VIC Personal Accountant

Peter Mendall, Monmouth, ME

Much ado is made about IRA accounts these days. Can you really be a millionaire, or is this a fantasy even less real than an eight-color printer for your home computer? For unexpanded or expanded VICs.

Here is a program with a four-option menu which demonstrates the growth power of an exponential function. This is especially true if it is non-taxed money!

Remember that IRA money will be taxed sometime and carries a penalty for early withdrawal. However, a 10% one-time "linear" deduction can be offset by an investment compounded exponentially.

This program will provide you with instantaneous delight at the thought of investing ten dollars out of your weekly pay check for 40 years (if you are 25 or younger).

Option one gives you the future value of your choice of payment, interest rate, and payment per year. Option two gives you the payment needed for your choice of future value. The third option prints a table showing how quickly you can multiply your money by factors of two through ten given your interest rate and the frequency it is compounded. The fourth option shows what happens to a one-time investment under compounded interest.