In: Finance
You are close before the end of your Bachelor studies and have
two options:
A – Get a job at TOP Management Ltd. after finalising the Bachelor
and earn a net annual salary of €25.000. B – Continue your
education by adding a one-year Master degree program, and then join
TOP Management Ltd. at a higher salary. The one-year Master degree
program costs you €15.000. After the first year on the job in
alternative A TOP Management Ltd. pays you a 10 % salary increase.
However, at the same time after joining the company with a Master
degree (alternative B) you would get a higher net salary of €500
per month. During your professional career over 30 years in both
options you would get the identical absolute salary increases.
Please assume a 6 % discount rate.
Would the investment in a longer education make sense from a NPV
point of view? What is the static payback period of the investment
into the Master degree ?
Assume that the fee is paid at the end of the first year.
Hence the cash flows are
Year | Option A | Option B |
1 | 25000.00 | -15000.00 |
2 | 27500.00 | 33500.00 |
3 | 30250.00 | 36250.00 |
4 | 33275.00 | 39275.00 |
5 | 36602.50 | 42602.50 |
6 | 40262.75 | 46262.75 |
7 | 44289.03 | 50289.03 |
8 | 48717.93 | 54717.93 |
9 | 53589.72 | 59589.72 |
10 | 58948.69 | 64948.69 |
11 | 64843.56 | 70843.56 |
12 | 71327.92 | 77327.92 |
13 | 78460.71 | 84460.71 |
14 | 86306.78 | 92306.78 |
15 | 94937.46 | 100937.46 |
Year | Option A | Option B |
16 | 104431.20 | 110431.20 |
17 | 114874.32 | 120874.32 |
18 | 126361.76 | 132361.76 |
19 | 138997.93 | 144997.93 |
20 | 152897.73 | 158897.73 |
21 | 168187.50 | 174187.50 |
22 | 185006.25 | 191006.25 |
23 | 203506.87 | 209506.87 |
24 | 223857.56 | 229857.56 |
25 | 246243.32 | 252243.32 |
26 | 270867.65 | 276867.65 |
27 | 297954.41 | 303954.41 |
28 | 327749.85 | 333749.85 |
29 | 360524.84 | 366524.84 |
30 | 396577.32 | 402577.32 |
NPV of Option A | $1,273,823.57 |
NPV of Option B | $1,313,016.33 |
Hence Option B is better since it has higher NPV.
Static payback period = 15000/ 33500
= 0.45 years