Last visit was: 19 Nov 2025, 06:19 It is currently 19 Nov 2025, 06:19
Home
GMAT
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Rewards
Chat
My Profile
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
User avatar
VenoMfTw
User avatar
Joined: 14 Mar 2014
Last visit: 15 Aug 2019
Posts: 134
Own Kudos:
479
 [20]
Given Kudos: 124
GMAT 1: 710 Q50 V34
GMAT 1: 710 Q50 V34
Posts: 134
Kudos: 479
 [20]
Alex spends 30% of his income on his children’s education, 20% on Updated on: 03 Aug 2015, 00:45
Originally posted by VenoMfTw on 02 Aug 2015, 19:01.
Last edited by Bunuel on 03 Aug 2015, 00:45, edited 1 time in total.
Renamed the topic and edited the question.
3
Kudos
Add Kudos
17
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
00:00
Start Timer
Pause Timer
Resume Timer
Show Answer
Hide
Show
History
B
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

Difficulty:

95% (hard)

Question Stats:

39% (02:47) correct 61% (02:32) wrong based on 201 sessions

History

Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Alex spends 30% of his income on his children’s education, 20% on recreation and 10% on healthcare. The corresponding percentage for Susie are 40%, 25%, and 13%. Who spends more on children’s education?

(1) Alex spends more on recreation than Susie.
(2) Susie spends more on healthcare than Alex.
ShowHide Answer
Official Answer
B
User avatar
anceer
User avatar
Joined: 04 Aug 2013
Last visit: 18 Sep 2023
Posts: 77
Own Kudos:
1,213
 [2]
Given Kudos: 56
Location: India
Schools: McCombs '17
GMAT 1: 670 Q47 V35
GPA: 3
WE:Manufacturing and Production (Pharmaceuticals and Biotech)
Schools: McCombs '17
GMAT 1: 670 Q47 V35
Posts: 77
Kudos: 1,213
 [2]
Alex spends 30% of his income on his children’s education, 20% on 03 Aug 2015, 00:38
Kudos
Add Kudos
2
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
In simple approach we have to compare health care to health care i.e. 30% to 40%.
We have a reference of recreation 20% to 25%
and healthcare 10% to 13%.

From statement 1
A’s 20% > S’s 25%
So A’s 30% must be > S’s 37.5%
Whereas Susie spends 40%, we have an answer.

From statement 2
A’s 10% < S’s 13%
So A’s 30% must be < S’s 39%
So I think we can get an answer from statement 2

Finally both the answer from st 1 and st 2 contradicts each other.
CAN ANY ONE EXPLAIN WHAT IS WRONG IN THIS APPROACH
User avatar
ashokk138
User avatar
Joined: 20 Jul 2011
Last visit: 20 May 2025
Posts: 71
Own Kudos:
43
 [2]
Given Kudos: 18
GMAT 1: 660 Q49 V31
GMAT 1: 660 Q49 V31
Posts: 71
Kudos: 43
 [2]
Alex spends 30% of his income on his children’s education, 20% on 03 Aug 2015, 01:38
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
VenoMftw
Alex spends 30% of his income on his children’s education, 20% on recreation and 10% on healthcare. The corresponding percentage for Susie are 40%, 25%, and 13%. Who spends more on children’s education?

(1) Alex spends more on recreation than Susie.
(2) Susie spends more on healthcare than Alex.
Show more


Given Alex spends E 30%, R 20% and H 10% ; Susie spends E 40%, R 25% and H 13%.
What should be inferred is, we do not know that the actual value of Alex and Susie Income, hence depending on that value, the %spending may vary.
Let Alex income be A, and Susie income be S

St 1: Given Alex spends more on recreation than Susie.
i.e, 20% of A > 25% of S
Assume A = 200, S=100, then 40>25. Hence Alex spends more than Susie on Recreation.
Assume A = 125, S= 128, then 25<32, Hence Susie spends more than Alex on Recreation.

Contrasting results, Hence Not sufficient.

St 2: Susie spends more on healthcare than Alex.
i.e, 13% of S > 10% of A. This is only possible when the Income of Susie is more than Alex.

Hence Susie will spend more on Recreation than Alex.

Hence Sufficient.

Option B
User avatar
ENGRTOMBA2018
User avatar
Joined: 20 Mar 2014
Last visit: 01 Dec 2021
Posts: 2,325
Own Kudos:
3,837
Given Kudos: 816
Concentration: Finance, Strategy
Schools: Kellogg '18 (M)
GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V44
GPA: 3.7
WE:Engineering (Aerospace and Defense)
Products:
My Reviews
Schools: Kellogg '18 (M)
GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V44
Posts: 2,325
Kudos: 3,837
Alex spends 30% of his income on his children’s education, 20% on 03 Aug 2015, 04:48
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
anceer
In simple approach we have to compare health care to health care i.e. 30% to 40%.
We have a reference of recreation 20% to 25%
and healthcare 10% to 13%.

From statement 1
A’s 20% > S’s 25%
So A’s 30% must be > S’s 37.5%
Whereas Susie spends 40%, we have an answer.

From statement 2
A’s 10% < S’s 13%
So A’s 30% must be < S’s 39%
So I think we can get an answer from statement 2

Finally both the answer from st 1 and st 2 contradicts each other.
CAN ANY ONE EXPLAIN WHAT IS WRONG IN THIS APPROACH
Show more

Look below for the comments for the mistaken assumptions:

Per statement 1, 0.2A>0.25B --> A>1.25 B

What the question is asking : which one is greater ? 0.3A or 0.4B ?? ---> 0.3A > 0.4 B ONLY IF A > 1.33 B but per statement 1 A>1.25 B . SO A may or may be not > 1.33 B . What if A = 1.3 B (NO) or A = 1.27 B (NO) or A = 1.4 B (Yes). Thus you do not get a definite answer as to which one is greater.

Per statement 2, 0.13B>0.1A ---> B>0.77 A and from out analysis in statement 1 , 0.3A > 0.4 B ONLY IF A > 1.33 B or B > 0.7 A which we get from statement 2. Thus statement 2 is sufficient.

Hence B is the correct answer. Statement 2 says A< 1.3 B while statement says A>1.25 B . How are they contradictory? The value of A could = 1.28 B .

Hope this helps.
User avatar
VeritasPrepDennis
User avatar
Veritas Prep GMAT Instructor
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Last visit: 08 Jul 2022
Posts: 109
Own Kudos:
186
 [3]
Given Kudos: 11
GPA: 3.62
WE:Corporate Finance (Consulting)
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 109
Kudos: 186
 [3]
Alex spends 30% of his income on his children’s education, 20% on 03 Aug 2015, 08:32
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Just reading the stimulus without looking at the Statements, we can re-phrase the question to be How much werre Alex and Susie's incomes. That would solve the problem for us. Additionally, we might be able to solve the problem if we can figure out their incomes relative to each other.

Now, understanding that the information in each statement is FACTUAL, Stmt 1 tells us that Alex spent more $ on recreation than Susie. So, algebraically, we can say 0.2A > 0.25S. Manipulating the inequality will give us either A > 1.25S, or 0.8A > B. What we are trying to answer though is 0.3A greater than or less than 0.4S. Using the same algebraic manipulation, we get A in terms of B as A is either greater or less than 1.33B. Using Stmt 1, we know A > 1.25B. But, do we know whether A > 1.33B? No, we cannot definitivelt say this - thus, Stmt 1 is NOt SUFFICIENT

Stmt 2, which is also FACTUAL, tells us that 0.1A < 0.13B. Manipulating this like above, we get that A < 1.3B. From the initial question, we are asked (putting it in the algebraic terms) is A is greater or less than 1.33B. Stmt 2 answers this. Stmt 2 is SUFFICIENT.

Answer is B
User avatar
VenoMfTw
User avatar
Joined: 14 Mar 2014
Last visit: 15 Aug 2019
Posts: 134
Own Kudos:
479
Given Kudos: 124
GMAT 1: 710 Q50 V34
GMAT 1: 710 Q50 V34
Posts: 134
Kudos: 479
Alex spends 30% of his income on his children’s education, 20% on 03 Aug 2015, 09:13
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
anceer
In simple approach we have to compare health care to health care i.e. 30% to 40%.
We have a reference of recreation 20% to 25%
and healthcare 10% to 13%.

From statement 1
A’s 20% > S’s 25%
So A’s 30% must be > S’s 37.5%
Whereas Susie spends 40%, we have an answer.

From statement 2
A’s 10% < S’s 13%
So A’s 30% must be < S’s 39%
So I think we can get an answer from statement 2

Finally both the answer from st 1 and st 2 contradicts each other.
CAN ANY ONE EXPLAIN WHAT IS WRONG IN THIS APPROACH
Show more



anceer

Statement 1 :
0.2 A > 0.25 B
20 A > 25 B
A > 1.25 B

Now coming to the question steam amount spent on children
3A and 4S
From st 1 we get A > 1.25 B
So if A = 1.3B then 3A = 3.9S ==> Thus 3A(3.9S) < 4S
If A = 2B Then 3A = 6S --> Thus 3A(6S) > 4S

We end up with 2 different possibilities.
Hence not suff.

Hope it is clear
User avatar
chetan2u
User avatar
GMAT Expert
Joined: 02 Aug 2009
Last visit: 15 Nov 2025
Posts: 11,238
Own Kudos:
43,702
Given Kudos: 335
Status:Math and DI Expert
Location: India
Concentration: Human Resources, General Management
GMAT Focus 1: 735 Q90 V89 DI81
Products:
My Reviews
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 735 Q90 V89 DI81
Posts: 11,238
Kudos: 43,702
Alex spends 30% of his income on his children’s education, 20% on 11 Apr 2021, 04:03
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
VenoMfTw
Alex spends 30% of his income on his children’s education, 20% on recreation and 10% on healthcare. The corresponding percentage for Susie are 40%, 25%, and 13%. Who spends more on children’s education?

(1) Alex spends more on recreation than Susie.
(2) Susie spends more on healthcare than Alex.
Show more


Let the income of Alex and Susie be A and S.
Children’s education: Alex spends 30%, and Susie spends 50%.
So we are looking at whether 30% of A is greater than 40% of S.

\(\frac{30A}{100}>\frac{40S}{100}\)

Is \(\frac{A}{S}>\frac{4}{3}=1.33\)?


(1) Alex spends more on recreation than Susie.

Recreation : Alex spends 20%, and Susie spends 25%.

\(\frac{20A}{100}>\frac{25S}{100}\)

\(\frac{A}{S}>\frac{5}{4}=1.25\)
So if A/S is 1.5, then yes. But A/S can also be 1.26, then no.
Insufficient

(2) Susie spends more on healthcare than Alex.
Healthcare: Alex spends 10%, and Susie spends 13%.

\(\frac{10A}{100}<\frac{13S}{100}\)

\(\frac{A}{S}<\frac{13}{10}=1.3\)
But 1.3<1.33, so our answer is always NO.
Sufficient

B
User avatar
bumpbot
User avatar
Non-Human User
Joined: 09 Sep 2013
Last visit: 04 Jan 2021
Posts: 38,586
Own Kudos:
1,079
Posts: 38,586
Kudos: 1,079
Alex spends 30% of his income on his children’s education, 20% on 28 Apr 2024, 05:27
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hello from the GMAT Club BumpBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.
Moderators:
Bunuel
Math Expert
105388 posts
kingbucky
496 posts