Maria wants to accumulate $36,000 in a fund with payments of $2,000 made at the end of every six months. The interest rate is 4.51% compounded semi-annually.

a. How many payments (rounded up to the next payment) will it take to accumulate this amount?

20 payments

14 payments

15 payments

16 payments

b. How long will it take to accumulate this amount?

9 years and 0 months

10 years and 2 months

11 years and 0 months

8 years and 0 months