Youve just graduated, and are expecting to have around $20,000/year in disposable income (that is, money not committed to essentials such as food, clothing, rent, utilities, and tuitionloan payments) when you graduate. You ask a bank for a $100,000 loan that youre offering to pay back in five years. The loan officer observes that interest rates are expected to average around 7% over that five-year period and gives you a flat no. Why? (What is that $20,000/ yr worth in todays dollars? Is it worth as much as the $100,000 youre asking to borrow today?)