Debt Management
Getting out of debt can be incredibly difficult and stressful for everyone. Learn how to do so effectively, using all the tools at your disposal, in our guide to debt management.
Guide to Debt Management
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The first step to getting out of debt is making a budget. Once you know where your money is going each month, you’re able to identify ways to save. Next, utilize a debt avalanche or debt snowball method, which targets debts with the highest interest rates first. Look for ways to increase your income, consider using a debt consolidation loan, and keep track of your progress. Paying off debt can be overwhelming, but breaking it down into these steps can help you become debt-free more quickly and effectively.
Learn More: How to Get Out of Debt -
Though it may seem counterintuitive, settling debt often has a negative impact on credit scores. Credit scores are designed to reward accounts that have been paid on time and according to the original credit agreement. A debt settlement plan—in which the borrower agrees to pay a portion of the outstanding debt—modifies or negates the original agreement, which causes credit scores to drop.
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Debt consolidation is a process in which you combine multiple debts into a consolidation loan. This is a single loan that rolls all of your prior debts into one monthly payment at one interest rate.
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A debt avalanche is a debt repayment strategy that targets debt with the highest interest rates first. Make the minimum payment on each source of debt, then devotes any remaining repayment funds to the debt with the highest interest rate. Once the debt with the highest interest rate is entirely paid off, then the extra repayment funds go toward the next-highest interest-bearing loan. This continues until all the debts are paid off.
Learn More: Debt Avalanche -
Debts with high interest rates as well as though that will affect your credit score most if you fall behind should be paid off first if possible. Other types of credit, like student loans, can be more benign. In many cases, debtors should pay off credit card debt first. Not only will you be saving yourself from a double-digit interest rate, revolving credit card balances are weighted against you even more than other types of debt, meaning your credit score will likely go up.
Learn More: Pay Off These Types of Debt First
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Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal proceeding that offers an individual or business a chance to start fresh by forgiving debts that simply cannot be paid while giving creditors a chance to obtain some measure of repayment based on the individual's or business's assets available for liquidation.
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Charge-Off
A charge-off is a debt that is deemed unlikely to be collected by the lender because the borrower has become substantially delinquent for a period of time. A debt is often charged off after 180 days of nonpayment.
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Insolvency
Insolvency occurs when an individual or business can no longer meet its financial obligations to lenders. Insolvency is a state of financial distress, and is different from bankruptcy. During insolvency, business owners may contact creditors directly and restructure debts into more manageable installments.
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Debt Consolidation
Debt consolidation refers to the act of taking out a new loan to pay off other liabilities and consumer debts. Multiple debts are combined into a single, larger debt, such as a loan, usually with more favorable terms such as a lower interest rate or lower monthly payment.
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Judgement Lien
A judgment lien is a court ruling that gives a creditor the right to take possession of a debtor's property if the debtor fails to fulfill their contractual obligations. Liens can be attached to real and personal property as well as the debtor’s future property.
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Debt Collection Agency
Debt collection agencies attempt to convince delinquent borrowers to repay their debt. Debt collectors get paid when they collect debt sent to them by the original creditor, this is usually 25-50% of the balance of the original debt.
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