Question 916846
ben started investing when he reached 21 and he stopped investing when he reached 65.
larry started investing when he was 26 and he stopped investing when he reached 65.


since they were both the same age, then they stopped at the same time.


ben was investing for 44 years and larry was investing for 39 years.


i solved this using an online calculator at:


<a href = "http://www.arachnoid.com/lutusp/finance.html" target = "_blank">http://www.arachnoid.com/lutusp/finance.html</a>


you first have to determine what the future value of the payments that ben made is.


i entered a present value of 0 and a future value of 0 and a payment of $200 and an interest rate of .291667 (3.5 / 12 = .291667) and a number of time periods of 528 (44 * 12 = 528) and i then selected fv and the calculator told me that the future value of the investment was $250,750.31.


i then changed the number of time periods to 468 (39 * 12 = 468) and then selected pmt and the calculator told me that the payment amount for the investment was $251.32


the following pictures show you what the calculator inputs and outputs look like.


<img src = "http://theo.x10hosting.com/2014/102504.jpg" alt="$$$" </>


<img src = "http://theo.x10hosting.com/2014/102505.jpg" alt="$$$" </>


the folowing pictures show you what the monthly cash flows look like.
the first picture is when ben starts investing.
the second picture is when larry starts investing.
the third picture is when ben and larry stop investing.


<img src = "http://theo.x10hosting.com/2014/102516.jpg" alt="$$$" </>


<img src = "http://theo.x10hosting.com/2014/102517.jpg" alt="$$$" </>


<img src = "http://theo.x10hosting.com/2014/102518.jpg" alt="$$$" </>