Investment in Education: Project Overview and Questions

As an Ivy Tech student, you are making an investment in your education. This project will look at how that investment will pay off if you graduate and get a job in your desired field. You will be comparing your future finances with someone who is not a college graduate. Assume that the median annual income for a high school graduate is $21,500 (although the actual value is higher). Use this value in comparison statements with proper absolute and relative change statements.

In this project you are required to do the following (You must submit both Excel and Word documents): 

1.Explain what job you have chosen and why. Use the median salary from the following website: https://www.bls.gov/ooh. Compare your salary to that of a high school graduate. How does your salary compare to the high school graduate? Use BOTH an absolute change and relative change statement for your comparison.

2.Proper English, spelling, grammar and Excel setups, calculations etc. Mortgage Loan

3.Assume you are planning on spending a certain amount of income towards a mortgage. If you spend 22% of your monthly salary towards a house, what is the highest price house you can afford? What is the highest priced house a high school graduate can afford? Use an absolute or relative change statement to compare the house prices of the high school graduate and your house. Assume that the standard APR is 1.85% for 30 years. Make sure to show at least 1 sample formula that you used in Excel to get the house price.

4.Research housing options in the area you want to live in. Will your future salary allow you to afford the house you want, or should you consider other housing options? How much more or less must you spend compared to the previous question to get the house you want? Cite what source you used to find housing costs. Based on the house you chose, what monthly payment is needed to afford the house? Assume that the standard APR is 1.85% for 30 years. Retirement Account

5.Consider the retirement investment with 3.99% APR for 38 years using 8.5% of your monthly income. Which scenario (A, B, or C) will give you the best value for retirement? For each scenario, find the relative change from the original retirement amount to the doubled amount. A. If you were to double the APR (from 3.99% to 7.98%), how much would you have in your retirement account? B. If you were to double the contribution into the account (from 8.5% to 17% of monthly salary), how much would you have in your retirement? C. If you were to double the time that you are investing (from 38 years to 76 years), how much would you have in your retirement account?

6. If you wanted to save $100,000 for your retirement, how many years would that take? If you wanted to save $200,000, how many years would that take? Is the amount of time to save $200,000 twice as much as to save $100,000? Explain why or why not.

7.Consider that you saved for 38 years using 8.5% of your income towards retirement at 3.99%. If the high school graduate also saved 8.5% at a rate of 3.99%, how long would it take for them to reach the same amount that you had after only 38 years? Instead, if the high school graduate saved for 38 years, how long would it take you to reach the same retirement since you are contributing more money? (Assume the same APR and years.) Salary Increase

8.If your job gives a salary raise of 1.5% each year, what will be your salary after 10 years? (In other words, after 10 raises have occurred.) Write an absolute or relative change statement comparing the current salary to the salary after 10 raises. What will be your salary after 20 years? Write an absolute change statement from your current salary to the salary after 20 years.