Economics Finance

We are a country in debt and that debt can get out of control quickly which is why there is an ever growing need for consumer credit counseling and credit repair services.  These businesses specialize in helping people who are in debt over their heads and need help getting out of debt and back into financial stability.  They are experts in helping people get out debt and get back on their feet.

How do you know if you need to find a consumer credit counseling and credit repair service?  Ask yourself these questions:

Continue reading ‘Consumer Credit Counseling and Credit Repair Services’ »

Debt settlement companies are everywhere these days. With 57% of Americans’ living pay check to paycheck the problem of debt in the US is growing. The average American household is more the $18,000 in debt, not counting a mortgage. In fact, discretionary debt in America has now reached 2 trillion.

With so many people looking for a way out of their debt and falling behind in their payments, where should a person to turn for help? College students with easy access to credit cards, to seniors trying to continue their style of living with all of the losses sustained in their retirement portfolios, to massive job loss in America, the situation continues to worsen. So how does a person find relief from the escalating interest rates, over limit fees, and the inability to pay predatory lenders?

It is not that easy. One the internet you see claims “cut your debt in half”, “slash your payments”, “wipe out your debt in 12-36 months”, “stop harassment calls from creditors”, “improve your credit rating” In reality, even if the creditor settles for half, your total costs will be more due to fees, account charges and taxes. Is debt settlement the answer?

Debt settlement involves negotiating with a lender on an outstanding balance in an attempt to get them to take less than is owed. You can try negotiating yourself or deal with a debt settlement company. Continue reading ‘The Dangers of Debt Settlement – Consumer Alert’ »

The biggest problem with missing a tax due date is that it gets a little less stressful every day. April 15th is awful, April 16th is bad, but after a while, you might notice that the IRS hasn’t caught up to you. But after a few weeks, it fades into the background: maybe they’ll forget, maybe they filed your information for you. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. The IRS often takes a while to catch up to delinquent taxpayers, but they definitely try to ensure that people who miss filing have a good reason to file late taxes.

The first incentive the IRS uses is that even if they’re not keeping in touch, you’re accumulating fees and penalties. There are multiple fineable offenses associated with the failure to file taxes on time, even if you do end up getting it done late, and they add up pretty fast. In addition, the IRS charges a brutal rate of interest before you file late taxes — generally, the rate is 1% per month. With your debt accumulating so fast, it’s a good idea to hurry up and slow this process down.

Once you do file late taxes, the situation improves. First, you’ll stop accumulating so many fines. Second, the interest you owe drops to about a quarter of a percentage point per month — one of the lowest-interest borrowings available to any consumer. When you file late taxes, the IRS will ask you to pay them back pretty quickly (immediately, or over a period of months), but this is also not as daunting as it might seem. Continue reading ‘File Late Taxes – How To, Why To’ »