“Dear Steve,
I have 13K of credit card debt with high interest rates on top of a very large student loan bill. I make 6 figures, but find it very difficult to pay these debts down. I’m considering a sweep loan to pay all the credit cards off and lower the interest rate.
What recommendations do you have for choosing a sweep loan, if in fact you believe that these are good ideas given my situation.
Jonathan”
Dear Jonathan,
When you say ‘sweep loan’ I assume you are talking about a debt consolidation loan. The best debt consolidation loans are going to be a cash out refinance of your current home, a home equity line of credit or a balance transfer offer to move your current credit card debt over to a 0% intro rate offer. They do still exist. Click here to look at credit card deals. All of those options are dependent on you having good credit with a credit score above 720. If you don’t know what your credit score is, you can click here to get your credit score.
If your credit has taken a hit and your credit score is lower than 720 then you will have less attractive options. Without getting a debt consolidation loan you could use the debt snowball approach and knock out your credit card debt as quickly as possible. You could look into a debt management solution but while that might lower your interest rates, you’ll also take a shot to your credit report.
Outside of those options, you could also consider borrowing from family or friends for a cheap way to eliminate your credit card debt.
