ProximusBlackfin

Deleted.

It depends on your income and expenses, but when I graduated college at $32,500/year, with a small family, there wasn't enough money to put 20% away. Doing so would give you $26,000 after pre-tax savings.. less ~10% taxes (fed/state/fica) leaves you with $23,400 to live on, assuming you don't have to pay for health insurance because you're still on your parents plan. That gives you $1,950/month.

This is whats left to pay the mortgage (or rent), utilities, car notes, car insurance, cell phone, gas, and groceries, unexpected expenses, plus any other debt payments you might have (student loans, credit cards).

100% not true.

The bank would be charging off the remaining portion of the loan and you can be assured an attorney will be retained to collect on that remaining $10,000. Oh, and since it's a collection, it will show up on your credit bureau, nuking your credit score.

My old boss has a history/biology degree and he is a CFA.

You could benefit from participating in a finance internship until then. You could gain some valuable work experience in the mean-time and there could be opportunity to stay on part-time during your graduate career. Just a thought!

Bankers don't make the kind of money you all think we do. My AGI is low enough where my tax liability is cancelled out by the tax credits I'm eligible for.

If by "debt management agency" you mean "Consumer Credit Counseling Service" tell her no go. These places can charge fees which do not get applied to the principal owed on the debt. Tell her to buy "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey and read it. It will be the best $20 she's ever spent and will save her money in the long run.

I've also heard (but not seen it myself) that consumer credit counseling services can throw up a red flag to future lenders.

As mentioned before in this thread, this is a risky deal for the acquiring bank. Most often people go right back out and run up the credit card debt. $10K unsecured doesn't seem like much but for your average income individual it could take a while to pay that out without additional income. Tell her to read up on the "Snowball Method" for getting rid of credit card debt. It's one of Dave Ramsey's debt-free programs and it's what I advise my customers to do.

When people come to me to consolidate debt I ask they close the accounts we are paying off and they seek my guidance before opening any new credit facilities in the future. Sometimes they listen.. sometimes they don't.