Debt Could Be The Death Of You!

Debt is killing us!

According to CNNMoney, “The average American family carries $8,000 to $10,000 in credit card debt,” (April 16, 2009).  One out of every seven Americans has at least 10 credit cards. 45 percent of all new car loans being made today are for more than 6 years.  Student loan debt in the United States is rapidly approaching 1 trillion dollars.  Approximately 41 percent of all working age Americans either have medical bill problems or are currently paying off medical debt.  Home mortgage debt in the United States is now about 5 times larger than it was just 20 years ago.

I can go on and on.  The question is, what are we going to do about it?  What decisions are WE as consumers going to make to say, ‘enough is enough’?  How much longer are we going to have to allow ourselves to be in bondage to debt?  When are we going to decide to take ownership of our financial lives so that our families don’t have to retire broke.

I say…education is key!!

When people know better, they have the opportunity to do better.  They don’t always make a choice to do it but they have the opportunity.  Knowledge is the beginning.  Applied knowledge is where the answers are.

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With Primerica, one of the first things I do when I sit with a client is to provide them with a FREE, confidential and customized Financial Needs Analysis (FNA).  It’s a chance for me to take an x-ray of their current financial condition, make a diagnosis and implement a solution.  As I am assessing their financial home, I share with them the debt elimination products that we have in order to revive their otherwise suffering financial life.  Debt stacking is a program that I help my clients with, which shows them strategies on how to pay their debt sooner than later with the peace of mind that the end is near.  We also have other debt solutions that have proven beneficial to our client base.

I helped a client who had about $19,700 in credit card debt.  Her interest rates were 16.99% on one card and 11.99% on the other.  She would have been paying on those cards for 262 months (21 years) — spending $33,493 in payments.  I was able to help her get the first credit card interest rate down to 9.99% and the second to 7.30%.  She will be finished paying for them off in 56 months (4.6 years) — spending $23,807.  She will save $9686.  That is awesome!  For this client to see the hope of becoming debt free in the very near future is absolutely without words.  And I’m elated to have the resources to have been able to help her.

Read: Failing to Plan Could Be The Death Of You

Talk to me…

Until next time,

Ingrid