QUESTION $1$

You listened to your CMGT $120$ professor $($YAY$!)$ and upon graduating you meet with a financial planner to begin saving for retirement, because you know compounding is a very powerful wealth building tool. Your starting salary is $$55,000$ the year you get out of college $($year one$)$ and you expect to receive pay increases at a rate of $3\mathrm{.}5\%$ each year for the first $30$ years of your career, then maintain your salary until you retire. Your financial planner advised you to invest $12\%$ of your yearly salary into a retirement account to maintain a similar lifestyle in retirement. You expect to work for the next $40$ years. How much will you have in the account when you retire if your retirement account produces an average return of $8\%$ per year?