Question

You are depositing $3,000 in a retirement account today and expect to earn an average return of 7.5 percent on this money. How much additional income will you earn if you leave the money invested for 45 years instead of just 40 years?

Answer 1

If we're expecting 7.5% of an increase of our $3,000 in 40 years, then we need to figure out how much of an increase we will get for the 5 plus years.

1.We're constantly dividing until we get the left side to 5 (years).

7.5% -- 40   (Half of 40 is 20, so let's divide by 2 on both sides)

3.75% -- 20 (Half of 20 is 10, so let's divide by 2 on both sides)

1.875% -- 10 (Half of 10 is 5, so let's divide 2 on both sides)

0.9375% -- 5 (We've reached our goal!)

2. Now we have to plug in.

$3,000 x 7.5 = 22,500 (Initial)

Our New Problem with 45 Years Total:

Answer: $3,000 x 8.4375 = $25,312.5

(I never completed a problem like this before, so I hope that this helps. Goodluck.)