Math 123 Quantitative Reasoning Project Spring 2016
Due:
As an Ivy Tech student, you are making an investment in your education. This project will look at how that investment will pay off if you graduate and get a job in your desired field.
Assume that the median annual income for a high school graduate is $25,000. This is the value that you will be comparing your expected salary and lifestyle to in the following areas:
1.) Income Comparison: Research your expected income after you graduate college. Assume you obtain whatever level of education needed to enter your desired area of employment and that you will have a salary equivalent to the annual Median salary found at: http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_in.htm#27-0000 *You will need to click on your desired career in order to see the Annual Median wage.
· Your reflection paper should explain what your desired area of employment is and what the median annual salary for that position is.
· Your reflection paper should contain at least one statement comparing your expected salary with that of the median income of a high school graduate.
2.) Housing Comparison: Assume that you and your high school graduate counterpart plan to spend 28% of your gross income on house payments. Look up the current fixed rate APR for mortgages and use Excel to determine the largest value of a house that each of you can afford under those conditions.
· Your reflection paper should contain at least one statement comparing the value of the house that a high school graduate can afford and that you expect to be able to afford.
· Explain in your reflection paper what Excel function was used for these calculations. Cite what source you used to find mortgage rates.
· Research housing costs in an area where you would like to live, will your future salary allow you to afford the house you want? Cite what source you used to find housing costs.
· Reflect on the values you found. Do these values meet your needs and expectations, or should you consider other housing options?
3.) Retirement Comparison: Assume that your 401k investments will earn a 7% annual return and that you will set aside 5% of your gross monthly income for 401k investment. Use Excel to determine the balance on such a 401k after 40 years of investment for the high school graduate and for your expected income. Financial planners recommend having 70% of your gross annual income to live off of for each year in retirement. How many years will you and your high school counterpart’s 401k savings last, if you use the 70% recommendation?
· Your reflection paper should contain at least one statement comparing the value of the 401k investment of the high school graduate and for your expected salary.
· Explain in your reflection paper what Excel function was used for these calculations.
· Determine how long you and the high school graduate will be able to live on your 401k savings and explain how you determined this.
· Reflect on the values you found, do these values meet your expectations, or will you change your investment strategy?
4.) Raises: The high school graduate’s income is not expected to increase over the next five years, but assume that your field will guarantee you a 2.5% raise on your annual salary each year for the next five years. Determine what your new annual salary will be given these five years of raises. Using this new income, recalculate the mortgage from part 2. Also recalculate the 40 year 401k information from part 3 using this new income (use the new income and 40 years for this, don’t worry about the complication of 5 years of changes).
· Your reflection paper should contain at least one statement comparing your initial salary with the salary after 5 years of raises.
· Your paper should explain how you determined the increased salary.
· Your paper should address how your increased salary might impact your mortgage and 401k values.
Project Checklist:
· Explanation of career choice and the salary for this career.
· Comparison of your expected salary vs. a hs graduate.
· Comparison of house you could afford with expected salary vs. hs grad.
· Explanation of how house value was determined.
· Reflection on the housing costs and actual house values.
· Comparison of 401k value you would expect vs. hs grad.
· Explanation of how the 401k value is determined.
· Reflect on the balance of your 401k; will this amount support you in retirement?
· Comparison of length of time you and the hs grad will be able to live on the 401k.
· Explanation of how the length of retirement is determined.
· Comparison of starting salary to salary after 5 years of raises.
· Explanation of how increased salary is determined.
· Discussion of how the increased salary might affect mortgage and 401k values. Including specific quantities.
· Paper should be elegant and coherent with a logical organization.
· Paper should be free of grammatical and mechanical errors.
· Paper must contain some relative change statements.
· Paper should be submitted via Blackboard on time.
In addition to addressing the statements above, your project should:
· Contain your name, course name and project name.
· Be well organized and easy to follow.
· The paper should be in paragraph form (not just bulleted answers!).
· Be clear to by someone who is not familiar with the project.
· Provide support for your statements e.g. explain how values were found.
· Give specific values (i. e. quantify statements).
· Use appropriate representations (tables, color, formatting) that helps the reader understand the project.
· Contain a variety of comparison statements, including the use of relative change sentences.
These instructions cover the MINIMUM expectations of this project. Students are encouraged to make additions beyond these items.
Assignment 1: Training and Development in Small Businesses
Due Week 4 and worth 240 points
Select a small business with which you are familiar. Imagine that you have been called into that business to provide a consultation on training. Create a comprehensive training proposal for the business.
Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you:
1. Analyze key elements of training and development geared toward improving the performance of the specific small business for which you are consulting.
2. Predict three to five (3-5) potential challenges that the managers or owners of the business could face in addressing organizational performance.
3. Justify the effects of detecting organizational gaps in small business, providing examples to explain the rationale.
4. Propose a competitive training strategy that will improve the position of the business in the market. The strategy should include, at a minimum, an agenda of training activities, rationale for instructional strategies used, and the return on investment (ROI) that will be gained from the strategy you have developed.
5. Use at least three (3) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as academic resources
6. Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
a. Typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
b. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
c. Include a reference page. Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
· Analyze concepts, meanings, and trends in training.
· Justify the importance of aligning training with organizational strategy.
· Evaluate theories associated with learning, motivation, and employee performance.
· Use technology and information resources to research issues in training and development.
· Write clearly and concisely about training and development using proper writing mechanics.

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