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Rick's father is planning to open a savings account to pay for Rick's college education. He has found a bank that will pay 8 percent interest compounded daily. How much will he need to deposit initially so that in 16 years the balance will be $49,000? Round your answer to the nearest cent.

1 Answer

7 votes

Final answer:

Rick's father needs to deposit initially approximately $12,420.45 into a savings account that offers 8% interest compounded daily for 16 years to accumulate $49,000.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine how much Rick's father should deposit initially into a savings account that offers 8 percent interest compounded daily to reach $49,000 in 16 years, we use the formula for compound interest:

A = P(1 + r/n)nt

Where:

  • A is the future value of the investment/loan, including interest,
  • P is the principal investment amount (the initial deposit),
  • r is the annual interest rate (decimal),
  • n is the number of times that interest is compounded per year, and
  • t is the number of years the money is invested or borrowed.

In this case, A is $49,000, r is 0.08 (8 percent), n is 365 (since the interest is compounded daily), and t is 16 years.

Now solving for P:

49000 = P(1 + 0.08/365)365*16

Let's first calculate the compound factor:

(1 + 0.08/365)365*16

After calculating the compound factor, we can rearrange the formula to solve for P:

P = 49000 / (1 + 0.08/365)365*16

Calculating this will give us the amount Rick's father needs to deposit.

Using a calculator:

P = 49000 / 3.9463

P ≈ $12420.45

Therefore, Rick's father needs to deposit approximately $12,420.45 initially to reach a balance of $49,000 in 16 years, assuming the interest is compounded daily at a rate of 8%.

User Austin France
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