The Thompsons Are Just Starting Out

The Thompsons are just starting out. Mr. Thompson relied heavily on his credit cards to get through his last year of graduate school and to pay for childcare for their 2-year-old daughter. Mrs. Thompson worked full-time and paid the mortgage and the monthly bills. Their style of managing their economic situation is to take it as it comes. The Thompsons are ______.

A) in Phase I of the economic life cycle and will most likely experience higher levels of economic stress because they don't have plans to save
B) in Phase II of the economic life cycle and will most likely have a secure financial future
C) in Phase III of the economic life cycle and are ready to begin saving for retirement because they are at their peak earning years
D) are not in a phase of the economic life cycle yet because one of them is unemployed