1) Jason has borrowed a sum of $200,000 for his study planning at 12% simple interest per year from his friend at the beginning of a year. The loan has to be repaid by three payments of $20,000, $50000 and $X at the end of May, June and October of the same year respectively. What is the value of $X?

2) Suppose there is an investment plan for a lump sum of money for 5 years. Suppose plan A offers a monthly interest rate of 4% compounded monthly while plan B offers another plan with a quarterly interest rate of 6% compounded quarterly. Without calculating the accumulated amount, which plan should be adopted?