asking for your help as a financial planning intern to determine the financial
consequences associated with each option. Natasha has already been accepted to both of these programs, and could start
either one soon.
One alternative that Natasha is considering is attaining a certification in network design. This certification would
automatically promote her to a Tier 3 field service representative in her company. The base salary for a Tier 3
representative is $10,000 more than what she currently earns and she anticipates that this salary differential will grow at a
rate of 3% a year as long as she keeps working. The certification program requires the completion of 20 Web- based courses
and a score of 80% or better on an exam at the end of the course work. She has learned that the average amount of time
necessary to finish the program is one year. The total cost of the program is $5000, due when she enrolls in the program.
Because she will do all the work for the certification on her own time, Natasha does not expect to lose any income during
the certification.
Another option is going back to school for an MBA degree. With an MBA degree, Natasha expects to be promoted to a
managerial position in her current firm. The managerial position pays $20,000 a year more than her current position. She
expects that this salary differential will also grow at a rate of 3% per year for as long as she keeps working. The evening
program, which will take three years to complete, costs $25,000 per year, due at the beginning of each of her three years in
school. Because she will attend classes in the evening, Natasha doesn’t expect to lose any income while she is earning her
MBA if she chooses to undertake the MBA.
1. Determine the interest rate she is currently earning on her inheritance by going to Yahoo! Finance
(http://finance.yahoo.com) and typing the word “Treasury” in the search field and picking the 30 year yield
(ticker: ^TYX) off the dynamic menu that appears. Then go to “Historical Prices” (located in the left column) and
enter the appropriate date, March 16, 2016 to obtain the closing yield or interest rate that she is earning. Use this
interest rate as the discount rate for the remainder of this problem.
2. Create a timeline in Excel for her current situation, as well as the certification program and MBA degree options,
using the following assumptions:
Salaries for the year are paid only once, at the end of the year.
The salary increase becomes effective immediately upon graduating from the MBA program or being certified.
That is, because the increases become effective immediately but salaries are paid at the end of the year, the first
salary increase will be paid exactly one year after graduation or certification.
3. Calculate the present value of the salary differential for completing the certification program. Subtract the cost of
the program to get the NPV of undertaking the certification program.
4. Calculate the present value of the salary differential for completing the MBA degree. Calculate the present value of
the cost of the MBA program. Based on your calculations, determine the NPV of undertaking the MBA.
5. Based on your answers to Questions 3 and 4, what advice would you give to Natasha? What if the two programs
are mutually exclusive? That is, if Natasha undertakes one of the programs there is no further benefit to
undertaking the other program. Would your advice be different?

Answer 1