Practice-Exam

pdf

School

University of Johannesburg *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

FINMARKET

Subject

Finance

Date

May 24, 2024

Type

pdf

Pages

Uploaded by MasterWillpower14259

1 Personal Finance Practice Final Exam Name: ________________________________________________ • You have 2.5 hours for the exam. • Write your answers in the space provided. • The exam is divided into 3 parts. In Part I, there are multiple choice questions. In Part II, there are short-answer questions. In Part III, there are long questions asking for multiple calculations. • Please read ALL of the information provided in the questions. • You are allowed 2 pages (one sided, regular size) of notes. Otherwise this is a closed-book exam. Accessing extra information, for example via your iPhone or iPad, or asking classmates is considered cheating. • Some scrap pages are provided at the end of the exam. The scrap pages will not be graded. • Good luck!

2 Section I. Multiple Choice Please circle the correct answer for each of the following questions. Note that there is only one correct answer for each question. Each question is worth 2 points. 1. Which of the following statements is true about the balance of a single deposit in an interest earning savings account? (Only one is true.) A) The balance will not grow exponentially because multiple deposits are required to achieve exponential growth. B) The balance will grow exponentially, but only if the interest rate increases so that the dollar amount of interest earned increases. C) The balance will grow exponentially, but only if the interest rate is high enough. D) If the balance doubles after 15 years, it will more than triple after 30 years because of compound interest. 2. Which of the following about Perkins loans is false ? (Only one is false) A) No interest accrues on the loan while a student is in school, and repayment does not begin immediately after a student graduates, but following a grace period after graduation. B) The effect of subsidized interest and the grace period is that the implicit interest rate on the loan decreases below the stated APR. C) If a Perkins loan did not have a grace period, but no interest accrued and no payments were due while the student is in school, the implicit rate on the loan would be equal to the stated APR. D) If interest on a Perkins loan did accrue while the student is in school and throughout the grace period, but no payments were required while the student is in school or through the 9-month the grace period, the implicit interest rate on the loan would be equal to the stated APR.

3 3. Which of the following is true of the amortization of an installment loan with monthly payments? (Only one is true.) A) The monthly payment increases over time. B) The principal portion of the monthly payment decreases over time. C) The interest portion of the monthly payment increases over time. D) The interest portion of the monthly payment decreases over time. 4. Which of the following statements about mortgage refinancing is true ? (Only one is true.) A) Refinancing is always a bad idea because of the large closing costs. B) If the interest rate has dropped by at least 0.25%, refinancing is always a good deal because the lower future monthly payments will make up for all other costs. C) With all other things being equal, refinancing a mortgage is more likely to be a good deal if the borrower still has many years left on the mortgage and plans to stay in the home for a long time after refinancing. D) Refinancing is only a good deal if the borrower did not take any mortgage points on the original mortgage but takes at least two points during the refinance. 5. Which of the following statements is true ? (Only one is true.) A) It’s only a good idea to buy a stock if you believe you will be able to sell it to somebody else at a higher price at a later date. B) Generally, a stock issued by a company is safer than a bond because stockowners may achieve very high returns if the company performs well, while bondholders’ returns are limited by the coupon rate of the bond. C) Mutual funds provide superior diversification benefits than index funds because, in the U.S., index funds are legally required to only invest in the stocks of the largest 100 companies. D) Some studies find that mutual fund managers are not able to outperform the market regularly after considering transaction costs. This evidence that supports the efficient market hypothesis.

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

4 6. Which of the following statements about Social Security is true ? (Only one is true) A) Social Security is necessarily a bad deal because the return implied by Social Security is usually lower than the historical return on stocks. B) Collecting Social Security early is never a good idea because the drop in annual benefits from collecting early outweighs the ability to collect a few extra years’ worth of benefits. C) With all else being equal, Social Security benefits retirees with above-average life expectancies more than retirees with average life expectancies. D) Social Security is the best asset for retirees because it is not subject to financial risk, longevity risk, inflation risk, or any other risk. 7. Which of the following statements is false? (Only one is false) A) A retiree may die before using all of his or her retirement funds. This is an example of longevity risk . B) Because stock prices fluctuate often, an investor may be forced to sell his or her stock at a price lower than that at which it was purchased. This is an example of financial risk . C) Corporations below investment grade have a higher risk of defaulting on their debt obligations than investment grade corporations. An investor that buys the bond of such a company may not receive the contractual payments promised by the bond in the event of such a default. This is an example of default risk . D) If the cost of living increases faster than expected, a retiree may be unable to purchase as much as he or she planned during retirement. This is an example of inflation risk .

5 8. Which of the following statements is false ? (Only one is false.) A) For a given change in interest rates, duration provides a better approximation for the change in a bond’s price for a long-term bond than for a short-term bond. B) The duration of a bond may be equal to its maturity. C) For a given change in interest rates, the new price of a bond estimated using duration will always underestimate the actual new price of the bond (calculated by taking the present value of the cash flows). D) The price of a longer-term bond is more sensitive to interest rate changes. 9. Which of the following statements is true ? (Only one is true.) A) An investor may reduce the standard deviation of the returns on his or her portfolio by buying several shares of the same company’s stock. B) An investor may completely eliminate financial risk in a U.S. stock portfolio by diversifying across a sufficient number of stocks. C) Risk diversification is only effective if two assets are positively correlated (i.e. have a correlation coefficient of greater than zero). D) If two asset classes are uncorrelated, the standard deviation of returns on a portfolio weighted equally between these two assets will be less than it would be if the two assets were perfectly, positively correlated. 10. Which of the following statements is false ? (Only one is false.) A) With all else equal, an immediate life annuity is less expensive than a deferred life annuity because of the time value of money. B) A life annuity can be purchased to insure against longevity risk. C) A variable annuity indexed to the performance of the stock market is subject to financial risk, but a fixed annuity is not. D) The implied return received on a fixed life annuity depends on how long the annuitant (the purchaser of the annuity) lives.

6 Section II. Short Answer Please write your answers to the following questions in the spaces provided. Please show your work if you wish to receive partial credit. Each question is worth 3 points. 11. A worker is saving for a down payment on a house. If the down payment will be $40,000 and she can earn 5% interest on her savings, how much must she set aside today to make the down payment in 10 years? Answer: ______________ 12. Max borrows $400 for two weeks from a local payday lender. His fee for borrowing the $400 for two weeks is $56, which is due in two weeks along with the original $400. What is the APR on this payday loan? Answer: ______________

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

7 13. Amy recently graduated from college and has $12,000 in ten-year student loans carrying a 6% APR. If she makes monthly payments of $200, how long will it take her to pay down her balance? Answer: ______________ 14. A bond issued by Acme Inc. that pays quarterly coupons at a rate of 10% for the next five years is currently selling at $1,100 per $1,000 par. Calculate the yield-to- maturity of this issue. Answer: ______________

8 15. Last year, Acme Inc. paid dividends of $15 per share. Value the company using a discount rate of 18% assuming that dividends grow by 3% per year. Answer: ______________ 16. A man is saving for his daughter’s college education. He expects to earn an average return of 6% on his investment account and will need $80,000 in 18 years. He plans to meet this goal by setting aside the same amount at the beginning of each year for the next 18 years. What amount must he set aside each year to meet this commitment? Answer: ______________

9 17. This year, Rob spent $1,000 on a new suit. If inflation is 2.5% per year, how much will it cost him to purchase the same suit in ten years? (Assume that the price change of the suit is in line with inflation.) Answer: ______________ 18. Today, Ryan takes out a 30-year, $240,000 mortgage with an APR of 6%. If inflation is 2% over the term of the mortgage, what will be the approximate real interest rate Ryan pays on the mortgage? Answer: ______________

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

10 19. Amy and Joe both invest $6,000 in the stock market. Amy invests passively and holds onto her stocks for 30 years. Joe actively trades, turning over his portfolio yearly. Consequently, Amy is subjected to a deferred long-term capital gains tax of 15%, while Joe is subject to an annual short-term capital gains tax at his marginal income tax rate, which is 25%. If both earn an annual return of 7% on their investment, how much more will money will Amy have in 30 years, after tax, compared to Joe? Answer: ______________ 20. Michael invests $40,000 in a start-up, $20,000 of which is borrowed at an interest rate of 10%. If the project returns 14%, what is Michael’s return on equity? Answer: ______________

11 Section III. Long Answer Please write your answers to the following questions in the spaces provided. Please show your work if you wish to receive partial credit. Each question is worth 5 points. 21. Jack is considering opening a new restaurant. To do so would require an investment of $120,000 today. He estimates that the restaurant would generate profits of about $35,000 a year for the next six years. For the following questions, assume all cash flows occur at the end of each year. (a) Calculate the NPV of opening the restaurant using a discount rate of 18%. NPV: ___________ (b) Calculate the IRR of opening the restaurant. IRR: __________ (c) Assuming Jack requires a return of 20%, should he invest in the restaurant? Yes/No (circle one)

12 22. Janice has a $2,000 balance on a credit card with a 18% APR, on which she usually just makes the minimum monthly payment of $30. For the following questions, assume no additional borrowing. (a) If Janice doubles the minimum monthly payment and makes payments of $60 per month, how long it take for Janice to pay off her credit card? Months to pay off credit card: _____________ (b) If Janice wants to completely pay off her credit card in two years, how much should her monthly payment be each month? Monthly payment: _____________ (c) Instead, if Janice continues to make the minimum monthly payment of $30 for the next two years, will her balance be less than the $2,000 balance she started with? Yes/No

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

13 23. Ann and Andy are looking for a new home and find a $300,000 house that they like. Their bank offers them a 30-year mortgage at an 8% APR with a 20% down payment and no points. But if Ann and Andy are willing to pay two points, their bank will drop the APR on the mortgage to 7.5% points. They expect they will stay in the home for at least six years. (a) If they take the points, what will the outstanding balance on their mortgage after six years? Balance: ________________ (b) Assuming they take the points and stay in the home for six years, calculate the implicit APR on the mortgage with two points? Implicit APR: _________________ (c) Should they take the points? Yes/No (circle one)

14 24. Caitlin is helping her parents plan for retirement. Her mother and father plan to retire in 25 years at age 65, but have only accumulated $100,000 of savings. The couple can earn an interest rate of 6% on their investment account while saving for retirement, but plan to move funds into a safer mix of assets that will yield 3% when they reach retirement. The couple wishes save enough to maintain withdrawals of $40,000 per year for 40 years after they retire. For the following questions, assume zero inflation and that all cash flows occur at the end of the year. (a) How much must Caitlin’s parents set aside each year until retirement to meet their goal? Annual contribution: ______________ (b) If Caitlin’s parents make the annual contributions found in part (a) and realize their assumed return of 6%, how much will they have in their retirement account at retirement? Balance at retirement: _______________

15 (c) Statistically, Caitlin’s parents don’t expect to live for 40 years after retirement, but they might. By saving enough to last them 40 years in retirement, Caitlin’s parents are insuring themselves against what risk? Risk: ________________________

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version