Jared has decided that he wants to build enough retirement wealth that, if he invests at 8% per year (compounded monthly), will provide him with $3,500 of monthly income for 30 years. To date, he has saved nothing, but he still has 25 years until he retires. How much money does Jared need to contribute per month to reach his goal?

I have now answered 2 of these kind of questions for you.

Exactly where are you finding difficulties with these?
Do you know the 4 basic formulas we have to use for these ?

I don't even know where to start with this question

To find out how much Jared needs to contribute per month to reach his retirement goal, we can use the present value of a future cash flow formula. The present value (PV) represents the current value of future cash flows, considering the time value of money.

Let's break down the problem:

1. We know that Jared wants to generate $3,500 of monthly income for 30 years during retirement. This future cash flow is his desired future value (FV).

2. Jared plans to invest at an annual interest rate of 8% compounded monthly. We need to convert this interest rate to a monthly interest rate (r).

First, we calculate the monthly interest rate by dividing the annual interest rate by 12 (as there are 12 months in a year):
r = (8% / 12) = 0.08/12 = 0.00667 (approximately)

3. Jared has 25 years until retirement. We need to calculate the number of months (n):
n = 25 years * 12 months/year = 300 months

Now, we can use the present value formula to find out how much Jared needs to contribute per month:

PV = (FV / (1 + r)^n)

Substituting the values:
PV = ($3,500 / (1 + 0.00667)^300)

Now, let's calculate the answer:

PV = ($3,500 / (1.00667)^300)
= ($3,500 / 6.6707)
= $525.01 (approximately)

Therefore, Jared needs to contribute approximately $525.01 per month to reach his retirement goal of generating $3,500 of monthly income for 30 years, assuming an 8% annual interest rate compounded monthly.