Financial Decision Making (Module 2 - SLP)

FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING
As we have said, assessment of financial decisions is an area in which the math matters a great deal. Accordingly, the project for this module features some calculations you're being asked to make, in order to demonstrate to us and to yourself that you understand where the numbers come from and where they are going. The kinds of calculations you're making here are the kinds of calculations that financial managers make all the time, and will wave in your face at the slightest provocation. Being able to speak the math back to them will come in handy on more than one occasion in your careers down the road.
Here are several resources that talk about the time value of money and how to perform net present value calculations EconEd, Study Finance, Discounted Cash Flow. Net present value is often used to inform investment decisions. To perform the calculation, you can follow the formulas as they are presented in the readings or you can simply multiplying the future sum by the appropriate discount factor using the Net Present Value Table.
Please perform the following kinds of calculations, and write a short report describing what you did, showing your figures, and the results that you obtained.
Note: You may use an Excel spreadsheet in order to perform the necessary computations for this questions.
Suppose your bank account will be worth $4,200.00 in one year. The interest rate (discount rate) that the bank pays is 5%. What is the present value of your bank account today?
Suppose you have two bank accounts, one called Account A and another Account B. Account A will be worth $3,800.00 in one year. Account B will be worth $6,500.00 in two years. Both accounts earn 5% interest. What is the present value of each of these accounts? What is the combined present value of the two accounts?
Suppose you just inherited an oil well. This oil well is believed to have three years worth of oil left before it dries up. Here is how much income this oil well is projected to bring you each year for the next three years:
Year 1: $125,000
Year 2: $258,000
Year 3: $310,000
Compute the present value of this stream of income using a discount rate of 7%. Remember, you are calculating the present value for a whole stream of income, i.e. the total value of receiving all three payments (how much you would pay right now to receive these three payments in the future). Your answer should be one number - the present value for this oil well at a 7% discount rate.
SLP Assignment Expectations
Use information from the modular background readings as well as any good quality resource you can find. Please cite all sources and provide a reference list at the end of your paper.
LENGTH: 1-2 pages typed and double-spaced.
The following items will be assessed in particular:
Your ability to correctly calculate present value.