Kirk Van Houten, who has been married for $23$ years, would like to buy his wife an expensive diamond ring with a platinum setting on their $30-$year wedding anniversary. Assume that the cost of the ring will be $$12,000$ in $7$ years. Kirk currently has $$4,457$ to invest. What annual rate of return must Kirk earn on his investment to accumulate enough money to pay for the ring?

The annual rate of return Kirk must earn on his investment to accumulate enough money to pay for the ring is $\%.($Round to two decimal places.$)$