Trisha Long wants to buy a boat in five years. She estimates the boat will cost $15,000 at that time. What must Trisha deposit today in an account earning 5% annually to have enough to buy the boat in five years?
\(\bf \qquad \textit{Compound Interest Earned Amount}
\\\\
A=P\left(1+\frac{r}{n}\right)^{nt}
\qquad
\begin{cases}
A=\textit{compounded amount}\to &15000\\
P=\textit{original amount deposited}\\
r=rate\to 5\%\to \frac{5}{100}\to &0.05\\
n=
\begin{array}{llll}
\textit{times it compounds per year}\\
\textit{annually means, once}
\end{array}\to &1\\
t=years\to &5
\end{cases}\)
solve for "P", to see how much Principal she should deposit today
We use the formula for compound growth to figure this problem out. Formula is:
\(P=P_{0}(1+\frac{r}{n})^{nt}\)
Where,
Given P=15,000, r=5%=0.05 (in decimal), n=1 (since annual compounding), and t=5 years, we can solve:
\(15000=P_{0}(1+\frac{0.05}{1} )^{(1)(5)}\\15000=P_{0}(1+0.05)^{5}\\P_{0}=\frac{15000}{(1+0.05)^{5}}\\P_{0}=\frac{15000}{1.05^{5}}\\P_{0}=11,752.89\)
So, Trisha Long needs to deposit $11,752.89 today in the account.
ANSWER: $11,752.89