Over the course of making it through life, we have decision points that either makes or breaks us. It could be about educational decisions, career and the like. They each have their own take on how well we live our life but none is as unique as the financial decisions we make. These has the lingering effects that we feel well into the twilight of our lives. And getting on the wrong end of those financial decisions could mean debt.
Debt can come in many forms just as getting rid of it has many options to choose from. The two most common alternatives are debt settlement and debt consolidation and choosing one from the other has different sets of pros and cons. It all depends on your current financial status and need.
Debt consolidation loans require getting financial aid so that you can pay off all your other debts. The whole idea is to combine your debts by paying them all off and maintaining the one loan that you used to pay. The end result will be a single and more manageable payment instead of multiple accounts. Another target is a lower monthly payment. There are personal loans that last for 5 years, this allowing you to distribute your balance over a longer payment period. It will result in a lower monthly payment. That lowered payment is also a result of low interest rates. Getting a low interest loan is important to make this happen. That can be accomplished if you have a good credit score or you have a collateral. But if not, then you may have to consider your other options.
Getting a loan to combine your debts also require you to have a steady income. You are not reducing your debt balance. Despite the lower monthly contribution, you will still end up paying for everything that you owe. If you cannot afford that, then your obvious option is debt settlement.
As a debt relief option, debt settlement is a great option because it aim for the reduction of your balance. This is done through debt negotiation. You can do it on your own or you can hire a professional to help you out. The whole process begins by defaulting on your payments deliberately. You want to convince your creditor that you are in a financial crisis and not paying your debts is one of the effective ways to do that. Instead of sending payments, you will put that amount aside for your settlement fund. You will then concentrate your efforts on convincing your creditor that you cannot meet payments anymore. You will haggle to pay pennies for every dollar that you owe. When you reach an agreement, you will pay only a percentage of your debt and have the rest of it forgiven.
As appealing as the whole reduction may sound, you have to remember that defaulting on payments will decrease your credit score significantly. If you do not feel comfortable with this and you have a steady income anyway, you can always opt for debt consolidation loans instead.