Insurance and Credit

In my years of experience in the industry, I have found that most people are looking for a debt relief option that does not exist. Here are the criteria they are usually requesting: – Pay off all accounts quickly – Not harm their credit – Not cause creditors to hound them with phone calls

The straight fact: That program does not exist!

What I have found over years of assisting clients out from under the burden of debt, is that most are initially seeking a program that does not exist. Let’s be clear, there is no debt management program in existence that will provide the above benefits. That being said, let’s talk about what options are available and in short summary; provide a basic understanding of each one.

Debt Consolidation: Debt consolidation loans are typically home equity loans or second mortgages. This is where you take the equity out of your home to pay off unsecured debts, and then just repay the equity loan with one payment, hopefully lower than the total min payments on all your unsecured debts. The upside is that you can trade in your high-interest unsecured debts for a lower-interest, single payment that can sometimes have a tax benefit. The downside is that most people who have a lot of unsecured debt will not qualify for a loan, or have any equity in their home.

Credit Counseling: Credit counseling companies have been getting a lot of trouble lately with consumer protection agencies. Most of them are non-profit and claim to lower your interest rates and provide a low monthly payment. Typically, they take your payment and distribute to pay each creditor a small payment. The good thing is well there is no good thing. Credit counseling programs hardly ever do what they claim, and many creditors no longer participate. Most have found this to be a serious waste of money and time. The bad thing is that your creditors will enter a statement onto your credit report for every account in credit couseling that states that the account is handled through a program. This is a seroius negative for anyone looking at your credit.

Debt Settlement: This has become, by far, the most popular and most effective program for getting out of debt in a short period of time. However, you must truly be in a financial hardship and not able to pay your current minimum payments. The idea here is to negotiate an accepted settlement of less than what is owed with each of your creditors. All creditors will accept settlements as long as you are far delinquent, and have shown valid reason. It seems that attorneys have been most effective in negotiations with creditors due to the fact they cannot be easily bullied by debt collectors. The positive is that you can completely pay off your accounts for a fraction of what is owed in a very short time-frame; usually 36 months or less. The negative is that your accounts must become very delinquent before creditors will accept settlements. This is not a problem if you are in a financial hardship; after all, you already have an inability to make your minimum payments.

Bankruptcy: It once was that anyone could file chapter 7 bankruptcy. In the post-bankruptcy reform era most people now don’t qualify for bankruptcy, and have no other alternative except the options outlined in this article. The good thing is that once a chapter 7 bankruptcy is fully discharged, the owed amounts are written off and will not pursued further. The bad thing is that it is that you will have a permanent public court record, and will also have a public record on your credit report for up to 10 years.

This information should provide you with foundation of knowledge that will allow you to select the best debt relief option for your specific financial circumstances.

The SilverCard Prepaid Credit Card offers a alternative to typical plans that charge high fees for basic transactions and account inquiries.

How It Works

You will first deposit money into your account and then use your card to make purchases, withdraw cash ATM?s, or pay bills over the phone or online. Your balance declines as you use the card. When you need more money, you simply make a deposit to the account.

How You Can Deposit Money

One way is to have your paycheck deposited directly into onto your card. This can also be done with Government issued checks such as social security.

The direct deposit feature is free to card holders. If you choose, you can deposit money at any 100,000 retail locations. And you can add money through a wire or PayPal transfer.

How to Qualify

There is no application or approval process. Federal law requires that you supply information that will verify your identification, such as your name, address, and birth date, but there is no credit check or lengthy application to fill out.

Account Fees

While many plans charge fees for activation, transactions, overdraft protection, and balance inquiries, these services are free for card holders. However you will pay the activation fee up front but will be reimbursed through a mail-in rebate

How You Can Manage Your Account

They truly make account management simple. You can access your information online 24 hrs a day 7 days a week.

In order to help you keep track of your spending, you can sign up for free emails or text messages that include this information. You can also access this information free of charge through their automated voice response system. We strongly suggest you take advantage of these features as it enables you to live within a budget, most of the time.

You can stop writing checks every month because you can use your card to pay bills. It is accepted online and over the phone.

In sum if you are in a position where you can not be approved for a checking account or credit card. And you are paying costly check cashing fees and buying money orders then this is a great choice.

Of course we encourage you to read all the fine print on any credit card before applying.

In these trying times that many of us are experiencing, just having a job has become our best asset. Only a few years ago people were looking for larger bonuses, higher salaries, and whatever they could to capitalize on a growing economy. But now the tides have taken a serious turn.

Many of the same workers right now would be happy to make a small percentage of the salaries they were not happy with. But, due to such large layoffs and downsizing of companies throughout the country they are left with nothing.

Many people should feel worth in the fact that they are still employed while so many unfortunates are not. Things may be tough, but at least your largest asset, your job is still putting bread on the table. Be proud and feel secure in knowing that you have stability and an asset such as yourself that you can rely on.

While a few years ago many people were refinancing to get the car of their dreams or buying that vacation home that they simply could not afford. Today, things are far different. Instead of taking a tour of Europe many families this summer will be going on a good old family camping trip.

So now it is back to the basics! Where we can create our own fortunes and misfortunes based on our best asset, ourselves.

Scott Darrohn