Final answer:
Neil paid a penalty of $10 for early withdrawal.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the penalty that Neil paid for cashing out his CD early, we need to calculate the simple interest for 3 months.
The formula for simple interest is: Interest = Principal x Rate x Time
Given that Neil had $2,000 in his CD account, an annual interest rate of 2%, and he withdrew it early after 3 months, we can plug in the values to find the penalty.
Interest = $2,000 x 0.02 x (3/12)
= $10
Therefore, Neil paid a penalty of $10 for early withdrawal.