My question is: Jason is trying to figure out whether he can afford a new car. The car he wants costs $32,000, and he can make a down payment of $8,000. He'll have to get a loan for the rest of the amount and make 48 equal monthly payments on it. Each month, he also has to pay interest equal to 5% of that month's payment. How much will Jason's monthly payments be? Your thoughts:
First figure out how much the loan will be: $32,000 - $8,000 = $24,000. Then divide the loan amount by the number of payments to find the monthly payment before interest: $24,000 / 48 months = $500 / month. Then multiply the loan amount by 5% to find out how much the interest is: $500 / month * .05 = $25 / month. Then add the interest to the payment amount to find the total monthly payment: $500 / month + $25 / month = $525 / month. The final answer: 525.