Are Credit Card Debt Reduction Programs Worth the Expense?
Credit card debt reduction programs are attractive to just about anyone struggling just to make the minimum payments—let alone actually paying down on the original debt. There are a number of different options for paying down or eliminating your credit card debt, including:
Credit Counseling
Debt Consolidation
Debt Negotiation
While each promises to solve all of your financial problems in the shortest time possible, nothing is free including these three debt relief options. Are any of these credit card debt reduction programs worth the expense?
Credit Counseling
The idea behind credit counseling is simple: A credit counselor will work on your behalf to accomplish three basic goals:
This all sounds great but there is still a 75% failure rate for people entering into a credit card debt reduction program. Why? Because these programs are NOT designed to get you out of debt as quick as possible so there is little progress in the first 1-3 years. Also, the repayment plans offer no flexibility when emergencies arise (like a sudden car repair bill, etc.). If you miss a payment, you are penalized and go further into debt.
Debt Consolidation
Debt consolidation sounds like a great idea because it rolls all of your unsecured debts up into one BIG debt—but at a lower interest rate. However, this debt reduction plan has several potential problems:
Need Collateral: The unsecured interest rates on your credit cards may be sky high but at least you won’t lose your car, home, or some other large asset when you can’t make the payments. A debt consolidation loan requires collateral of some kind which ultimately puts your assets at risk.
Credit Markets are Tight: Yeah, just try getting a loan without “platinum” level credit right now!
Debt Level Doesn’t Decrease: Your overall debt, which is the real problem, has not decreased with a debt consolidation loan. The payments may be lower but it will likely take you longer to pay your debts off.
Debt Settlement or Negotiation
Debt settlement is probably one of the most attractive credit card debt reduction programs out there because it promises to “wipe away” 40-50% of your debts. Don’t be fooled: This is actually one of the least productive debt elimination strategies out there for several reasons:
Ruins Credit: Creditors may be willing to “wipe away” 40% or more of your debt—but they want the balance in one lump-sum payment. To raise this cash, you must stop paying your unsecured debts for months or years. In this time, your credit score will plummet and ultimately raise secured and unsecured interest rates for years to come.
Fees Mask True Savings: Most debt settlement companies charge 25% or more on the total “debt write down” for each successful negotiation. Plus, there are set-up fees, maintenance fees, and other hidden charges that quickly add up to thousands. It can take a year or more before your overall debt burden decreases.
Increases Debt: When you don’t pay your credit cards and other bills on time, you are charged late fees/over limit fees. So your debt is actually increasing while you are saving up to pay off each settlement—thus eating further into that “40-60%” savings promised by the debt settlement companies!
The Money Merge Account™ System: Credit Card Accelerated Debt Reduction
If you want to decrease your credit card debt in the least amount of time possible without borrowing more money, ruining your credit, or filing for bankruptcy—then the Money Merge Account system is the solution.
Credit card companies love it when you make a minimum payment because almost all of your payment is applied to the interest charges. They use complex software to calculate the best time to assess their interest charges and ultimately keep you in debt longer.
The Money Merge Account system is powered by a sophisticated software suite of its own that tells you when to leverage your existing income to pay off the maximum amount of principle debt. This may sound simple enough but this complex debt reduction software is taking into account not only your existing income—but ALL of your debts (including how much you owe, interest rates, the term of the loan—even cash back bonuses).
The software then instructs you when to make a payment on each debt and in what amount—to cancel interest and strategically pay your debts off in the quickest time possible. The credit card companies have been using sophisticated software to keep you in debt for as long as possible—isn’t it about time you leveled the playing field and used debt reduction software to get out of debt as fast as possible?
All you need to get started is:
Savings Account
Checking Account
Money Merge Account System
Don’t be fooled by other so-called credit card debt reduction programs that average a 75% failure rate—they don’t even compare with the Money Merge Account program!