Seven Signs Your Debt Is Out of Control (and What to Do About It)
In a lot of ways, racking up debt has almost become an American pastime. Buying a new living room set? Finance it for 12 to 36 months at 0%. Trading in your car? Well, of course you’ll want to get a...
View ArticleWhat Can Debt Collectors Do If You Don’t Pay Them? (A Lot)
“This is an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained with be used for that purpose.” If you’ve ever read or heard this phrase, you’ve likely been contacted by a third-party debt...
View ArticlePay Off Your Mortgage Early?
If you have a home, you’ve probably wondered if it’s worthwhile to pay your mortgage off early. And if so, you’re not alone. Many homeowners wonder how to pay off their mortgage faster or if paying off...
View ArticleEight Amazing Things That Happen When You Finally Pay Down Debt
Living with debt may be seen as “normal” these days, but the damage debt does to our lives is far from okay. After all, carrying too much debt can cause more than budgeting problems; it can stress and...
View ArticleWhen Does It Make Sense to File for Bankruptcy?
Bankruptcy should be avoided whenever possible, but there are times when people who are overwhelmed with debt have no viable alternative but to seek bankruptcy relief. Bankruptcy laws are designed to...
View ArticleTo Catch a Scammer: Here’s How Credit Hackers Try to Steal Your Money and...
Debt makes people desperate, but you should never be desperate enough to click the e-mail address of one of the debt “hackers” promising quick credit score fixes in online comments fields. My editors...
View ArticleThree Ways Student Loan Debt Is Holding Back Home Buyers
Young adults with the American dream of homeownership are increasingly waking up to something else: the reality of the student loan crisis. A study by the Federal Reserve revealed that for every 10...
View ArticleShould You Prioritize Investing or Paying Off Debt?
One question that comes up over and over again is whether it’s more important to prioritize investing or paying off debt. Obviously both are important, but when money is limited how do you decide...
View ArticleCan’t Afford a Bankruptcy Attorney? This Nonprofit Might Be Able to Help
If your medical or credit card debt is so crushing that your best debt repayment efforts can’t seem to make a dent, it might be worth considering bankruptcy. It’s something of a last resort, but...
View ArticleSix Signs Your Balance Transfer Could End in Disaster
The average credit card balance was $6,354 at the end of 2017, and American consumers now hold more than $1 trillion in collective revolving debt, most of which is on plastic. These numbers probably...
View ArticlePublic Service Loan Forgiveness: How to Qualify (and Why So Few People Do)
The U.S. Department of Education recently released some startling and sobering statistics regarding its Public Service Loan Forgiveness program: Of the 29,000 applications for student loan forgiveness...
View Article11 Ways to Get Out of Debt Faster
We’re a nation in debt. As of late 2017, the average American carried $6,354 in credit card debt and more than $24,700 in non-mortgage debt such as car loans, according to Experian. The average student...
View ArticleWhat a Financial Trainwreck Can Teach Us: Six Mistakes to Learn From
A married couple recently confessed to some horrifying money blunders in an interview on the WealthSimple website. In their mid-40s and the parents of three kids, the pseudonymous Kate and Tom bring in...
View ArticleYou Owe How Much? Here Are Five Ways to Pay Off Your Holiday Debt
The holidays may be fun while they last, but the overall financial impact of the season tends to linger in ways that aren’t so cheery. A late study from MagnifyMoney found that the average consumer...
View Article74 Million Americans Have More Credit Card Debt Than Savings: What to Do If...
America’s compulsion for credit card spending appears to be reaching entirely new heights. A recent report from Bankrate found that a staggering 74 million Americans now have more credit card debt than...
View Article‘Good Debt’ vs. ‘Bad Debt’
Is there such a thing as good debt? The answer to that question depends on whom you ask. By and large, however, financial experts seem to agree that there are some forms of good debt. Most often, it’s...
View ArticleSix Effortless Ways to Make a Bigger Dent in Your Debt
Paying down debt can often seem daunting, insurmountable, and sometimes entirely defeating. Yet the need for Americans to get control of their debt is more pressing than ever. As of February 2019,...
View ArticleTips for Avoiding Credit Repair Scams
As someone who’s working to pay off significant credit card balances, as well as student loan debt, there’s rarely a week that goes by when I don’t receive some sort of debt relief marketing. I often...
View ArticlePersonal Debt Is Not a Tool
Perhaps the single biggest reason that people get themselves into a deep debt hole is that they buy into the idea that personal debt is a tool that allows them to get things they want now rather than...
View ArticleWhy Debt Consolidation Usually Makes Sense
Recently, I’ve heard from a few readers asking some very general questions about consolidating their student loans. Their questions mostly boil down to the fact that they’ve heard that it’s a good...
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