Question: After graduating from college, you have a student loan that must be paid off. Your lender gives you two choices:
(a) pay a fixed amount of $3000 each year (starting a year from now) for 10 years, or
(b) pay escalating amounts that start $2400 (a year from now) and increase by 3% each year for 12 years. Assuming a discount rate of 5%, which has a lower present value?