Tag Archives: military

Soldiers Wounded by Debt, Not Bullets

by Paul Kiel, ProPublica, and Mitchell Hartman, Marketplace, May 15, 2013, 5:50 a.m.by Paul Kiel and Krista Kjellman Schmidt, ProPublica, May 15 This story was co-produced with Marketplace. Listen to their coverage. Seven years after Congress banned payday-loan companies from charging exorbitant interest rates to service members, many of the nation’s military bases are surrounded [...]

How to Discharge Your Student Loans if You Are in the Military, Police, or Teacher

More and more at GetOutOfDebt.org we are getting questions about how to get your student loans eliminated, forgiven, or discharged if you are in or served in the military, police officer, teacher, librarian, or other public service employee. It is absurdly ironic that members of the military can go into harms way, fight in combat [...]

Got Student Loans While on Active Duty in Army. I’ve Defaulted. – Justin

“Dear Steve, 12 years of military service. 1 bad decision to get student loans while active duty. I have accrued some debt with student loans while on active duty and have defaulted because I am overseas and don’t have the info for the lenders and now Im afraid they are going to take my tax [...]

Retired From the Navy and Now Can’t Sleep Because of Our Debt. – Elio

“Dear Steve, I am so glad to have come across your website. I am presently in a situation for which I need help. I have recently retired from the Navy. Unfortunately my income has dropped by approximately 70% and my expenditures have increased, i.e. monthly co payment/deductibles for Health/Dental insurance. I thought I could manage [...]

I’m in the Military Reserves. How Can I Get My Student Loans Forgiven? – Kolby

“Dear Steve, Military Member in the Reserves, Student loan forgiveness and lender credit freeze at a 6% interest rate How does the loan forgiveness work for military members? I have been in the Army Reserves for the past 2 years does the program apply to me? I was also wondering about the 6% interest freeze [...]

Recently Retired from Military and in a Big Debt Hole From Job Loss. – Matt

“Dear Steve, I am recently military retiree (Jun 2012) who was making around $135K, upon retirement and losing my civilian job a few months ago I found myself in a real hole living off about 40% of $135K or about $48K and a small teaching job of $900 per month. TO make a long story [...]

My Narcolepsy Has Left My Army Husband And I in Trouble. Military OneSource Sent Me to You. – Leslee

“Dear Steve, I am wondering if you know a way to help us. We are a family of three. My husband, my six year old daughter and myself. We are stationed in Hawaii. My husband is the US Army. We are in very much need of financial guidance. In the last year, everything has plummeted. [...]

Credit Cards and Government Student Loans Need Debt Relief and Debt Advice to Enter Military. – Paul

Sir, I wanted to ask you what my options are concerning my credit card and government student loan debt, as it seems that everyone has special interests and they are not primarily interested in helping you first when it comes to debt relief. When I went to college in 2003 right out of high school [...]

CFPB Targets Those That Try to Financially Scam Military Servicemembers and Their Families

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently announce their new initiative aimed at scammers that try to take advantage of military service members, their families, and veterans. The Repeat Offenders Against Military Database (ROAM) is designed as a single focal point of information about financial scams for local and national law enforcement to utilize to quickly [...]

We Are Working Hard But Not Getting Anywhere on Getting Out of Debt. – Jenn

“Dear Steve, My husband and I are both working everyday– with No days off– we are JUST PAYING our maxed out credit card bills– $45,000– + –mortgage on our house–$122,000– home equity $42,000-etc.- the bills never go away– they keep getting bigger– and we do not even use them anymore– late fees, CRAZY interest, etc. [...]

I’m an E5 in the Army. Should I Go With Wites & Kapten Instead of Bankruptcy? – Vic

“Dear Steve, Well i’m about 40k in debt. I’m and E5 in the army. I have a security clearance. I got a letter from wites and kapetan. Its sounds decent. Has anyone heard of them. should i go with them. I can not file bankrupcy because of my clearance. if i did that, my clearance [...]

I’m Retired Military. What’s the Best Way Out of My Debt Mess? – Brian

I retired from the Military after 26 years. Got a job, but at about 40 percent of what I was making. After draining the savings because It took me 5 months to find work. I have 2 major problems: 1) 65,000 credit card debit costing me 2200 month in minimum payments. We are coming up [...]

Mortgage Forbearance for Deployed Reservists? – Karen

The Soldiers and Sailors act is intended to protect credit during military service but, when looking into forbearance for mortgage during a deployment, the mortgage company (first horizon) indicated that they would report any modification to the credit bureaus. Our household income went DOWN more than 60% as a result of military pay in the [...]

I Need Student Loan Forgiveness. – Jim

I am a sixty one year old male, married and I have five children (three steps and 2 bilogical). Many years ago I took out student loans totally aproximately $12,000.00. My wife at that time and myself got into financial trouble and had to file bankruptcy. I was told by our attorney that my student [...]

Military Members Drowning in Debt

My friend Michelle Singletary of the Washington Post had a great column recently talking about the amount of debt military service members are carrying. It’s a topic worthy of discussion and awareness. The article points out that: Military personnel and spouses are generally heavier users of credit cards than civilians, the survey found, and they [...]