Jack and Meg are a married couple in their late 20s and are looking for strategies to pay down their debt faster. See the below table for a breakdown of their outstanding debt.

Debt Balance Interest Rate Minimum Payment Student Loans $13,350 4.75% $152.00 Car Loan $4,620 6.5% $220.00 Credit Card Debt $8,211 18.5% $30.00

Jack was recently promoted at his company, so the couple finally has a bit of extra income that they can use to help pay down their debt faster. Jack and Meg decide that they would like to pay $1,000 per month towards their debt.

1. After making the minimum payments, how much extra money does the couple have to put towards debt payments each month?

2. Under which method would the couple pay off their debts faster, using the Debt Snowball or Debt Avalanche method? 3. Jack and Meg decide that they want to use the Debt Avalanche method to pay off their debt. Which debt balance should they apply this extra money towards each month? 4. After several months, they struggle to see much improvement in their debts, so they decide to switch to the Debt Snowball method. What is one advantage that the Debt Snowball method has over the Debt Avalanche method? 5. Using the Debt Snowball method, which debt balance will receive the extra payment per month? 6. After all of their debt is paid off completely, how can the couple continue using their credit card but avoid paying interest? 7. Jacks company recently announced that they would be offering a 401k plan to their employees with a dollar-for-dollar company match up to 4% of their salaries. Jack currently makes $100,000 per year. What is the minimum amount in dollars that Jack would have to contribute to the 401k in order to max out the companys match? 8. In the beginning of the year, Jack invested $1,000 into a stock index fund. At the end of the year, the value of the investment was worth $1,160. He also received a dividend payment of $20 during the year. As a percentage, what was the total return on this investment?