You contribute $10,000 per year for four years to a mutual fund. Then you stop contributions but leave the funds in the account for an additional 21 years. The fund has a 2% front-end load and an expense ratio (think management fees) of 0.16%* (which for convenience we will assume will be assessed at the end of each year). You expect the assets in the fund to return 9% (before accounting for any fees and expenses).

a. How much will you have in the account at the end of the period described?

b. If inflation averages 2.5% per year over that time frame, how much is that ending balance worth in todays dollars?