The desired accumulated amount is $28,500 after 5 years invested in an account with 3% interest compounded annually.

Question

 Use the present value formula to determine the amount to be invested now, or the present value needed.

Answer 1

Let A be the amount after n years of annual compounding at rate r of initial principal P.

A=P(1+r)ⁿ.  Solving this for P we have

P=A/(1+r)ⁿ.  The particular numbers for our case are

P=28,500/1.03⁵=28500/1.159274074=24584.35035

Feel free to round as needed.