For years, Jake has practiced the “buy now, pay later ” philosophy of money management. For example, he purchased a car 3 years ago with a 6-year (72 month) loan at 7% per year interest. He has...

For years, Jake has practiced the “buy now, pay

later ” philosophy of money management. For example,

he purchased a car 3 years ago with a 6-year

(72 month) loan at 7% per year interest. He has

refinanced the loan each year at a higher interest

rate; 7.5% last year and 8.5% this year. With a serious

recession anticipated in his line of work, he

was told yesterday by his boss that his salary would be cut by 25% for the next 2 to 4 years. When Jake

tried to refinance his car loan yet once again, the

bank loan officer said that due to his multiple loan

applications, his credit rating had been lowered

significantly and that his current loan must be paid

off in the next 6 months to recover his credit rating

in the future. Provide Jake with some examples of

what he could do to get his finances and credit rating

in better order.