You love your kids and want to be able to leave them something when you are gone, be it a paid off house or some inheritance money. Or maybe you just want to have some financial freedom as you age. Regardless of why you need to tackle your debt, debt consolidation may be the answer you seek. Keep reading to learn all about the topic.
Do your research on your potential debt consolidation companies. Not every one of these companies is best for your scenario. Some are not even reputable–there are a lot of “fly by night” operations in this market. Don’t fall into the trap. Research the companies fully before making any decisions.
Pick the debt consolidation company you use wisely. Just as with many other decisions you make, you should compare companies first. How long have they been in business for? What is their reputation like? Are their fees reasonable or too high? These are all questions you need to think about before picking a company.
You can get out of debt using a life insurance policy. If so, consider cashing out your life insurance policy in order to repay some of your debt. Get in touch with your insurance agent and determine the amount of money you can obtain against your policy. You can sometimes borrow a part of what you invested in your policy to pay your debt.
Try to refinance your home and take that cash out at closing. This can assist you with paying down your high-interest debt with ease, and may be tax deductible. It can save you money and lower monthly payments. Make sure that there isn’t a possibility of missing any payments since foreclosure is a possibility due to transferring too much unsecured debt to secured debt.
Be careful not to take out additional high interest loans after you’ve consolidated your debt. You aren’t doing this simply to free up more opportunity to worsen your financial outlook! Take debt consolidation very seriously. That means that you need to make a plan for what happens after you’ve taken all these efforts.
Know if you are merely getting an official budget. If you sign up with a debt consolidation plan, you might be set up with a budget, so you know how much you will have to pay each month towards all of your bills. If that’s what you’re expecting, proceed, but know that some other debt consolidation companies offer you a loan instead.
If you are struggling with debt and have a free and clear title to a car, boat or other motorized vehicle, consider a title loan. A title loan allows you to keep your motorized vehicle as long as you make your payments on time. Many times, you can lower your overall interest rate using this type of service.
When looking for debt consolidation services, you don’t need to pick those that have giant or constant advertisements. Just because their advertising budget is large doesn’t mean that they’re a great company. You should probably avoid those companies that email you all of a sudden, too. The good companies usually rely on past clients referrals, so they don’t generally need to use flashy, persistent, or spammy advertisements.
Don’t sign anything until you know what you’re agreeing to. Make sure you have a written copy of the terms and fees you will be responsible for, before you make a decision. It’s important for you to make sure there are no special surprises, and that at the end of the arrangement you’ll be in a better position financially.
If you decide to go through debt consolidation, contact the Better Business Bureau. The BBB keeps records of any complaints lodged against a company. By checking out the debt consolidation company, you can ensure that complaints have not been filed against the company. This is especially important because there are many fake debt consolidation companies.
After starting debt consolidation, start using cash. It’s important to now steer clear of spending on credit cards again. If that’s the reason you got into debt in the first place, then you need to take control! When you use cash, you can only spend what you have.
If you really want to pay off your debt, think about using your 401K. It allows you to borrow what you need from yourself instead of having you borrow from regular banks. Get all the details first though; it can be risky because it can deplete your retirement funds.
Once your debt is paid off, you can leave what you have to your children. You can feel free enough to retire some day as long as the debt burden is gone. In fact, you will sleep better, be happier and even be healthier when all of that stress is off your back. Use these tips and change your life for the better.
