Making Good Debt Decisions

Debt is no stranger to most Americans. Credit is becoming easier to obtain and people are charging well beyond their means and at interest rates reaching 20% or more. While "debt" is a scary word that usually is seen in a negative light, not all debt is bad. You can actually make intelligent decisions and use debt as a vehicle for building personal wealth.

Being intelligent with money and making good choices means you need to understand the difference between good debt and bad debt. Consider purchases "bad" that immediately lose their value as soon as you purchase it, or a purchase that has no potential to increase in value. Those are bad debts!

There are many times when it's almost impossible to avoid bad debt completely. For example, if you need a new vehicle, you may need to obtain financing. A car loan is actually considered a bad debt, because once you drive it off the show room floor, it loses some of it's value; and the car will continue to lose value every day that you drive it. If you're unable to pay cash for a car, then you have little other options when it comes time to get another vehicle.

What about credit cards and store credit? Plastic money can be extremely tempting, with promotional offers for low or no interest repayment options and the ability to make smaller payments on a larger purchase when the money is tight. If used widely, many credit cards can actually help people leverage their spending power and their wealth. Unfortunately, most people aren't always able to pay off their credit card balance in full each month, and the resulting interest charges from carrying a balance from one month to the next are often quite staggering.

For people who fall for the store credit promotional offers- the ability to save 10, 15 or even 20% off the current day's order is tempting enough for most people to open a new store credit account. The problem with store credit offers and discounts like these is that if you miss a payment or carry the balance to the following month, often the interest rate is charged at a higher rate than the amount of money you will save on the purchase.

While most people can understand the downfalls of bad debt, many may be confused to learn that there is actually debt that is considered "good". Any debt that is actually an "investment debt" and has the potential to create value is considered a good use of your debt. For example, real estate loans are usually good debts because the land and/or building can increase in value. Student loans are considered good debt because you are investing in the probability of obtaining a higher paid job once you graduate college.

Other debt that is considered a good choice is debts that are tax-deductible and have the potential to generate wealth over the long term. If you use a tax-deductible, home equity loan with a fixed, 6 or 7% interest in order to pay for a high interest credit card, your new debt is a good choice.

Unless you are independently wealthy, it's almost impossible to avoid all types of financing and debt throughout your lifetime. In order to keep it under control however, you should limit the amount of "bad" debts you acquire and try to maximize your debt by financing your purchases with as much "good" debt as possible.

Teach Your Children How to Handle Money and Stay Out of Debt

The schools and parents are failing today's children in a very important area - money management and economics. Many of the young people never take a course in Economics. A few take it in college. People are not being taught how to manage their money and how the economy works, and then are unable to teach their own children. This is a cycle that needs to be stopped.

Without a good understanding of economics people will believe whatever the government or the media tell them about why taxes need to be raised, or why we need to impose unfair tariffs, and so on. No matter what you think about Reagan as a president, he was right about his economic policy: let people hold onto more of their money and the taxes collected will actually increase.

If you were old enough in 1980 to remember what was happening, you might remember how the United States was in a terrible period of high inflation (interest to buy a house was in the double digits), low morale, and a weak economy. Remember the term "malaise?" The whole country was described as being in a malaise.

Then Reagan became president and lowered taxes, encouraged us to work hard and invest in IRAs that earned 10% tax free interest, and told us to be proud to be Americans. It worked.

The nation had such a dramatic turnaround economically that Reagan won a landslide in 1984. Even the media couldn't deter people from voting for Reagan. He won 49 states, losing only in Minnesota, which was his opponent's home state.

What does this have to do with money management and economics? For one, it showed how lowering taxes really does increase tax revenue. It showed how if the government lets Americans keep more of their hard-earned money they will invest it wisely and create wealth.

Americans took their money and invested in businesses. That in turn created more jobs for the low and middle classes. Charitable giving increased during the 80s when people gave more to the poor.

So what does this history lesson teach us about handling money? It teaches us that lowering taxes is always a good thing. It teaches us that living within our means is necessary to keep out of debt. And it teaches us that it is good to be generous and help others.

Today we have grown accustomed to paying for everything with credit. We buy our cars, our vacations, and our toys on credit. We even pay for our education on credit. Then each month when the bills come due we struggle to pay the minimum amounts due.

It's not easy to get out from under a lot of debt, but it is possible. It requires a lot of discipline. It might require selling the new sports car or the new 4x4 to get an older vehicle. It might even require selling the house with the super-big mortgage and buying a smaller home that you can better afford.

Selling your home might not be such a bad idea. Sell the home that takes up so much of your income and buy a duplex or fourplex. Then, you rent out all the units but the one that you live in. That way other people are paying your mortgage.

In closing, keep this in mind: If the minimum payment on your credit card debt requires more than 15% of your income, it is out of control. Take care of the problem now before it gets any worse. If you need to, shop around for a good, trustworthy and knowledgeable financial counselor and get help to reduce your debt.

Be sure you don't let this problem destroy your marriage. This is a temporary set back and there is no need to blame the other person. Work together and start digging your way out of debt.

If you can stick with it and succeed you will be stronger and wiser for having lived through it. You can then teach your own children how to not make the same mistakes you made.

How Do People Get into Debt?

There are two main ways that people find themselves crushed by the weight of their debts. Some people find that debt hit them like a ton of bricks when they lost their job, or experienced a medical issue that resulted in the inability to work or excessive medical expenses. Other people find that debt has sort of "snuck up" on them, over years of casually using credit cards for little purchases that they just didn't have the cash to pay for; or from taking on large purchases like a new vehicle or a home mortgage- only to find that unexpected expenses or changes in income have made it near impossible to keep up with all of the monthly payments.

Regardless of how you got into debt, it's agreed that it's definitely easier to get into debt than it is to get out of it!

Unavoidable Debt

Sometimes, it is completely impossible for an individual to avoid debt. As mentioned above, there are times when you unexpectedly lose your job, and suddenly you have to find a way to pay for all of the expenses you were paying for previously with your full time job on the new, lower, unemployment income (if you qualify). Finding a new job isn't always as easy as applying, and some people go months without a steady income. It's easy to see how these individuals can wind up in over their heads in debt.

Another unavoidable situation that results in large amounts of debt can be when you or a family member is injured or becomes ill. If your health insurance isn't adequate to cover your medical expenses, you can quickly be overcome by excessive medical bills and not have enough left over to pay for your regular monthly expenses. This scenario also has a tendency to result in a "double whammy" because if your medical issue results in your inability to work, and your inability to work causes you problems paying for your medical expenses and other obligations- debt is going to take over.

Avoidable Debt

For every person who has unavoidable debts, there are probably 10 who are in over their heads in debt that could have been avoided. These are people who have relied on credit cards to stretch their income a little further- and then over time, and with the help of excessive credit card interest rates and late fee charges, found that they were suddenly having difficulty keeping up with all of their expenses. Many people use credit when they don't have the cash available to buy something they want, and don't take the time to consider how long it will take to pay off that impulse purchase. It's usually not until it's too late before people realize just how far they've gone into debt by using credit cards to make purchases and then not paying them off the moment the statement arrives.

Retail therapy is a common reason for people to find themselves overwhelmed with debt. People who are unhappy about something and make themselves feel better by shopping. Often, people who don't have as much money as they would like later find themselves at the mall, armed with a few good credit cards to forget the troubles- or find themselves taking a few days vacation, always with the intention of paying the bills off right away.

Whether you are in debt because of unavoidable situations or avoidable circumstances, debt is debt, and it is much harder going off than it was going on- just like weight loss!

Are You Financially Illiterate?

A new generation has emerged. The America we live in now is NOT the America
Our freedom seeking founders envisioned. The days of one income households and
Stable jobs with good pay are over. We are now faced with mountains of consumer
Debts and employers who care about the bottom line more than their people.
Stay at home moms have been replaced by daycare workers. Dad no longer comes
home at 5pm every night. His job demands more time and he is trapped.
We have all been the victims of silver tongued devils with slick advertising campaigns
screaming zero interest until 2015 and no money down.
Our suburban utopia has been transformed to a prison.
We no longer work to enjoy life, we work to pay our debtors.

Credit cards are being used for everything from meals to gasoline.
Are we really so ignorant that we don't know that a $3,000 dollar credit
card balance with a 19% interest rate will take 39 YEARS TO PAY OFF?!
The food we bought with it wont last that long and neither will the gasoline.

So the question is how do we escape? A second job? A home equity loan?
The latest real estate guru's no money down system? NO!
The answer is to create multiple streams of passive residual income AND
to become financially literate. Most people are financially mislead and uneducated.
Need proof? When was the last time you bought something on a credit card that
is producing income for you today?

Take massive action now! Stop trading hours for dollars. Stop it!
Stop making credit card companies rich. Stop depriving your kids of
quality time because your slave master says you can't have a day off.
Become self educated and reliant. Our schools teach us how to dissect a frog but not
How to file income taxes. I dissect frogs all the time don't you?
Find a way to create and control markets and make residual income.
Find a business you can work from your computer that once built will
continue without you. Read books such as the Cash Flow Quadrant,
Think and Grow Rich, Why We Want You To Be Rich, Smart Couples Finish
First etc…Learn about compound interest and the Rule of 72. Learn how
To own your life instead of a job or a small business owning you.

The bottom line is we all have dreams and goals. I should say we all
Had dreams and goals. Some of us have forgotten how to dream.
You have two choices. You can either forget about your dreams and reduce
Them in size or you can make more money, have less or zero debt and have
Free time. Which do you choose?