Continuing Case: Tarek$$s Financial Journey

In every chapter, you will have an opportunity to assist Tarek as he begins his financial journey. Let$$s meet Tarek and learn a bit about his current financial situation.

Tarek, age $26,$ is single. He is in a committed relationship. After graduating from college, he moved to the Midwest to begin his career. His interest in learning about personal finance topics and money management has increased over the past few months. Like many people his age, he went through school with little interest in these things. Now that he is working and thinking about his future, he wants to make sure that he is making the best financial decisions. Let$$s help Tarek by learning more about his interior financial attitudes and expectations.

When Tarek heard about the idea of time perspectives, he was curious about his own preferences.

He found the following questions online. He knew there were no correct or incorrect responses.

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly Agree

I believe that getting together with my friends to party is one of life$$s important pleasures.

I believe that a person$$s day should be planned ahead each morning.

I often think of what I should have done differently in my life.

Let$$s say that Tarek answers the first question $$Disagree$,$ the second question $$Strongly Agree,$$ and the third question $$Strongly Disagree.$$ Based on his answers, what is his time perspective?

What does Tarek$$s time perspective indicate about his potential money$-$management ability?

Tarek$$s girlfriend, Samantha, is thinking about going on to earn a master$$s degree in history from an Ivy League university. Samantha loves everything there is to know about ancient Middle Eastern mystic philosophy. She found a scholar who is exploring this topic from a historical perspective. If Samantha decides to go back to school, she anticipates paying $2$ years of tuition, room, food, books, and other fees equal to $$63,000$ yearly. She plans to borrow most of this amount. She would need to quit her current job, which will lead to a loss of income of $$33,000$ per year. She believes that having a master$$s degree will allow her to teach high school history, which should increase her annual income to $$35,000$ per year. Based on this information, what is Samantha$$s payback period?

Based on your analysis from part $($c$),$ does it make economic sense for Samantha to go back to school at this time? What might be an alternative?