How Does Ben's Age Affect His Decision to Get an Mba?

1. How does Ben's age affect his decision to get an MBA?

Ben is 28 years old now and he has 38 years to work and earn money. It means his one or two year investment affects not only the total amount of money he will make for 36 to 37 years but also the plan after the retirement because he can invest his money into a variety portfolio while he works.

As we see in Excell, the breakeven point of years for taking MBA at Wilton University and Maunt Perry College are 14th year and 12th year respectively.

If he take MBA program when he is old, it would probably not be beneficial for him economically, physically, and mentally. Because the return on an investment is too low due to short of his remaining work time, and studying in an old age is much harder than he would at his youth. Moreover, it would be much more difficult to find a new job at an old age. For those reason, age is very important to make a decision to get an MBA.

2. What other, perhaps no quantifiable factors affect Ben's decision to get an MBA?

There may be several factors which make Ben hesitate to take an MBA.

Firstly, Economic problem can makes Ben not to study because he can not earn money rather he has to spend more money than he would otherwise while he takes an MBA. If there are people he has to take care of, for example, his old parents and children, and no one make money for his family, it would prevent Ben from getting an MBA.

Secondly, Studying is not an easy thing especially for those who stop studying and only work for long time. Unless he like studying and has a strong willingness to study, it must be a burden to him.

Lastly, the stability of his current job can cause him rethink of taking an MBA. He already has been working for about 6 year. He may has an opportunity of promotion in the near future and he may has built strong networks at his current company. Finding better job which can make up his costs after studying is also a big deal for him especially under the recession.

3. Assuming all salaries are paid at the end of each year, what is the best option for Ben - from a strictly financial standpoint?

We have three options:

① The PV of keeping his current is $836,227

② The PV of Getting the MBA at Wilton University is $1,143,507

③ The PV of Getting the MBA at Maunt Perry College is $1,043,091

Therefore the best option is Getting the MBA at Wilton University.

4. Ben believes that the appropriate analysis is to calculate the future value of each option. How would you evaluate this statement?

If Ben calculates the future value of each