Consolidate, before it's too late - credit card debt consolidation.
When Diners Club released the first credit card in 1950, credit cards revolutionized the purchasing experience.
Credit card issuers gave consumers limited credit that, at times, even surpassed their own personal savings. Credit allowed them to buy the items they could not usually afford with a cash purchase. Credit also provided the convenience of not needing to carry wads of cash.
Today, on average, American households possess 4 major credit cards, such as American Express, Visa, or MasterCard, or a total of 13 payment cards including debt cards and store cards aside from credit cards. There are, about 1.3 billion credit cards in circulation in the United States.
However, if you think that credit cards have made the lives of modern American consumers easier, think again.
Current statistics show that the average credit card debt for each household per month is $4,800. These high balances lead to 1.3 million credit card holders declaring bankruptcy in 2003.
If you think you are unaffected by this, think again. At retirement, most Americans can only expect to receive about 37% percent of their annual retirement income because of debt payment, leaving them to depend on the government, family and charity.
That’s scary! Before you find yourself in the same situation, it might be time to evaluate your credit card and other debt.
One way of resolving credit card and other debt that you might consider is debt consolidation.
So what is debt consolidation?
Deep in debt? Maybe we can help. Get a free debt quote with LifeLine Debt Solutions and see what we can save you.
In a nutshell, debt consolidation is taking all your credit card debt balances, and often other debt, and consolidating them into one monthly payment. Then, you don’t have to worry about managing each payment individually. It may also provide you some additional benefits:
- Reduce interest payments
- Waive late and other fees
- Low, stable monthly payments
- Debt repayment in a shorter time
- Credit score improvement
- Save money in the long run
You will also need to know that there are actually two major types of debt consolidation.
First is through a Credit Counseling firm. They assist consumers by consolidating all their monthly payments into one single payment and then disperse this to the creditors on behalf of the consumer until they are debt-free.
The other type is through a home equity loan or other secured loan. With this, you exchange unsecured debt (such as credit card debt) for a secured debt (a debt backed by specific assets such as real estate).
While debt consolidation isn’t a magic balm that will drive all your credit card debt problems away immediately, it will make paying all your debt easier and might save you money in the long run.
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