Pricing Your Passions

Janet is a 55-year-old heart surgeon earning $250,000 a year, and she is burned out working every day. Her husband Jack is also 55, but he spends his days “birding” and has only a modest earnings history. Their 16-year-old son will head off to college to study ornithology in three years. Janet can’t take the work load much longer and plans to retire at age 60.

The $787 billion stimulus bill that President Barack Obama signed into law in February 2009 includes an $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit. This is an expansion of a 2008 incentive that was essentially an interest-free loan.

Every day is tough: John manages the control tower at O’Hare International in Chicago. Prior to 2005, O’Hare laid claim to being the world’s busiest airport. (Today, Atlanta’s Hartsfield airport holds that title.) The stress is enormous. But it instantly vanishes when John’s pursues his passion—fly fishing on the Fox River, which is just down the road from his home.

ESPlanner can be used to help make all kinds of lifestyle choices. Consider the following.

Chris and Alicia have just moved to Lawrence, Kansas, a university town where home prices are relatively sane. Chris and Alicia are both thirty, have two young children, and earn $50,000 each. They also contribute 3 percent of their earnings to a 401(k) and receive an employer match.