Programs for Debt Management

Debt Consolidation Loans and Debt Management

Debt consolidation loans are secured loans. A secured loan is one in which the borrower uses something that he owns as collateral for a loan. The borrower will then use the proceeds from a debt consolidation loan to pay off other loans.

Loans are called by many different names, but basically there are two types of loans. There are secured loans as was discussed above, and then there are unsecured loans. If a borrower defaults on a secured loan, the loaning institution can take possession of the collateral and sell it at auction in order to satisfy the debt.

An unsecured loan does not have any collateral attached to it. If the loan isn't paid, the only recourse that the lender has is to sue the borrower to try to recoup his loss.

Not always, but most often a debt consolidation loan is a second mortgage on a primary residence. The reason is that for most people, the equity that they have established in their home is their largest single asset. Equity is the difference between what is owed on the home and the balance of the mortgage. Fair market value is also considered. If the value of the property has increased since the original mortgage agreement was made, then that appreciation in value is also considered equity.

Being granted a debt consolidation loan is very much like the process that was required to get a first mortgage. Your equity in your home is the collateral that you are using to get a second mortgage. The payment that you will be required to make each month is also a payment on your home just like the first mortgage.

The interest rates for a second mortgage will be much less than the interest rates that you are paying on credit cards, but the length of the loan will likely be greater.

See Also:
Debt Management Wiggle Room

Debt Management and Health

Debt Management Experts

People who work as debt management experts go to school for that sort of thing. Many spend four years or more getting college degrees that identify them as experts in the money and debt management fields. And they are experts, there's no doubt about it.

The best of the debt management experts and debt management teachers, however, are those who have learned to manage their personal finances and their personal debts, and then passed that knowledge along to their children.

Those who actually do it are the experts, and they are the ones that we need to learn from to avoid having to visit with a well-educated debt management expert because we have gotten ourselves into financial hot water.

As I look around at expert debt managers (those who successfully manage their own finances) I find that they have many things in common. They don't all do things exactly the same way, of course, but the structure in which they manage their finances is basically the same.

1. They save first. Those people who know how to save very rarely get into financial trouble. Sure, they can. Life can throw some pretty hard curve balls....the loss of a job or a major illness. But unless their financial trouble is caused by an outside force they will not get themselves in debt up to their eyeballs.

2. They live within their means. They do not base their spending upon what their friends have. The neighbors might buy a new car, but that will have no bearing upon whether they do or not.

3. They all have budgets. Not only do they have budgets, but they live within the constraints of that budget. They do not make impulse buys. If asked, they could tell you how much is spent each month on food, shelter, clothing, utilities, and transportation.

 


More articles:

Bad Credit Consolidation
Debt Management Wiggle Room
Individual Voluntary Arrangement
Debt Management for the Future
Debt Consolidation and Debt Negotiation Services - Clear Debt Results

Debt Management Debt Collectors

Debt Management Makes a Comeback

Not really! It would be nice, of course, if everybody suddenly became excellent debt managers and such nasty little things as late notices and harassing phone calls by bill collectors became things of the past.

If everybody only took on debts that they could pay on time and in full each and every month, the debt management companies and the consolidation loan companies could just fold their tents and slip away into the night. That hasn't happened, and there isn't any indication that it
is going to happen in the near (or far) future.

More and more people are finding themselves in financial holes more and more often today. When discussing this situation with a group of my peers, the consensus was that instant gratification and less than adequate financial education are the two principal causes.

In days gone by, parents taught their children about financial responsibility. Children were given small allowances and then instructed how to spend it. They were required to save 10%, give 10% to charity, and to make sure they had enough to cover their necessities until allowance day came around again. If the kids ran short, they were not allowed to dip into their savings. They simply did without until allowance day. Mom and dad did not pony up to cover the shortfall if junior had blown his allowance on ice cream.

There was no such thing as instant gratification. If a kid wanted a bicycle, he had to save for it. It didn't just appear because he begged mom and dad for it.

It really is time for parents to again begin teaching children about financial responsibility and debt management, and the schools need to do their part as well. We have become a nation of borrowers without a plan to repay our debts.

 

Related Topics: Five Secrets of Debt Management,  Cleaning Up Past Debt Management Mistakes, Debt Management through Bankruptcy


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