In my first article in this series I outlined many benefits you get from working with a credit counseling agency. But there are also drawbacks to enrolling in a DMP (debt management plan) in order to get credit card payment relief. And the concerns are not minor, which is why the word WARNING is capitalized. As with any of the ... Read More »

A new debt relief mailer, which you will see below, poses as an official document but in fact leads to a potential sale for Debt Defense Services according to the tipster (send in your tips here). What do you think, is the mailer deceptive or perfectly fine from your point of view? Add your comment below. An amazing reader CLK ... Read More »

A couple of years ago I wrote an article asking, pleading really, for any debt settlement company (DSC) to explain to me how they could ever possibly “do whatever is in the best interests of the consumer” when they are unable to give any legal advice in what are inherently legal matters. For example, as a matter of law they ... Read More »

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia published a paper by Stephanie Wilshusen which made some very enlightened observations about why consumers struggle with getting out of debt. In the paper, “Meeting the Demand for Debt Relief” it describes the options available to borrowers who seek assistance in managing their debts and discusses the information and incentive problems associated with these ... Read More »

The Federal Trade Commission just released the seal on actions it took to shut down a debt relief company that has appeared on this site before. – Source In an announcement made today, the FTC filed a complaint under seal against A to Z Marketing, Apex Members, Apex Solutions, Backend, Expert Processing Center, Smart Funding, William D. Goodrich Attorney, WDG ... Read More »

The following is a guest post. And while I personally might not agree with some of the points of view, I think it is important for people to hear from different sides. Given what I think is going to be an exploding retirement crisis I am now more convinced that for those near or over 50 with little to no ... Read More »

I really do read all the comments, all the Twitter messages you send me and appreciate the feedback. Over time a common statement I get is about my recommendations is that people think I suggest bankruptcy too often. For more information on this topic, please see all the links in my free guide about how to deal with debt. So ... Read More »

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling sent out a press release today claiming their survey uncovered public misconceptions about credit counseling agencies. The press release listed five areas the NFCC felt consumers struggled with in knowing the truth about credit counseling. But some of the points the NFCC felt they needed to clarify appear to actually misrepresent the truth to ... Read More »

Consumer credit counseling is one of the options people turn to when dealing with debt issues so let’s take an honest look at the pros and cons of the program and what it has to offer. Consumer credit counseling in one form or another has been around as debt proraters, debt lumpers, or debt consolidators since the late 1930s. But ... Read More »

This calculator demonstrates the future retirement financial loss you may experience when electing to repay your debt with an extended repayment program offered by creditors, credit counseling or debt settlement, rather than intervene on your debt with solutions like bankruptcy which terminate the debt quickly and allow you to resume saving again for retirement. Calculate how much repaying your debt ... Read More »

With a more uncertain future for those headed towards retirement it makes logical sense that we need to make preparing for our own retirement a priority in our lives. All indications are there will be less financial help available for us when we do eventually retire and that will most likely be later than most expect. So considering the importance ... Read More »

A tipster (send in your tips here) reached out to me from inside a very recognized consumer credit counseling organization and shared with me their concerns about corners they felt were being cut. I’ll share the comments they shared with me, minus the company name, and I’d love to hear you opinion of how widespread you feel these practices are. ... Read More »

It’s probably a bad idea to start off with a negative but here it is, people in the debt relief industry are going to hate this article. Even friends of mine in the industry will be bummed. And why, because this article will tell you everything you need to look for when checking out a debt relief company to work ... Read More »

A reader forwarded me a link to a site called Glassdoor where people can do salary searches for specific jobs by salary or opening. The results are kind of interesting. If you sought to be paid the most as a credit counselor, according to Glassdoor, the last place you want to work is Arizona Federal Credit Union. The highest paying ... Read More »

This is a story that I’ve been working on for a few weeks. I’ve been asking people and groups for feedback and information to write this but what I’ve run into, is a wall. I have received some feedback from groups and people that don’t wish to be publicly identified to protect themselves but what I have learned has been ... Read More »