My dear friend Liz Weston has just published an update to her book “Deal With Your Debt: free yourself from what you owe.” On Amazon it is available for just $15 or so.
Liz is a knowledgeable and talented journalist that covers the money, credit and debt world. I’ve know her for years and I’m proud to say that I do know her. She’s always covered the debt world as she sees it.
This book by Weston is a breath of fresh air for those looking for real world practical advice. It’s not the type of “debt is horrible and you are a sinner if you have debt,” approach. Instead weston lays out the practical reality of being in debt in real and understandable terms.
People with serious debt problems may try to do too much too fast and then give up in despair. Or they might pay off the wrong kinds of debt, stranding themselves with too little flexibility to survive a financial crisis. In their zeal to pay off debt, some people neglect other important goals, such as saving for retirement, a home, or college, and ultimately end up hundreds of thousands of dollars poorer than they might have been.
Worse yet, they might be encouraged to continue fighting a battle they simply can’t win.
If you’re having debt problems, you need information, advice, and a clear-eyed assessment of your financial situation so that you can make the best choices for yourself and your family. Short-term fixes and inspirational slogans might help, but you shouldn’t choose them at the expense of your long-term economic health.
Even if you’re not in a crisis, it will help you enormously to view debt for what it is: a financial tool that’s virtually essential for building wealth, reaching your goals, and living happily. – Source
When I read such down to earth open talk about debt from Liz, frankly, I just want to hug her for being dead honest with readers and people who need help.
Being totally debt free is never the ultimate goal. It’s finding a balance between the life you want to lead and manageable obligations that are reasonable for your income. Weston nails it on the head in her new book.
The book also does an exceptional job of laying out the dangers of borrowing or raiding retirement funds to pay off debt. Liz points out a key fact many advisers totally miss in their recommendations, that tapping the retirement funds will cause you to lose out. “You lose out on the tax-deferred returns that your money could earn in the plan if you left it alone. Every $10,000 you take out of a 401(k), for example, could cost you $100,000 or more in future retirement income, assuming it had been left alone to grow at an 8% average annual rate for 30 years.”
Credit Cards Are Not Evil
More straight talk from Weston helps to dispel the outright myth that some prominent financial gurus like Dave Ramsey insist on espousing. West lays out why credit cards are not evil and do provide significant consumer protections when not abused.
So many times the easy way to sell debt help is by selling the fear of credit cards and to vilify the banks and taint credit cards with the prohibition era stink of alcohol. It’s just not factual, although it is sensational.
Blaming the credit card for debt problems and swearing off credit cards is like having a traffic accident and swearing off driving. It’s not a logical or reasonable approach to take. Liz lays this all out in Deal With Your Debt.
Bottom Line
I can’t think of enough words to use to tell all my readers that buying Deal With Your Debt is a smart thing to do. It’s well written, provides concrete practical advice, talks truthfully about the reality of beating back debt, and is a great resource to have on hand.
I’m off to buy my copy of the book right now. You should to, click here.
Get Out of Debt Guy – Twitter, G+, Facebook
Rate Our Site - Leave a Testimonial
Deal With Debt Acknowledgement
Debt can be a complex topic. I’m grateful for all the expertise so freely given over the years by financial planners, credit score experts, bankruptcy attorneys, and others who help people deal with their debt. Among those who deserve special acknowledgment: Gerri Detweiler of DebtCollectionAnswers.com; Henry J. Sommer, former president of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys; Steve Rhode, the Get Out of Debt Guy at www.getoutofdebt.org; and Craig Watts and Anthony Sprauve of FICO. Thanks, too, to all the readers who have shared their problemsand triumphs with debt over the years.
