Investments and
The
power of compounded interest
The
purpose of this assignment is threefold:
·
To use
popular Internet sites to research historical rates of returns on popular
investing vehicles.
·
To teach
you how to set up an investment schedule.
·
To teach
you how to utilize a powerful investing feature called =FV (Future Value) built
into the Excel Program
An Overview:
Attached
is a “Best of the Web” at a glance guide, which contains URL’s of many
popular accounting and finance sites. Choose
a few of them and check them out. While
you are browsing, you should be cognizant of interest rates or other return
rates on investment vehicles that you may be interested in.
Investments
play a significant role in your ability to accumulate and preserve wealth.
No single investment is right for everyone.
There are many different factors that come into play when choosing the
right investment. I would strongly
suggest you consider taking one of two classes – either FIN 125 – Personal
Finance, or a brand new class offered for the first time this year FIN 51 –
Retirement Planning. In both of
these classes, you will learn the power of compounded interest.
Compounding is a relatively easy mathematical process by which your money
increases in value. This occurs
slowly at first, but then picks up much more speed in the later life of the
investment. To save well, you MUST
start early – like NOW!!!! The
key to building up your savings is to have a plan, to stick with the plan, and
to start now. The tools of HOW to
do this will be covered in the above mentioned classes.
There
are three basic types of common investment vehicles – Cash Investments, Bonds,
and Stocks. (There are others also
like commodities, real estate, foreign stocks, etc.) Each one has their own types of investments incorporated
within the above categories. Some
are safer than others. In any case,
the returns on all of them can be researched and then used to project future
investment growth.
Research
some common mutual funds or other investments using the URL addresses attached.
(I would suggest using Quicken.com or Morningstar.com).
Many of these sites list return rates over the past year, 3-year, 5-year,
and 10-year time frames. Choose a
monthly investment amount that you can afford, whether it be $25 or $100,
something in between, or even more. Use
a historical interest rate from any of the funds that you find that you may be
interested in. (Don’t be afraid
to review a prospectus when you have questions about a fund – such as what is
the minimum amount of investment, fees for pre-mature withdrawals, access to
funds, etc.)
Set
up a compounded investment schedule. You
can use the example of the one attached. You should make your schedule as flexible as possible so that
you can enter any amount of investment and any interest rate and have the table
compute for you automatically.
You
should provide a table for at least the first three years (to demonstrate that
you understand how the basic math works.) At
the bottom of the schedule, calculate the value of the investment using
benchmarks of 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, and 50 years.
You should do this using the built in FV (future value) function that
Excel provides. A handout has been
provided to you, which details the parameters of the function.
We will discuss the computation in class.
The only new concept introduced in this problem is the =FV function.
The rest of it is basic math using very basic Excel formulas.
You should be able to complete the table with the knowledge you have
acquired over the course of the semester.
Identify
the fund that you choose to complete your model. Also list the URL where you pulled your data from.
I would expect you to create a model for at least two funds.
For each fund, use at least two different contribution amounts.
Your model will be graded heavily on flexibility.
I plan on taking your rates and inputting it into a generic model.
I should come up with the same answers that you do.
More about the =FV function
The = FV function uses five variables to return the future
value of an annuity based on the data input by the user. The general set
up of the function looks like this:
=FV(rate of return,#
of payments,the amount of an annuity,the
balance at the beginning,and the type)
The first two variables will usually be in monthly terms...that
is if you are making monthly contributions, then the rate of return must
be divided by 12, and the number of payments will be in terms of the
number of monthly amounts. The amount of the annuity must be input
with a negative sign in front of it. The "type" or the
last variable will either be a 0 if payments are made at the end
of the month or a type 1 if payments are made at the beginning of the
month. (Since our payments are made at the beginning of the month,
use a type 1.) For more information on how the formula works, you
may wish to consult the Help menu and type in =FV.
Conclusion:
You
have learned a great deal of information about Excel and how to apply it to
basic accounting concepts over the course of the semester.
There is so much more to learn about the program.
It has hundreds of functions built into it.
Unfortunately because the prerequisite for this course is only BUSA 100,
we are limited in what we can teach you. I
would strongly encourage you to take a finance class – one of the two
mentioned above, and to continue working with and learning the Excel program,
while incorporating the investment knowledge you obtain in the classroom.
YOU need to be in control of your financial future.
With the tools you have learned in this class and others, you should be
able to build the wealth that you will need for retirement or any other purpose.