Under the concepts of the time value of money, you can determine the current, or present, value of a cash receipt or payment that will occur at some specified time in the future, given a specified rate of interest. This technique can be used to calculate the present value of a single or a series of future receipts or payments. David and Jennifer are walking after class between the library and the best pizzeria near campus. They're discussing Dr. Taylor's latest financial management lecture, which addressed the concept of present value and the process for calculating it. In anticipation of tomorrow's quiz, they've decided to review their lecture notes and the textbook materials and then practice one or two problems. Complete the missing information in the conversation that follows. Round your final answer to all computations to two decimal places. However, if you compute any interest factors as an intermediate step in your calculations, round them to four decimal places. Jennifer So, what is a present value, and why is it important to be able to calculate it? David According to Dr. Taylor, an asset's present or discounted value is the current value of the cash flows that it will pay or receive in the future. Jennifer Wait! Can you give me an example of when it would be appropriate to calculate a present value? David Sure, but it might make more sense for you to identify such a situation. So, tell me in which of the following two scenarios you would use a present value calculation, and then explain why that is so. Scenario 1: You would like to know how much you should place on deposit to have accumulated a certain amount of money by a specific future date. Scenario 2: You would like to know how much a given amount deposited today will grow into by a specific future date. Jennifer Ummm. I think scenario 1 is the situation that requires the calculation of a present value. The reason is that the amount to be placed on deposit is both known and occurs now, or at the present time David Very good! So here's your next question: How is the present value of a single amount calculated? Jennifer It can be calculated by rearranging the formula that is used in the calculation of a future value. To see this ... David Wait, wait, wait. Could you show me what you mean by writing it down? Here is a sheet of paper, show me how to rearrange the future value formula to solve for a present value. Jennifer OK, first, let's write down the equation used to calculate a future value (FV). The Calculation of a Future Value Future Value Present Value Interest factor Next, let's rearrange the equation to isolate the present value (PV) term by dividing both sides of the equation by the interest factor . Then, we'll simply rewrite the equation to put the unknown variable, the PV term, on the left-hand side of the equation: FV = PV x (1 + I)N FV x PV (1 + I)N 1 PV FV (1 + I)N So, does this make sense? We've rearranged the future value equation to solve for the present value. Also, notice that the present value interest factor is the reciprocal of the future value interest factor. This means that you don't necessarily need two different interest factor tables for the single cash flow; you can make do using either simply the present value table or the future value table-so long as you use it correctly. David So, do you think that we're ready to do a problem? Jennifer Sure! Here's one from our homework. You work and I'll work, and we'll see if our answers match. David OK. Let's get started. Homework Problem Sarah wants to reduce the cost of graduate school by starting a savings plan today. As a sophomore, she has estimated that she has three years to accumulate the $15,000 that she needs to help cover some of her projected expenses. The account she would open would earn 9% per year compounded annually. So how much would she have to deposit today to accumulate $15,000 in three years? Or, stated differently, what is the present value of $15,000? (Note: Round your answer to the nearest whole dollar.) I think that Sarah would have to deposit $11,583 so that she would have the desired $15,000 at the end of three years. Is that what you got when you solved the problem? Jennifer Yes it is! I think we've got a good start on getting ready for Dr. Taylor's next quiz. Answer Choices 1st blank discounted or compunded 2nd blank scenario 1 or scenario 2 3rd blank known unknown or 4th blank later in the future now or Calculation 5th blank PV term interest factor or 6th blank inverse or reciprocal HW Problem blank present or future last blank $11,583.00 or $12,915.00 or $9,556.00