Your sister just obtained (on January 31, 2021) a thirty-year, $280,000 mortgage at a 3.3% APR (Annual Percentage Rate). She wants your help in determining the following amounts relating to this mortgage:

The lender has an option that allows semimonthly payments. Under this option, the lender would charge a 3% APR, but compound it twenty-four times a year. Each payment would be one-half of the monthly payment and would be electronically taken from the borrowers checking account and applied to the mortgage on the fifteenth and last day of each month.

Determine:

a. The amount of interest she can deduct on her 2021 income tax return (February through December -- twenty-two payments would be made); and

b. How long it would take to pay the mortgage off completely with semimonthly payments.