COMPARE THE BENEFITS
Unless you hit the Lottery, here are the five options to becoming
debt free:
1. Paying creditors as originally agreed
2. Bankruptcy
3. Debt Consolidation Loans
4. Credit Counseling (CCC)
5. Debt Settlement
1. Paying creditors as originally
agreed
On a $4,000 debt the minimum payments are approximately $150 a
month. Only 8 to 10% of that payment is actually going towards the
principal balance. The rest is going to interest and fees. At the
end of the year approximately $1,500 has been thrown away. After
looking at the balance, it is probably still close to $4,000. At
this rate it will take 5 to 7 years to pay it off. With interest,
the $4,000 debt ended up to total approximately $16,000.
2. Bankruptcy
Every year, over one million Americans’ file bankruptcy.
The pressure from collection agencies is what brings forth this
enormous figure. When bankruptcy is filed, no one wins. The bill
collectors will receive no money and your credit will be scarred
for a whole decade! Your bankruptcy discharge can also appear in
public court records up to TWO DECADES.
In addition, bankruptcy can affect you when trying to purchase
a home or car, finding a job, obtaining insurance, or getting security
clearance. In addition, depending on which bankruptcy you qualify
for (Chapter 7 or Chapter 13), the courts may force you to make
payments to your creditors which may require you to pay back a portion
of the debt with interest. You should only consider bankruptcy as
your LAST OPTION!
3. Debt Consolidation Loans
Statistics show that about 80% of people who apply for a debt consolidation
loan find themselves digging themselves into a deeper debt. The
philosophy is simple:
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO BORROW YOUR WAY OUT OF DEBT!!!
Debt consolidation loans do not reduce the amount you owe; instead,
you end up paying back 100% of the loan plus interest. All you are
doing is exchanging one debt for another at a lower interest rate.
When applying for a debt consolidation loan, you will be asked to
secure the loan against some form of asset (collateral); usually
a house or car, but this transfers your unsecured debt to a "secured"
loan, which put your possessions at risk! Numerous loans are consolidated
into a home equity loan that is stretched out over a 30-year period!
What would happen to your property if you had future financial difficulties?
The majority of people who enter a debt consolidation loan program
neglect to cancel their credit cards after they have been paid off,
so it leaves them with a new source of spending power. Before they
know it, people are over the limit and in debt once more! Statistically,
65% of people who use debt consolidation loans to pay off their
debts will go over the limit on their cards again. In the end, not
only do they have to pay back the consolidation loan, but the credit
cards again as well. They unknowingly double their debts!
4. Consumer Credit Counseling
Although they claim "non-profit" status, Consumer Credit
Counseling programs work much like a collection agency. Their credit
counselors get paid an average commission of 12-15% of the amount
they collect for the creditors. In addition, they can charge you
a monthly program fee ranging from $15-$40. Today the word, "non-profit"
is nothing more than a filing status for the multi-billion dollar
credit counseling industry. In fact many of these "non-profit"
counselors employ very high-paid executives. The benefits you can
expect to receive through credit counseling are; prearranged figures
with creditors to reduce your interest rate and minimum payments.
The average minimum reduction is 8%. However, some creditors will
not go below 20% and some refuse to participate in these programs.
All of your credit cards will also be cancelled and you will need
to pay 100% of the full debt amount, including interest, late fees,
and over the limit fees! Unfortunately there's more. Your new monthly
payment through credit counseling is generally higher than the original
minimum payments on your accounts. Can you manage paying a HIGHER
monthly payment when you are already struggling to make ends meet?
These programs can take about 5 to 7 years to pay off your creditors.
However, statistics show that 79 out of 100 people that enroll in
these programs drop out before they complete them.
5. Debt Settlement
Finally, a more sensible approach that can affordably, safely,
and quickly ELIMINATE your debt nightmare! Financial Independence
& Resource Education can offer you the most logical solution:
It's called Debt Settlement.
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