Married couple, both 23 years old; Combined salaries: $100,000 a year; Contribution to 401K plan: 8% Total taxes (Federal/State/FICA: 30% Monthly rent: $1,700 Monthly debt payments: $970; All other monthly living expenses, incl. food, clothing, health ins, etc.: $2,000 You are 23 years old, and recently married. You work for the Federal government and earn a salary of $52,000 a year. Your spouse is also 23 years old, and earns a salary of $48,000 as a systems analyst for a large corporation. In the following discussion when I refer to you I am referring to you and your spouse. You have accumulated $500 in a savings account at the bank. You both agree that you should build up an emergency savings fund of at least $5,000 over the next five (5) years. You also agree to a goal of buying a house around the time you both turn 30 years old. Assume your first home will cost $300,000. Decide as a couple whether to save for a 10% or 20% down payment on the house over 7 years. Whether you decide on 10% or 20% for the down payment, remember to add the 2% for closing costs. After you make that decision, decide on an investment strategy and a monthly amount of savings. You may use any combinations of investments in accumulating your down payment - savings accounts, money market accounts, stocks, bonds, or any mutual funds, weighing risk and reward. Use a reasonable (verifiable) rate of return for investments in stocks or stock mutual funds; use a 2% rate of return for any investments other than stock. Given your monthly obligations as noted above for rent, debt payments, etc., can you afford the savings plan for (1) and (2) above? You should insert a table into your Word document supporting your calculations. You may adjust some of the above assumptions if you find you cannot reach your goals: you may reduce your 401K contribution, but not below 5%; you may increase the time frame for buying a house to a no more than 10 years