You should definitely have a good, solid answer ready for this question, since the debt-to-equity (D/E) ratio is a key, if not the primary, financial ratio considered in evaluating a company's ability to handle its debt financing obligations. The D/E ratio indicates a company’s total debt in relation to its total equity, and it reveals what percentage of a company's financing is being provided by debt and what percentage by equity. Your answer should show you understand the ratio and know that, generally speaking, ratios lower than 1.0 indicate a more financially sound firm, while ratios higher than 1.0 indicate an increasing level of credit risk.