Find the interest rate needed for the sinking fund to reach the required amount. Assume that the compounding period is the same as the payment period. $\$ 17,456$ to be accumulated in 3 years; quarterly payments of $\$ 1350$. The interest rate needed is approximately $\%$. (Type an integer or decimal rounded to two decimal places as needed.)

Step 1 ：We are given that the future value of the investment (A) is $17,456, the payment made each period (PMT) is $1350, the number of times that interest is compounded per year (n) is 4 (quarterly payments), and the number of years the money is invested for (t) is 3 years.

Step 2 ：We need to find the annual interest rate (r). We can rearrange the sinking fund formula to solve for r: \(r = n * [(A / PMT + 1)^(1/nt) - 1]\)

Step 3 ：Substituting the given values into the formula, we get \(r = 4 * [(17456 / 1350 + 1)^(1/(4*3)) - 1]\)

Step 4 ：Solving the equation, we find that \(r = 0.9818450235017586\)

Step 5 ：Converting this to a percentage, we get \(r = 98.18450235017586\%\)

Step 6 ：Final Answer: The interest rate needed is approximately \(\boxed{98.18\%}\)