Thanks to a new law, credit card providers in the US will now have to tell their customers how long it would take them to clear their debt if they made just the minimum payments. As The Financial Times reports, millions of Americans with credit card debt `are in for a dose of harsh reality when they open their February credit card statements`, since the law now requires their card issuer to tell them how long it would take to clear their debt making the minimum payment every month. Statements will also have to inform the borrower how much they`d need to pay every month in order to clear their debt in 36 months – along with how much they`ve paid in interest and fees in the year to date. Read more…
Debt management companies advertise aggressively on TV, radio, the Internet, and in newspapers. Many of these companies promise the moon and the stars when it comes to debt reduction. Before signing up, here are five things to remember about debt management.
Debt management companies can help you with credit card debt, but you’ll pay a lot of fees. Generally, you’re required to sign up for a debt reduction plan that involve making regular payments to the debt management firm. The debt management company negotiates lower payments or a payoff amount with your creditors, and makes the payments to them. Not all debt management firms are working in your best interest. Some
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The country has finally come out of recession, official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have shown. After six quarters – 18 months – in a row, the economy has finally stopped shrinking, making Britain the last major economy in the world to exit recession and start growing again. According to the figures, the economy grew by 0.1% in the final quarter of 2009. Even so, the economy at the end of 2009 was still 3.2% smaller than it had been a year before – and a full 6% smaller than it was before the recession started. Three months ago, analysts expected the ONS figures to show that the country had exited recession at the end of the third quarter of 2009, but these hopes were dashed when the ONS reported a contraction of 0.2%. Read more…
Unsecured debt consolidation loans can be very useful for dealing with debt in certain circumstances, but they are often used in ways that leave people worse off. Before taking out a loan it is important to have an understanding of how to check on whether a loan is the best option for your particular situation. This article will help you understand when you should use unsecured debt consolidation loans and when you would be better off with an alternative debt solution.
Debt consolidation loans are attractive to many people because they are relatively straightforward and you can see very quickly what the benefits are. Instead of having lots of debts that are hard to keep track of, you just have one single debt, which costs you less each month than all your old ones used to. Nice and simple, so what could possibly be wrong with that? There may be nothing wrong with it, but many people take out loans where the only reason the monthly payments are lower is because they are spread over a much longer period. This means you go on paying interest for much longer, which costs you far more than the original debts would have.
As a precaution you should always work out the total amount that you will have paid back by the end of the consolidation loan and compare that with what it would cost you to carry on repaying your debts as you are. The other area to look carefully at when you are thinking of taking on an unsecured debt consolidation loan is which debts you choose to pay off with the loan. The rates of interest on your exiting debts will vary, and you need to make sure you are only using the new loan to pay off those ones that are at a higher rate than the new loan.
If you are not careful about this, you can end up costing yourself more by borrowing money at a higher rate of interest than you were paying before. A lender will often want you to take out a loan large enough to pay off all your outstanding debts, and while this will certainly offer you simplicity, it is not worth it if it going to make your financial situation worse.
You can avoid this by just writing a list of all your current debts and putting them in order of the interest rate on each one. Put the debt with the highest rat of interest at the top of your list and work your way down to the lowest rate at the bottom. You can then put a line through that corresponds with the interest rate for the debt consolidation loan and only consolidate those debts above that line.
Many people with debt problems also have issues with their credit rating and can find it difficult to get an unsecured debt consolidation loan from high street lenders. There are, however, quite a few specialist lenders that deal particularly with people who have been turned down elsewhere. Sometimes you have to pay a slightly higher rate of interest, as the lenders risk is increased and some ask for alternative forms of security, such as guarantors. One of the best options if you have bad credit is to use a broker that will run your application past lots of different lenders, which greatly increases your chances of success.
Your debts are piling up, and you’re having problems making minimum payments on time. Those banks, those credit card companies…if only they hadn’t raised your rates. If only they hadn’t added a late charge to your balance. If only…
Moneywatch blogger Ray Martin points out that some consumers fail to assume responsibility for overspending on credit cards. Carrying revolving balances incurs interest charges, and once you approach your credit limits, credit card debt can lead to additional fees and/or increases in your interest rates. Although an estimated 60% of personal bankruptcies are allegedly caused by health care expenses, that leaves 40% that may result from overspending. Here are
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