Chapter 6, Problem 5FPC

Cousins Discuss Their Debt Situations Melinda Dennis from Sewell, New Jersey, just graduated from college and is concerned about her student loan debts. While at her graduation party she got to talking with three of her cousins, Kyle, Mariah, and Hadrian, who have been out of school for several years and found they each have had somewhat different pattern with using credit and carrying debt. Kyle, who had taken a personal finance class, said he felt good about his credit management and mentioned he has a debt payments-to-disposable income ratio of 7 percent. None of the other three cousins even knew what such ratio was. Kyle offered to do the calculations for the other three cousins. After doing so, he found ratios of 20 percent for Melinda due to her student loan debt, 12 percent for Mariah due primarily to a car loan, and 16 percent for Hadrian due to both a car loan and credit card debt. The cousins are planning to get together next week and discuss what Kyle has found. What assessment and advice should Kyle give to his cousins?