Assuming this is for a class, what method are you required to use to do these? i.e. do you have charts to use, Excel, algebraic equations, or a financial calculator? Or does it matter? (If you have charts and are allowed to use them, that is the easiest method, assuming the numbers you get are on it because they are limited.)
I never use Excel for this so couldn't tell you about that, but both the charts and the equations will require some adjustments if it compounds more than once annually, because you have to do it by compounding periods. i.e. if something compounds quarterly, that's 4 times a year. So you have to divide the interest by 4 to get a per period rate. And then take the years and multiply by 4 to get total number of periods. i.e. 4 x 3 years would be 12 periods.
And financial calculators are different. On mine, N is the number of compounding periods, not years. (i.e. the adjustment above would be necessary, but the rate does not have to be adjusted.) And I don't have a CPT key, and I also have a P/Yr key I have to use. (I do not understand the above instructions where N is the number of
years, without a way to tell it how many times it compounds a year. Either N is number of
periods, or there's a missed step. Somehow I suspect N is number of periods, not years. But if it's compounding annually, years & periods are the same.)
If you want the equations, I just posted those to someone else the other day:
http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/account...ds-193231.html
There's also a bit more in-depth explanation of the rate/time adjustments if it compounds other than annually.
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