Category: Debt

Just how wealthy are you? You'll want to figure that out before you make any major life decisions. Your first impulse may be to go out and buy things, but that may not be in your best interest. Even if you're used to handling your own finances, now's the...

If you want to limit potential losses while participating in the potentially attractive returns of a market-driven investment but would also like a guaranteed return, an indexed annuity might be worth checking out. The performance of indexed annuities, also referred to as equity-indexed or fixed-indexed annuities, is tied to...

Are you suddenly on your own or forced to assume greater responsibility for your financial future? Unsure about whether you’re on the right track with your savings and investments? Finding yourself with new responsibilities, such as the care of a child or an aging parent? Facing other life events,...

Answer: The federal government offers several income-driven repayment plans for borrowers with federal student loans. Under these plans, a borrower’s monthly student loan payments are calculated based on his or her discretionary income and family size, which are verified and updated each year. Borrowers must qualify for these plans–enrollment...

Answer: To answer this question, you must decide how your money can work best for you. Compare the money you might earn on other investments with the money you would pay on your debt. If you would earn less on investments than you would pay on debts, you should...

Answer: No, you can’t refinance student loans. However, if you have multiple federal student loans, federal consolidation of your loans may make your debt more manageable. To be eligible for federal loan consolidation, you must have at least one federal student loan in grace, repayment, deferment, or default status....

Answer: Start by carefully reading the advertisement or application you’ve seen or received. It may seem like a lot of jargon, but that fine print contains important information about terms and costs. Here are three points to consider when comparing credit card offers: Annual percentage rate (APR): What interest...

Answer: The least expensive way to buy a car is to pay cash for it, because with cash, you can buy only what you can afford, and you avoid paying the finance charges associated with a car loan. Nonetheless, the reality is that you may not be able to...

Answer: Debt consolidation can lead to an improvement in your credit rating by making your debt easier to manage. Sometimes, debt consolidation means taking a loan at a lower interest rate to pay off several smaller loans at higher interest rates. Making one payment instead of many may help...

Answer: To reduce your spending, you first need to know where your money goes. Start out by keeping track of all of your expenses for a month. None are too small or insignificant: the daily newspaper, coffee on the way to work, an extra gallon of milk, that burger...

It’s difficult to imagine functioning in today’s world without credit. Whether buying a car or purchasing a home, credit has become an integral part of our everyday lives. Having easy access to credit goes hand in hand with having a good credit score, so it’s important to know how...

If you’ve finished college within the last few years, chances are you’re paying off your student loans. What happens with your student loans now that they’ve entered repayment status will have a significant impact–positive or negative–on your credit history and credit score. It’s payback time When you left school,...

No matter how tightly you try to control your spending or how strictly you follow your spending plan, at some point you are likely to wonder how you can cut costs. In order to find out how to cut costs, you first need to find out where and when...

Introduction You’ve been repaying your student loans faithfully for five years but, all of sudden, things have taken a financial turn for the worse. You’ve been laid off from your job, your car needs repairs, and you suddenly find yourself with unexpected medical bills. In short, you are facing...

Succesfully borrowing and paying off your loans as agreed can help you establish a good credit rating and make obtaining additional credit possible. Even if you do not typcially use credit often, it is good to have the ability to do so in the event of an emergency. Leverage...

What is debt management? As a modern consumer, you need credit. When you were growing up, you may have heard your parents or grandparents say, “If you can’t pay for it with cash, then you can’t afford to buy it.” That may have been sound advice 40 or even...