My guess is C) - 2005

After 1 year in 1987, her "rule of 70" total is - 33+1=34. For each year add 2 to the "rule of 70" total.

In 2005, you get 70.

ttv wrote:A certain company retirement plan has a "rule of 70" provision that allows an employee to retire when the employee's age plus years of employment with the company total at least 70. In what year could a female employee hired in 1986 on her 32nd birthday first be eligible to retire under the provision?

(A) 2003
(B) 2004
(C) 2005
(D) 2006
(E) 2007




-thanx

solaris wrote:My guess is C) - 2005

After 1 year in 1987, her "rule of 70" total is - 33+1=34. For each year add 2 to the "rule of 70" total.

In 2005, you get 70.

ttv wrote:A certain company retirement plan has a "rule of 70" provision that allows an employee to retire when the employee's age plus years of employment with the company total at least 70. In what year could a female employee hired in 1986 on her 32nd birthday first be eligible to retire under the provision?

(A) 2003
(B) 2004
(C) 2005
(D) 2006
(E) 2007




-thanx

yeah ur answer is right.

This can be written as e+t = 70, where e is employees age, and t is time with company.

For the employee hired in 1986, age 32, we know the following:
- in 1987, she will have spent 1 year with the company, and will be 32+1 years of age.
So to get the age for her retirement, the e+t=70 equation from above, can be rewritten as:
(e+t)+t = 70, where (e+t) where e is the orginal age, and t is the number of years with the company.

so, (e+t)+t = 70, can be simplified to read:
e+2t=70
We know e = 32, so we can write:
32+2t=70
2t=38
t=19

So she would have had to spend 19 years with the company to get her retirement ... 1985+19 = 2005.

Answer is C.

The above are good explanations, we can also use common sense.

Every year you get a year older and gain 1 year of work experience, so every year you get 2 years closer to your goal of 70.

If she's 32 to start, she's 38 away from her goal.

38 at 2 per year = 19 more years, so 1986 + 19 = 2005

Stuart Kovinsky wrote:The above are good explanations, we can also use common sense.

Every year you get a year older and gain 1 year of work experience, so every year you get 2 years closer to your goal of 70.

If she's 32 to start, she's 38 away from her goal.

38 at 2 per year = 19 more years, so 1986 + 19 = 2005

I suppose when you are deep into your studies for the GMAT, and learning all the concepts ... it is a bit difficult sometimes to step back and look at the problem from a common sense angle, as you are keen to apply the concepts learnt.
Good point though !
I suppose when answering practice question, we need to review the answers and think about other ways in which we could have answered the question ... especially techniques which help us get the answer quicker !