Leroy needs $$120,000$ in $18$ years for his child's college education. He has just received a check for selling his company's stock and wants to know how much of it he should invest now in a conservative investment that pays $7\%$ annually in order to have the amount that he will need in $18$ years. The unknown quantity in this scenario is $\_\_\_\_.$

Group of answer choices

A future value

A present value

A payment percentage

An interest rate or a discount rate