¶ … pay back period" is the length of time that is required to cover the cost of an investment. I would use this in order to make a good financial decision. The calculation that I would do is as follows:

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For instance, if a project costs $100,000 and is expected to return $20,000 annually, the payback period will be $100,000 / $20,000, or, in other words, $20 per 5 years.

The better investment is the one that has the shorter pay back period.(Investopeida)

Another tool that I would use to measure the time value of money to assess long-term projects is Net present value (NPV). Businesses use it to measure the value of a time series of cash flows both incoming and outgoing. For instance, when all types of cash flows are incoming (such as bonds or coupons), and the only cash outflow is the purchase price, the NPV is the present value of future cash flows minus the purchase price (which has its own present value).

NPV measures the amount of cashflow once financing charges are met.

I would calculate NPV by taking the input of a series of cash flows as well as considering a discount rate or curve, and the output is the price.

Advantages and disadvantages of debt financing

Some people consider debt financing in order to start a business. This will help them avoid investors so that they can run and own the business themselves making decisions independently of others who have vested interest in business.

The advantages of debt financing are the following:

Owner can make decisions independently of others and is responsible for own business. He alone keeps profits

The interest that business owner pays on loan is tax-deductible which means that his tax liability is lowered every year. His interest is usually based on the prime interest rate.

He does not need to share profits with lender of money. All that is required is that he repays loans in timely manner.

Business owner may be applicable for Small Business Administration loan. This...

Preciously when the business needs funds for start-up costs, he has to regularly pay back loans.
if repayment is not made in timely fashion, his credit report rating suffers and he may find it more difficult in future to gain loans.

The stress to repay loans in timely fashion may impact various areas of his life (such as family and social) aside from business.

A new business may be required by commercial banks to also pledge personal assets. Bankruptcy of business invites loss of personal assets.(About.com )

An organization would usually choose to issue stocks rather than bonds to generate funds. This is because factors of production (i.e. bonds) such as land and capital are usually scarce and expensive. Were the company to use bonds, they would therefore have far less resources at hand to generate funds.

Stocks o the other hand are a security that represent a potential or current investor's part in benefiting from the profits of a business. It represents a person's share of ownership in a company as well as a claim on the company's assets and revenues.( ehow.com )

how financial returns are related to risk

It is impossible to realize a return on any investment without taking a certain amount of risk. This means that the return on the investment may fluctuate, or may ultimately not return profit. One may think that keeping one's money in savings is safer, but then one constrains oneself from possibly receiving future reward.

The concept of beta and how it is used.

Beta is a measure of the risk of a stock and how it relates to the market as a whole. In other words, it is a guideline of the stock's value in relation to the market based on the assessed data of the stock and the market. A beta of 1 for instance means that the stock is less volatile than the market, whilst a beta that exceeds 1 means that the stock is more volatile than the market. The beta may have periods of volatility that are…