Credit Repair: Debt Consolidation

Consolidate Your Debt When You Don't Own A Home
By Steve Faber

No House, Alot of Debt, What Do You Do?

If you have a great amount of debt, especially if it’s mostly from high interest credit cards or store accounts, you’d typically get a debt consolidation loan. This would give you one monthly payment instead of many different payments. Because the interest rate is much lower than the debts you’re paying off, the monthly payment is dramatically reduced. The reason the interest rate for a debt consolidation loan is so low is because it’s a secured loan. This means you have collateral, typically a home or other real estate, securing the loan. Because the lender has collateral for the loan, their risk is much lower and that is reflected in the interest rate.

So what if you’ve got no home or real estate to use for collateral? Can you still get a debt consolidation loan? Well, you may have several solutions. One debt consolidation solution for people who don’t own a home, but still have good credit, is to use no interest credit cards. Many people get these type of offers in the mail every week. You can transfer the balance from one or more credit cards onto a new credit card. For the promotional period, usually 6 months to 2 years, you’ll pay no interest on the transferred balance. That functions like a debt consolidation loan.

Make sure you cancel all or most of the old credit cards and examine your spending habits. This will help to keep you from getting into a dangerous credit situation. This can easily arise when you have the new card with a healthy balance that you transferred over, and all your old cards still active. If you start to accrue a balance on the old cards, you’ll soon find yourself in a situation where you have multiple cards with large balances in addition to the new card with the debt that you transferred. It’s worth mentioning again. Make sure you thoroughly examine your spending habits to ensure you don’t just spiral deeper into debt by adding a new credit card.

Another alternative, if you are really in a bind and don’t own a home, is credit counseling. Credit counseling can get you a debt management solution that can allow you to become debt free within a certain period of time. A good credit counselor will work with you to develop a personal financial plan that lets you maximize the use of you money. You can do more with your current income and get yourself out of debt. They will also look into the future to assist you in planning for the future, so you have a financial contingency plan in the event of an emergency. In a worst case scenario, they will work with creditors to negotiate different payment schedules or decreased credit balances.

If you need a debt reduction or consolidation solution but you don’t own a home, do not despair. There is a solution for your problems. You can get out of debt without sacrificing everything.

You may have to tighten up a bit, but you’ll get through it with a little guidance.

Find out more about how to consolidate you debt, how to go about it, and if you should even considerthe alternative in the first place. There's a wealth of great debt and loan consolidation information to help you at the Loan and Debt Consolidation Guide

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Faber

Low-Income Retirement Options: Investing for financial Survival

95% of Retirees Retire Into Poverty!
By Bill Young

I recently saw a Wall St ad quoting a startling Government statistic about retirement: “Of the 77 million baby boomers planning to retire in the next 10 to 15 years, 95% are hurtling toward unexpected financial difficulties.”

Those “Difficulties” are that they will be unable to support themselves without continuing to work for the rest of their lives!

Can you imagine, after a lifetime of hard work, struggle, hardships, maybe even tragedy, you’re about to end your life in poverty, disease and want unless you work till you drop?

Is that all there is? Or do you want to be in the fortunate 5% who can retire without money worries?

What does the Wall St ad suggest you do about this? Buy their little Retirement Newsletter!

1. Techniques for saving for retirement without changing your lifestyle today

2. How to build the best retirement portfolio for long-term income

3. How to make sure you don't outlive your available retirement income

4. Advantageous mutual funds, REITs and variable annuities

5. Estate-planning strategies

Let’s take a look at their newsletter’s suggestions:

1. Saving for retirement without changing your lifestyle today? What Bull! It is your current lifestyle that got you into this mess!

2. A retirement portfolio for long term income? Baby, you need more income, right now. In the long-term, your butt will be dead!

3. Don’t outlive your retirement income? What retirement income? They just said that 95% of you will not have enough income to support yourself.

4. Advantageous Mutual Fund, REIT’s and variable annuities? All products Wall St makes commissions on! Ask them what difference they will make in your retirement fund in only 10 years.

5. Estate planning strategies? What estate? Aren’t we talking about the 95% of baby boomers who will not be able to quit work?

No, boys and girls, I don’t think their approach is going to solve your problems!

I remember a quote, someone said that if you keep doing the same things and getting the same miserable results, you need to do something different.

You absolutely MUST change what you are doing, your trajectory, if you don’t want to end up like everybody else: broke in retirement.

Here is what you must do right now.

First, figure out what you will need to live on during retirement, say 80% of your present take-home pay.

Check with your Human Resources Dept. for a projection of what your pension will be, if any. Check with Social Security to see what your projected retirement benefits will be.

Then add in any savings or investments you have including the equity in your house and how much income that would produce if invested at 10%.

Ten percent? Unrealistic? To some. Those who do not know about the returns available from private mortgages, tax liens and other safe, sophisticated real estate investments.

Add up all of your projected incomes and compare with the 80% of present take home figure.

Your problem is now identified and quantified. You have a goal. If it is severe as I think it will be, you will have to pursue aggressive investment strategies such as real estate to catch up. You might even have to “change your lifestyle.”

Otherwise, you will end up spending your Golden Years working at the Golden Arches. How embarrassing to have one of the neighborhood kids recognize you. “Hey, ain’t that Tommy’s Grandpa?” And then to throw ketchup-doused, Tater Tots at you!

Copyright 2005 Bill Young. Bill is a former bank mortgage officer and licensed financial consultant. He is now a Personal Wealth Consultant, helping clients to Quit the Rat Race and become financially independent at Any age! Baby Boomers might want to check out his Emergency Retirement Plan at http://IRAInvestorsExchange.Com. If you are facing foreclosure and want to save your home: http://SaveYourHomeLLC.Com if you must get rid of it: http://WeTakeOverPayments.Com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bill_Young