Question: For Ned Masterson, the last few years have been a financial nightmare. It all started when he lost his job. Because he had no income, he began using his credit cards to obtain the cash needed to pay everyday living expenses. Finally, after an exhaustive job search, he has a new job that pays $42,000 a year. While his take-home pay is $2,450 a month, he must now establish an emergency fund, pay off his $6,200 credit card debt, and start saving the money needed to begin an investment program.
a. If monthly expenses are $1,750, how much money should Ned save for an emergency fund?
b. Ned has decided that he will save $2,000 a year for the next five years in order to establish a long-term investment program. If his savings and investments earn 4 percent each year, how much money will he have at the end of five years? (Use the table in this chapter's "Figure It Out!" box to answer this question.)