Credit Card Debt

Not all life preservers are good

If you are drowning in credit card debt and you need treatment to help keep you afloat, be careful what you enroll in. If you have been doing research, and we certainly hope you have, then there is a good chance that you came across several sites that bad mouth professional credit card debt relief. Those are the very same sites that endorse filing for bankruptcy and paying off credit card minimums. The only reason they glorify those alternative is because they work in that industry. Here's the real deal with the "other credit card debt alternatives.

Like the plague

If you are drowning in credit card debt, we recommend that you avoid filing for bankruptcy like the plague. The average consumer thinks that filing for bankruptcy will help them recover overnight and wash away the problems immediately. Well, while bankruptcy does take care of the credit card debt overnight, the repercussions can be catastrophic. The results of bankruptcy are long term. Bankruptcy stays on your credit report for somewhere near 10 years, making it difficult to obtain credit, buy a home, get life insurance, or sometimes even get a job.

And if you are still considering defeating those credit card debts by paying minimums, we have some news for you. A $10,000 debt at 18.5% interest typically takes 32 years and $24,500 to pay off if you don't pay more than the required monthly minimum. But when you enroll in a debt consolidation plan or consumer credit counseling, you lower your interest rate dramatically, allowing more money to go towards the principle. The same amount of debt could be paid off in about five years with help from a debt consolidation plan.

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