To calculate the amount of money you need to invest now to have $5000 in 12 years at a rate of 9.6% compounded semiannually, you can use the compound interest formula. The formula is A = P(1 + r/n)^nt, where A is the future value, P is the present value, r is the interest rate, n is the number of times the interest is compounded per year, and t is the number of years. In this case, A = 5000, P = ?, r = 0.096, n = 2, and t = 12. Plugging these values in, we get P = 5000 / (1 + 0.096/2)^(2 * 12), which equals $2751.08. Therefore, you need to invest $2751.08 now to have $5000 in 12 years at a rate of 9.6% compounded semiannually.