"Timothy Clum...is in the 25 percent tax bracket and is considering the tax consequences of investing $2000 at the end of each year for 30 years." Assuming that the investment earns 8 percent annually, approximately how much will the account total if the growth in the investment remains sheltered from taxes?" For now, you can ignore Timothy's tax bracket and any tax liability. The question is simply asking you to figure out how big his investment account will be after 30 years of contributions.