An employee's compensation includes an annuity with 5 annual payments that pays $60,000 at retirement, with each subsequent payment growing by 6%. The firms policy is to pre-fund such annuities one year before retirement. At an interest rate of 7%, how much would the firm need to invest?

Equivalent problem structure (in neutral time-value-of-money terms): What is the present value of a series of payments received each year for 5 years, starting with $60,000 paid one year from now and the payment growing in each subsequent year by 6%? Assume a discount rate of 7%.