Economics

A Certified Financial Planner is thinking about getting an advanced certification that would increase her salary by $15,000 the year after she earned the certificate, $10,000 the following year and $5,000 the third year. After that, her regular salary would be the same with or without the advanced certification. There are two costs of earning the certificate. First is the cost of the program, which is $7,000. Second is the opportunity cost of the planner's time. She estimates that she will have to cut back on her work hours during the year she completes the certification program, which will result in lost earnings of roughly $6,000. Finally, she believes an appropriate discount rate for this human capital investment decision is 5 percent. The net present value of undertaking the advanced certification is $ (Enter your response rounded to two decimal places.)