Category: Debt

If you’re struggling financially, is there ever a good way to ask your parents for help? Read More...

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Casey Bond

The idea of borrowing money from friends or family has always made me feel…gross.

In all honesty, I’d rather be broke than deal with the icky feeling of owing someone money.

There’s something about introducing a financial transaction into a personal relationship that almost always ends up in some sort of discomfort — especially when parents are involved.

One day, you’re the independent, successful adult you struggled so hard to become, proud of your accomplishments and your ability to handle your shit.

The next day, you’re once again that awkward sixteen-year-old begging for gas money. It’s humiliating.

But sometimes asking your parents for financial help is unavoidable. In fact, about half of college students expect their parents to support them financially for up to two years after graduation.

Maybe it’s not so bad to ask your parents for money.

While your first instinct is to cringe at the idea of asking your parents for cash, the reality is that it might not be that bad.

First of all, they’re your parents. They’ve taken care of you, and they probably expect you to eventually be able to return the favor. They’ll always love you and probably be willing to help out.

Plus, they’ve had years to grow their wealth while you’re still getting used to the idea of paying someone for running water. When you combine your need for financial help with the potential to learn from your parents, it doesn’t seem so bad to get a little help and encouragement.

So whether you’re struggling to find post-college employment and need to move back in for a while, or you’re a few thousand dollars shy of owning your first home, here’s how to navigate the tricky conversation of asking for financial help from Mom and Dad:

Decide if you need a gift or a loan.

Before you even broach the subject, determine exactly what it is you’re asking for.

Depending on your mom or dad’s personality, you might be more likely to receive a loan than a handout. If so, figure out exactly how much you need to borrow, how long it will take to repay the loan, and whether or not you will also pay interest.

Many parents like the idea of a loan because you are showing a certain level of responsibility. You don’t just ask your parents for money; you make it clear you’re asking for help and you plan to repay the money. This can be a good strategy.

Many parents won’t even require interest. Or, if they do, they charge 1% or 2% APR. The good news is that there are websites that can help you create these types of agreements with each other.

One app is Frank, which makes it easy to set up loans between friends and family, and manage repayment — all without awkwardness. Sometimes you just need to have that third party (even if it’s not a real person) to provide a bit of a buffer.

On the other hand, you might know very well there’s no way you will be able to pay the money back. In that case, you’re asking your parents for a gift, not a loan.

Instead of making promises you can’t keep, be prepared to state your case as to what, exactly, you need and why your parents should be willing to make the investment.

Which brings us to the next step.

Have a solid case to present.

You might technically be an adult, but in your parents’ eyes, you will always be their child. However, this is not a situation in which you want to be viewed as immature or childish. You need to appear prepared, confident, and accountable.

If you’re going to ask your parents for money as a gift, you need to have an action plan ready to present. Write it down, review it several times, and believe in it. Know the weak points so you can properly address them.

Talk to your parents calmly and explain your situation clearly. Be prepared to negotiate. And above all else, don’t get emotional or attempt to manipulate their emotions.

It. Will. Backfire.

Don’t compromise your parents’ finances.

How to Ask Your Parents for Money

Some parents are willing to sacrifice everything to help out their kids, no questions asked. Others prefer to send their children to the School of Hard Knocks, even if they have to repeat a few grades.

If your parents are more like the former, be especially sensitive to how your request for financial assistance will impact their well-being.

Will Mom have to dip into her 401(k) to cover your student loan debt? Is Dad planning to work a few more years so you can get back on your feet? Be real about the impact you will have on their lives. They’ve already given you so much. Should they be sacrificing so you can be a digital nomad or get an expensive graduate degree?

It’s one thing to ask for $1,000 to help you cover unexpected car repairs. It’s quite another to ask for $15,000 to pay off the last of your student debt.

Ask yourself if you’re really okay with being the person who jeopardizes your parents’ golden years after they’ve worked so hard — for decades — to reach them.

Yeah, didn’t think so.

Should you even do it?

Turning to the Bank of Mom and Dad can be tempting when you’re seriously short on cash. But there’s a host of potential landmines when you ask for money from the people who used to change your diapers.

First, ask yourself if this is going to cause problems with boundaries you’ve been trying to enforce. It’s hard to make demands of your parents if you keep turning to them for financial help.

Consider whether you’re looking to your parents for financial support because it seems easy or because that’s really your only option.

You’re a grownass adult, so if you have the ability to do a little extra work to solve the problem yourself, try that before you ask your parents for money.

There’s nothing wrong with getting help from Mom and Dad if they’re willing and you’re in a tight spot. You shouldn’t take advantage, though.

It’s almost always best to suck it up and figure it out on your own if you can. After all, they’ve already made the biggest investment in you anyone ever will. They raised you.

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Always coming up short when you’re out. Never paying their fair share. What do you do when you’re always covering? Read More...

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Casey Bond

We’ve all had that friend. You know the one.

When the dinner bill comes, they severely underestimate their share (let alone account for tax and tip). You spot them $10 here and $20 there — and they always “forget” to pay you back.

But you let it slide every time. After all, what’s a few bucks among good friends?

That used to be your attitude.

Lately, your desire for a person’s company has a perfect negative correlation to how much of their crap you are required to put up with. You are, in fact, too old for this shit.

You’d like to stay friends with your broke friend, but it seems like an almost impossible task. If you want to maintain the friendship, it will take a little work. And maybe a couple of drastic measures.

Here’s how to deal with that friend who makes you feel more like a bank than their buddy — without killing the relationship.

Be honest.

The great thing about friends (real friends — not the people you pretend to like out of various social obligations) is that you can tell them the truth and they’ll still be your friend. A true friend gets that sometimes you say and do things out of tough love.

You’re not doing anyone any favors by pretending your pal’s poor money etiquette doesn’t bother you. Besides, leaving those feelings festering just creates an uncomfortable situation for everyone. Your friends can sense your displeasure.

So the next time they leave you hanging with the bill, be up front and tell them how much they owe right then and there. Clear the air.

Add that you’re pretty strapped for cash as well and can’t afford to cover them. Consistently push back rather than ignore the behavior. Eventually, they’ll get it and stop mooching all the time.

And if this honesty does cause a rift in your relationship, it’s probably time to reevaluate whether you two shared a real friendship at all. No one likes being the ATM all the time.

Find cheap or free things to do.

A novel idea, right?

As much as you’re annoyed by your pal’s perpetual brokeness, they likely feel pressured to keep up with the group financially, too. After all, if your group is always going out, the FOMO is real for you — and for your annoying broke friend.

That’s a tough spot to be in. As a friend, though, you can be part of the solution. Find ways to spend quality time together that don’t force your buddy into yet another awkward situation. There’s no reason to hit the clubs every weekend or go out to expensive restaurants.

Besides, one of the best things about friends is that all you really need is each other’s company to have an awesome time.

Check your local weekly for low-cost and free events such as concerts, art exhibits, and movie screenings. Have a picnic at the beach (or in the park). Go for a hike. Get dressed up, pretend you’re rich, and hop from one open house to the next while eating all their snacks along the way.

Or, just have a chill evening at home, playing games and laughing.

No matter what you do, the important thing is that you have fun together — without spending a ton of money. Once you start getting creative about these types of activities, it’s easy to have a good time without breaking the bank.

Consider it a gift.

That Annoying Broke Friend

When your friend does ask for money, and you feel comfortable parting with the cash, treat it as a gift.

Loaning money turns a personal relationship into one of business, which opens the door for guilt and resentment on both sides — especially if the borrower isn’t able to pay up.

When you loan money, things get weird. Often, it’s better to just consider it a gift. Or, take turns paying for each other. However, if your broke friend can’t (or won’t) take a rightful turn, that can get just as ugly. When you give money to someone you are pretty sure won’t pay you back, just think of it as money gone and move on.

Bottom line.

It’s your choice whether or not you want to support your friend financially — and it’s perfectly fine if you do.

Keep in mind, however, that you can’t expect things to change if you continue to enable the situation. If your friend starts to rely on you, and the situation suddenly changes, you could be doing your friend a huge disservice. It’s vital to think through the implications.

Friendship is something that only becomes more precious as you grow older. As you watch your time with friends dwindle, you might worry that soon there will be no one left. As a result, it can be tempting to over-compromise in order to avoid conflict.

But true friendship is also built on honesty and desire to make each other happy. It’s a relationship that involves give and take. If you’re always the giver, it can get old fast. So don’t be afraid to share your feelings in a caring but straightforward manner if things are becoming unbearable.

Besides, you also have to think of your own money situation. At some point, you need to stop sacrificing your own well-being on behalf of someone who offers nothing in return. If your own financial goals are jeopardized in order to keep the peace between you and a broke friend, that friendship probably isn’t worth it in the first place.

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Free money can be fun money, but there are some other attractive uses for it too. Read More...

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Zina Kumok

At the end of the year, we try to embrace the spirit of giving. It’s a great time to be charitable, both to our loved ones and to the less fortunate. But if you have an end of the year work bonus coming your way, it’s OK to embrace the spirit of receiving, too.

It just feels awesome to start the year with a nice, fat chunk of change. But think back to the end of year bonuses you’ve received in previous years – what happened to all that money? Did it go towards a pile of video games you never play? Did it pay for some new clothes you don’t wear anymore? Maybe it just wasted away in your bank account.

The fact is, most of us are pretty terrible at managing a windfall. Even financially-savvy people tend to get lazy when it comes to free money, because… well, it’s free money. What’s it matter if you spend it on something frivolous?

But the fact is, a windfall is also an opportunity. If used correctly, it can propel your life forward and help you get one step closer to your goals. If used irresponsibly, you’re squandering away a chance to improve your life.

This year, put that year-end bonus to good use. Here’s how to do it.

Pay off debt.

Every personal finance expert tends to agree with my first suggestion – the best thing to do with an end of the year bonus is to pay off any high-interest debt, such as credit card or personal loan debt. If you’re paying more than 7-8% on any loan, use your bonus to eliminate as much as possible.

Not sure what your interest rates are? Log on to your accounts or review your monthly statements to find out. Then, make a list of all your debts from highest interest to lowest. Pick the balance with the largest rate and apply it to your bonus payment. Paying off high-interest debt quickly can save you hundreds on interest and accelerate your repayment.

Save an emergency fund.

According to a 2016 study from the Federal Reserve, almost half of Americans couldn’t afford to pay for a $400 emergency with cash. If you fall into that category, the best thing to do with your bonus is use it for an emergency fund.

An emergency or rainy day fund should be used for events you can’t plan for, such as losing your job, being in a car accident, flying home for a loved one’s funeral and more. Routine procedures such as oil changes for your car or annual vacations don’t count as emergencies and should be saved for separately.

You should have at least $1,000 in your emergency fund, but more is definitely better. Three to six month’s worth of expenses is the standard, depending on your career and if you have a house and kids.

Meet with a financial planner.

What better way to use your bonus than to create a roadmap to financial freedom? If you’ve been putting off a needed overhaul of your finances, take advantage of your bonus to hire a financial planner.

You can find an affordable financial planner through the XY Planning Network or the Garrett Planning Network. Your bonus should be enough to pay for one or two sessions where you’ll learn how to budget, pay off debt and save for retirement.

Splurge smart.

When I was paying off my student loans, I typically put all my windfalls toward my debt, only keeping about 10% for discretionary spending. But every once in a while, I would take the whole amount and splurge on something I’d been eying for a long time.

For example, one year I took a birthday check and spent most of it on a trip to Spain with my boyfriend and a friend. It wasn’t the most practical or responsible decision, but the memories of that 10-day vacation will last me a lifetime.

Sometimes you can find a balance between buying something for yourself and buying something practical. You could buy a new bike so you can ride to work, a crockpot so you can meal plan ahead of time or even a subscription to Amazon Prime.

Of course, you can also go really wild and buy something just for fun, like the Nintendo Switch or a box set of “The Wire.” Sometimes you just have to live a little, but always make sure it’s something you really want. Every time I splurged while paying off debt, I used it for something I’d been obsessing about for months.

How to decide what to do.

If can’t decide how to use your bonus, give yourself a few days or weeks to think it over. There’s no need to figure it out immediately, and the longer you wait, the less likely it is you’ll blow the money on something inconsequential.

I’ve only gotten a work bonus once in my life, and I had several months to choose the best option. I eventually stashed it for a cross-country move to Colorado my husband and I were saving for.

Make a list of what your priorities are and how the bonus can help you. If your top goal is to buy a car, set the bonus aside for your new wheels. If you want to become a homeowner, use the bonus for a down payment. The only bad decision is to not to make one at all, letting the money sit in your bank account without going to good use.

What have you spent your past bonuses on? What are your plans if you have a bonus coming? Let us know in the #Adulting Facebook community. 

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You’re not a bad person for borrowing money to get a college degree. You may be smarter than some financial “experts” lead you to believe. Read More...

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Harlan L. Landes

You finished your bachelor’s degree and you’re out in the real world. You’re feeling real pressure to find a good job along your career path. It’s those massive student loan bills. You dread opening them because they remind you of the four or more years you lived without a major concern about your finances.

Now your college education seems like a burden. What did your bachelor’s degree get you, anyway? You’re 22 and you don’t have a job yet. Or you’re 30 and you’re still not sure if you’re on the “right” path.

If you haven’t been ignoring the reality of your debt, with your head in the sand like I was for a few years after earning my bachelor’s degree, you’re fully aware that student loans — like all debt — reduce flexibility in your life. You can’t afford to delay your career. You can’t even afford to go out with your friends (but you probably will anyway).

And if it feels a little unfair that all you did was earn a college degree like your parents, it might be. The cost of a college education has grown much faster than income for most Americans.

While your parents could have afforded their education at a state college on their own by working through college, the economy doesn’t make that as easy today. At the same time, college students and millennials are told en masse by society (and maybe you’ve heard these a few times):

  • “You have no work ethic.” (What? I’m working harder than everyone I know just to survive!)
  • “You expect everything to be handed to you.” (NO. I just expect to be able to get by and be treated decently.)
  • “You want the best of what life has to offer without putting in the effort to achieve it.” (I’m more than willing put in the time and effort, but I’m not convinced that the system is set up for us to do more than chase a target that’s moving farther away faster than I can run.)

You’ve been set up to fail financially by the world while you were a teenager, and that same world does blame you unfairly. Well, we all have friends who embody the millennial stereotype — but not you, right?

Is college no longer worthwhile?

Financial experts are now making headlines by tearing apart the idea of higher education. Whether it’s due to the evolution of the curriculum over the years, or the lasting effect of the recent recession on the idea that the only worthwhile type of education is one that leads directly to a job that in high demand, loud voices are encouraging alternative paths.

When someone tells you striving to get the best education possible was a stupid mistake, and you should have gone to a trade school to learn a skill instead of getting a degree, don’t take it personally. And don’t feel bad. These are the two most important financial justifications for pursuing a college education:

But return on investment (ROI) isn’t the only benefit of a college degree.

Ignore the financial experts.

Here’s some more good news for those who are being told their degree is worthless.

If you grew up in a middle class environment, some of the opportunities colleges affords the world are privileges you all ready have. And financial experts take advantage of those who don’t recognize their own privilege, especially when it comes to talking about debt. Whenever the unemployment rate is high, we find more encouragement in the media of entrepreneurship as the singular path to a lucrative life, replacing of education.

You have probably heard at least one person tell you that education is overrated and the best path to success is starting a business. You don’t hear that most businesses fail and that a college education still plays a major role in financial aptitude, even for entrepreneurs.

  • A good educational foundation greatly improves someone’s ultimate entrepreneurship goals by enhancing the cognitive, business, and life skills that good entrepreneurs need.
  • Many of your anti-education role models had other types of assistance that you might not have, and the louder they talk about their success, the more they’re hiding about their privileges.

Sure, you should try to keep your cost of education low. Grants and scholarships are better than loans, of course. But now that you’re out of college, the goal is to manage the debt you do have, not allow the world make you feel guilty for prioritizing your future livelihood over buying a house immediately upon graduation.

So here’s what you can do.

Here’s the four-step plan to dealing with student loan debt.

1. Recognize that your debt does not make you a bad person, nor did you (necessarily) make a bad decision to pursue a college education. Yes, you may need to make some sacrifices now to manage your finances responsibly, but in most cases, the degree will be worth it.

That will be true even if you decide to change your career path, away from the focus of your degree! Any bachelor’s degree is better than no degree. If you didn’t screw around too much in the four-plus years it took you to pursue your undergrad education, and if you took a variety of courses and exposed your brain to a diverse array of ideas you wouldn’t have considered elsewhere, your education will never be worthless. It will continue to help you with whatever life you decide to live.

2. Get organized and pay attention. You can’t ignore your bills forever, so don’t even start ignoring. Tackle your responsibilities head on — and your student loan debt may be the first real responsibility you have in life for which there are consequences.

I ignored my bills for too long. Working at a low-paying nonprofit organization after college didn’t help. But I figured my life out and found a path that allowed me to totally eliminate all of my debt. This path wasn’t related to my college degree but I know that I succeeded thanks to my college experience.

3. Look at some of the options for helping you eliminate student loan debt. If you have federal student loans (and these are almost always better than private student loans), you can look into income-based repayment plans. If you’re just starting out in your career, you can lower your monthly payment to help you with cash flow.

You may qualify for loan deferment, so your payments are put on hold, and in some cases, you will not need to pay more interest while you wait for your deferment to end. If you don’t qualify for deferment, you may qualify for forbearance, which also gives you a grace period on your payments. But with a forbearance, you’ll still accrue more interest while you wait.

If you’re a teacher or you have a public service job, you may even qualify for the cancellation of some federal student loans. That’s not the only way the government is willing to help you. It is possible to get a tax credit for the student loan interest you pay.

I’m not going to suggest consolidating your loans, unless it’s with a federal consolidation at an interest rate that’s lower than what you have now. Now there are private companies willing to refinance your student loans, and there are some disadvantages; namely, you lose all the advantages for borrowers mentioned in this section.

And watch out; these private lenders pay financial “experts” bounties for signing up new borrowers through websites, and thus there are many more positive reviews on the internet than there would be otherwise. Still, you could end up saving some money — in exchange for a fee and limited flexibility — when you refinance with a private lender.

4. Pay it off consistently and regularly. Work out a plan to pay the student loans off well in advance of your schedule. Student loans will stick with you even if you need to declare bankruptcy (almost always), so do what you can to get rid of them as soon as possible.

And then celebrate! Because not only did you pay off your student loans, but you received a college education, and will most likely be better off in life than people who say you made a bad choice for getting a college education.

What about consolidating those student loans?

Getting a little technical, each year you borrowed money for college initiated a new loan. So you might have several different loans with different interest rates. I wrote above that I would only suggest consolidating this loans under certain circumstances.

The best option, if you have federal loans, is for a federal consolidation. But you may have private student loans, as will many students who have to borrow more and more to afford the education they’d like to pursue. You might want to consider using SoFi to consolidate. SoFi is a private lender that is focused on student loan consolidation. It takes less than two minutes to find out what interest rate you qualify for.

And if you do qualify, chances are good you can reduce your monthly payments. And if you’re struggling at the beginning of your career, allowing yourself some financial space to breathe may be worth the extra time it’ll take to pay off in the end. But you should carefully consider any important financial decision, think about the pros and cons, and put yourself in your future self’s shoes.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Crush those student loans. Read More...

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Once in a while, we present Adulting.tv LIVE! Subscribe on YouTube to hear about future events, and share your questions about or suggestions for our next discussions!

Show Notes

Chonce Maddox joins us to talk about paying down student loans. Like many saddled with student loan debt, Chonce has struggled to make ends meet. In this special episode, recorded live on the Ally podcast stage at FinCon.

Chonce is a successful freelance writer who covers personal finance topics for a variety of outlets and writes at MyDebtEpiphany.com. In this episode, we talk with Chonce about setting intentions, changing your money mindset, and using all the tools available to you in order to pay down debt and crush student loans.

Listen to the audio podcast above.

Hosted by Harlan L. Landes and Miranda Marquit
Produced byadulting.tv
Edited and mixed bySteve Stewart
Music bybensound.com

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Amassing debt is easy. It’s a lot harder to answer the “how” and “why”. These answers can help you avoid mistakes and they can help you remedy them. Read More...

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John Schneider

When the topic of credit card debt came up on the Adulting editorial calendar, it only made sense to assign it to one-half of the Debt Free Guys.

In case you’re not familiar, my husband and I acquired $51,000 in credit card debt despite having years of experience in financial services. The reason we amassed that impressive total was that we were living and spending unconsciously and trying to make up for years of insecurity and self-doubt.

Our story is just one example of how people find themselves in more debt than they can handle. There are numerous reasons why people get into debt.  Below is a list of what to look out for so you can avoid getting into debt yourself. And if any of these describes your story, know that there is a way out.

Don’t know their financial goals.

It’s my belief (and my husband’s) that more people are in debt than there needs to be because they aren’t clear on what their financial goals are.

It’s like knowing your destination when you’re in the car. The very first and most important thing you need to know is where you want to go. You can have the nicest car, years of experience driving, and it may be a beautiful, bright, and sunny day. But if you don’t know where you want to go, you’ll never get there.

This issue was my challenge. I didn’t know what my financial goals were and so I spent my money on any and everything. I sought short-term, easy satisfaction rather than long-term, secure satisfaction.

Don’t know their life goals.

The sister reason why people get into too much debt is that they aren’t aware of their life goals. Financial goals and life goals are not synonymous.

For example, our stepson just graduated high school. He recently asked for help to create a plan to ensure he’ll be financially secure, not necessarily wealthy, but stable. Financial security is his financial goal. After doing some exercises with him, we’ve since attached a dollar sign to what financially secure means to him and how to get there.

His life goal is to be an artist. He’s currently interested in videography and photography and is going to college for photography. He knows there’s a chance he won’t make a fortune in photography, but in that instance, his financial goals will support his life goals.

Without knowing what you actually want and developing a strategy to get it, you’ll go in any direction the wind takes you. Have you met people like that? Every time you meet them, they have a new goal, they’re moving elsewhere, they’re focused on something new.

Try to keep up with the Joneses.

It is challenging to live in such a consumption society. Everywhere you turn, someone has something newer and nicer than you. Whether it’s your neighbor or the guy on television who you want to be like or be with, it’s easy to get sucked into competitive consumption.

My sister and brother-in-law experienced this in their neighborhood. Theirs is an interesting case study. They lived in a quiet area full of homeowners about their age and children all about their children’s ages. They were all middle-income earners, all within the same income bracket.

Sure enough, when a neighbor did an upgrade to their home, suddenly several other neighbors did upgrades. When someone bought a new car, suddenly there were new cars all over the neighborhood. It all ended finally when one couple said they had to move away because the competition was hurting them financially.

Trying to keep up with The Joneses is like trying to live someone else’s dream. In either case, you’ll never achieve true happiness if you’re living someone else’s life.

They don’t know how to manage money.

Most of us never learn how to handle money. It’s a major disservice of our school system. We motivate and encourage our students, regardless of student loan debt, to get the best and highest job possible, and yet they don’t know how to manage their money.

Being financially secure is not contingent on how much money you earn, but how you handle the money you do earn. With the accessibility of the internet, there is a host of financial information at anyone’s fingertips.

They live and spend unconsciously.

This issue is synonymous with sticking your proverbial head in the sand. Often people live and spend unconsciously because taking the time to learn about their financial situation would mean they’d have to live and spend better. Whether they earn too little income to support their lifestyle or are trapped in an increasing cycle of amassing debt, they continue not to pay attention because it’s easier than addressing the truth.

Unfortunately for many, they learn Stein’s Law the hard way. That law says that if something can’t go on forever, it won’t. Stein’s Law is why most of the emails my husband and I receive are from people who are about to file bankruptcy or have reached retirement age and can’t retire.

They just divorced.

Divorce can be paralyzing to one’s life and finances. No part of divorce is fun, and it can leave both parties bruised emotionally and financially.

Not only is divorce itself expensive due to legal and court fees, but the division of assets rarely seems fair to both sides. The compound effect is that contractual obligations, such as requirements to repay debts, don’t disappear when you divorce.

Over 75% of Americans are in debt. It’s logical to conclude that 75% of couples in America who get divorced also have debt. Those debts must still be repaid despite the status of your marriage.

They have unexpected or large medical bills.

Healthcare in the United States is not getting cheaper, and a health scare or issue can easily wipe out one’s life savings. Even with an increased usage of HSA accounts and access to retirement funds to cover medical expenses, the wrong ailment can ruin one’s financial life.

For this reason alone, more Americans need to have an emergency savings account. But, with the estimation that 47% of Americans would go into debt if they had a $500 emergency, we have a long way to go.

They have an addiction.

People don’t make logical decisions when they have an addiction. You might automatically assume that this point is about gambling. To be sure, gambling does ruin a lot of people’s financial lives. They lose life savings and acquire numerous, even sketchy forms of debt.

This point also applies to people with drug and alcohol addiction who may make poor financial decisions that can cause them to acquire debt. It’s easy to get wrapped up in letting debt subsidize your addiction.

They don’t understand how credit cards work.

In part, because many people don’t understand money, most people don’t know how debt works. We receive too many emails from people saying that they weren’t aware that their interest rate could increase. They assume that the only reason their credit limit increased was that they’re doing well financially. They assume that the only reason they were offered a credit card was due to their creditworthiness – because they’re doing well with their existing credit cards.

That’s simply not true.

Just as with purchasing investments, it’s important for people to understand the nuts and bolts of how credit works. This is where reading the fine print helps and reading personal finance blogs that you can trust helps even more.

They’re unemployed or underemployed.

Even though the economy has been recovering since 2008, and wages are increasing, too many people are unemployed or underemployed. The economy is changing, and more jobs are being automated.

It’s incumbent upon American workers to increase their skill-sets and diversify income streams. This is one of the reasons why I recommend to everyone –everyone – to start a blog. Regardless of your career or skill set and regardless of what direction you want to take your career, a blog is a critical component of future career and financial success. Some people, in fact, think having a blog is more important than having a resume.

These are the top 10 reasons why many people find themselves in more debt than they can manage. Once you know what to look out for, it’s easier to avoid the mistakes. If you see yourself in one or more of the reasons above, now that you know your problem, you’ll more quickly remedy it.

Have you experienced one or more of the reasons above? Were you able to climb out of debt? We’d love to hear about it in the #Adulting Facebook community.

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Don’t let student debt destroy your budget. Read More...

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Student loans are a huge burden for many graduates — and the economy. With 44 million people affected and $1.4 trillion in student loans outstanding, there’s a good chance you feel the weight of your own student loans.

So, what happens when you can’t pay your student loans? What are your options? This weeks episode tackles that thorny issue.

Concepts

  • A look at some of the reasons there’s so much student debt.
  • Prices to attend college continue to rise.
  • The importance of developing a marketable skill.
  • Stagnant wages make it even harder to repay student loans.
  • Income-based repayment plans for when you can’t pay your student loans.
  • How to talk to your lender about your options.
  • Downsides to deferment and forbearance.
  • Tips for spending less money and boosting your income.
  • The importance of making a plan to pay off your student loans.

This week, our DO NOWs are all about solving the problem when you can’t pay your student loans. Start by getting all your student loan information together, using the list offered by Department of Education. You should also see what programs you are eligible for. If you qualify and are struggling, you can start the loan consolidation and income-driven repayment process.

This week’s listener question deals with the question of what happens if you don’t want to pay off your student loan debt quickly. Does it ever makes sense to keep the student loans for a little longer?

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Resources

College tuition is on the rise.
Student loan debt statistics.
Wage growth tracker.
NSLDS: find your student loans.

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Debt doesn’t have to be a financial death sentence. You can overcome it. Put together a plan and get to work. Read More...

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John Schneider

Twelve years ago, my husband, David, and I found our sitting on the floor of our basement apartment as two financial services professionals with $51,000 in credit card debt between the two of us.

Like the cobbler’s kids with unfortunate shoes and the emperor with off-the-rack clothes, we were helping other people with their money and not ourselves.

We put together a debt payoff plan and got rid of that debt in two and a half years and built a business based on our experience becoming and living financially free.

How did we pay off so much debt?

We’re often asked in interviews how we paid off so much debt so quickly.

The underlying question is, “What tools or tricks can you give us to help us become financially free?”

The problem with tools and tricks and that what works for us may not work for you and vice versa. That’s why our first response to that question is that we figured out what we most wanted in life.

We found our “why,” and as Jim Rohn says, “When you know what you want, and you want it bad enough, you’ll find a way to get it.” When we figured out what we most wanted and not what we thought we should want or what others thought we should want we had the motivation to pay off our debt.

When times were tough, and they were, we used our why as fuel to continue our path to being debt free and stick with our debt payoff plan.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t tips and tricks you can try. Here’s the five-part plan we used to become and live debt free. You can see if some — or all — of this plan might work with your own style to help you reach your financial goals.

Be money conscious.

My husband and I thought we coined this term. To us, it initially meant being clear on how much money we earn, have and spend. It meant having a basic understanding of the economy and how the economies of the world affect us personally.

We later learned that Napoleon Hill thinks he coined “money consciousness” in his book, Think & Grow Rich. Hill talks about money consciousness on a metaphysical level. The results on both a practical and metaphysical level produce the same results, as Hill says, “only those who become money conscious ever accumulate great riches.”

Live below your means.

Living below your means sounds outdated and old-fashioned, but it’s critical to getting and staying out of debt and achieving financial success. This rule affects everyone, rich and poor, black and white, gay and straight and everyone in between everyone else.

Living below your means is such a powerful principle that it brings down many seemingly successful movie, music, and sports stars.

Cash is king.

Living on cash gives most people a 20% raise. Studies show that individuals who use only cash spend less money in addition to paying less in interest fees. When we had our debt, we were paying $10,000 a year in interest payments. When we paid off our debt, we gave ourselves a $10,000 raise and dramatically improved our quality of life.

Have a financial plan.

Just like you can’t drive from New York City to Los Angeles without clear directions, you can’t achieve financial goals without a financial plan. A good financial plan includes knowing the starting point of where you are financially and the ending point or goal of where you want to go.

It wasn’t until we knew which direction we wanted to go with our financial lives and our lives in general that we could go from a negative net worth of $51,000 to a positive net worth over $700,000. Therefore, you need to have a financial plan.

Creating and maintaining a financial plan isn’t hard and doesn’t limit us from enjoying life. Our budget and financial plan help us do all the things we want in life by letting us know when we can have and do what we want. As Søren Kierkegaard said, “Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.”

Now, how do you pay down your existing debt?

The Avalanche and Snowball methods.

The Avalanche Method says to pay off highest interest rate debt first while making minimum payments on other debts. Then, proceed to the next highest interest rate debt and so forth until all debt is paid off.

The Snowball Method, popularized by Dave Ramsey, says to pay off the smallest debt first while making minimum payments on other debts. Once the smallest debt is paid off, proceed to the second lowest debt and so forth. The Snowball Method gives quick wins.

For my husband and me, neither seemed fast enough, especially because all our debt was credit card debt and we saw a loophole.

Our Debt Lasso method.

We first contacted all our credit card companies and asked them to lower our interest rates. The Debt Lasso method helped us to start saving money immediately. Any savings we had immediately went towards our debt.

Most companies obliged even if it took some explaining. It helped that despite having all that debt, we rarely missed or were late on payments. The only thing holding down our credit scores were our debt to income ratio.

It, also, helped that we explained how dire our situation was and that we didn’t want to miss or be late on future payments or file for bankruptcy. So, it was in everyone’s best interest to accommodate us.

Next, we looked for 0% interest-rate-credit-card-promotions with no annual fees. When we found a credit card and promotion that suited us, we calculated the cost of a balance transfer to that card. This strategy required reading a lot of fine print to be clear what we were getting.

At the time, 3% balance transfer fees were standard. There were some that charged less than 3% and even some that charged 0%. The 0% interest-rate-credit-card-promotions with no annual fees and 0% balance transfer fees were gold. Some exist today!

Most of the 0% interest-rate-credit-card-promotions lasted between six to 18 months. The longer the promotion, the more time we had to pay off our debt. Then, we diligently paid off as much debt as we could as fast as we could. When one card was paid off, we put more money towards our remaining debt. We continued this strategy until all our debt was paid off.

This is the five-part debt payoff plan we created to destroy $51,000 of credit card debt and, then, stay out of debt. If it worked for us, it can work for you. So, get working.

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Beth Kobliner, author of Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties, discussed retirement, credit, and basic personal finance. Read More...

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Miranda and Harlan are pleased to welcome Beth Kobliner to Adulting.tv. We discuss the actions you can take today to set yourself up for financial success in the future, and why you need to start thinking about the future right now.

One of the topics we cover is retirement. Regardless of how difficult it seems, there are ways to start putting away a tiny bit of income for retirement, and Beth shares exactly how that can be done. We also discuss other financial basics, including tips for improving credit even without a lot of experience with money.

Beth Kobliner is a commentator and journalist, and author of the New York Times bestseller Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties. Her guide for parents, Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You’re Not!), was published by Simon & Schuster in February 2017. Kobliner has been a staff writer for Money magazine and a contributor to the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Redbook, Glamour, Reader’s Digest, and O, The Oprah Magazine.

She also served as a content advisor for Sesame Workshop’s financial education initiative, offering on-air money advice to Elmo. Kobliner was selected by President Obama to serve on his Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans.

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It would be nice if you could have an easy solution to student loans. You will have to work your ass off to get on top of the situation. Make it happen. Read More...

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John Schneider

You went to college after high school because, well, that’s what you do and everyone else did it.

You took out student loans to pay your way through school because, well, that’s what you do and everyone else did it.

You went to school, got your degree, and just started your adult life. It’s just that now you have $100,000 in student loan debts and a low paying job.

What do you do? Here are five ideas.

Control current living expenses.

The first thing to do is get control of your current living expenses. The only way to make sure your debt doesn’t grow any faster is to immediately stop acquiring debt.

Calculate your net or true take-home pay per month. This is what you receive after you pay your taxes and benefits.

Then, calculate your total monthly living expenses, including minimum student loan payments, car expenses, entertainment, rent, and every other monthly expense you have.

If your monthly living expenses exceed your take-home pay, you must cut your monthly living expenses, increase your monthly income (more below) or a combination of the two.

It may feel like a cold reality, but you’ll do yourself no favors by overspending what you bring home from month-to-month.

If this means you must continue living at home or find more roommates to lower your rent, then do so. If you must switch from a premium phone company to a discount service company, such as Republic Wireless or Cricket Wireless, do it sooner rather than later.

Look for as many ways as possible to lower your living expenses. Just as every little calorie counts, so does every little cent as you work to get your student loans under control.

Pro tip: Apps such as Mint and Personal Capital can help you manage your budget all from your phone that’s now on a discount service plan.

Increase your income.

This is a two-part step.

First, increase your W-2 income. W-2 income is the income you earn from working for someone else and not contract employment. Because you currently have a low paying job, it’s in your best interest to increase this income.

Tell your current boss that you need to increase your income. Work with your boss to come up with mutually agreed-upon performance expectations to increase your pay in a specified period of time. This time is commonly relegated to your annual performance review, but some companies have more flexibility.

Then, work your butt off to exceed your agreed-upon expectations. Document every success. Save every email with even an ounce of praise. When you have your next performance review, sell yourself so hard it’s impossible for your boss to not give you a raise.

In the meantime, look for other, higher-paying jobs both within your current company and outside if only to improve your interview skills. If you find a higher paying job, use your improved performance and skills to sell yourself for a higher income.

Pro Tip: You can respectfully decline to answer questions about your current pay, but to decline to answer questions successfully you must do so impressively.

Something like, “Thank you for that question, however, I’m going to decline to answer that. I’m focused on the value that I can provide you going forward with my current skills and knowledge. This is different from what I was capable of when I was hired for my last job.”

The second part to increase your income is to make money outside of your primary job. Yes, this means getting a second or even a third job. While that’s painful, it’s not unheard of. Many people have several jobs until they get on their feet. I had multiple jobs at once, myself.

Pro Tip: You don’t have to increase your income with more W-2 jobs. You, too, can become your own boss.

Become your own boss.

I’m amazed by the opportunities of today’s gig economy.

Bloggers and YouTube stars you’ve never heard of are making millions of dollars a year. Peripheral workers, such as social media experts and virtual assistance, are springing up to help those bloggers and YouTube stars — and are making sustainable incomes of their own.

Could you be the next million-dollar internet guru or billion-dollar app creator?

Possible, but not probable.

What is possible is that you could create a nice income for yourself to supplement the income from your W-2 and better tackle your student loans. It’s even possible that you could create enough income from being your own boss that you don’t need a W-2.

Pro Tip: This strategy is playing the long game. An overnight success actually takes years to accomplish. While there are lots of winners in the gig economy, most of them won because they persisted.

Avoid more debt.

Not unlike controlling your living expenses, avoid adding more debt to your portfolio of debt.

Avoid taking on a mortgage, a car loan, if possible, more student loans, loans for a cell phone or furniture, payday loans, or any other opportunity to finance an improved lifestyle. Debt is debt.

The less you take on until your student loan balance is paid off, the better.

Pro Tip: The possibility of increasing your income by earning another undergraduate or graduate degree is enticing. Many employers will pay for some or all an employee’s additional education. Before going back to school, see if your employer will help pay your way. If not, consider bouncing to another employer who will.

Refinance your student loans.

Under certain conditions, you can refinance both federal and private student loans and there are several banks and other businesses to help you.

If approved, you could lower your interest rate, lower your monthly payments, or lower both your interest rate and monthly payments.

Each year, you can apply for an income-based repayment plan. There’s no fee to apply and if you qualify for one of four different kinds of repayment plans, it may help you meet month-to-month expenses until the following year.

Understand the fine print of your income-based repayment plan. For example, if you’re married, you may have to file taxes separately from your spouse. There’s also the possibility that your remaining balance will be forgiven in 20 to 25 years.

This hasn’t happened for anyone yet and there’s the possibility that you’ll receive a tax bill for any amount forgiven, which could be expensive. (Public Service Loan Forgiveness happens sooner, and doesn’t come with a tax bill.)

Pro Tip: Simply lowering your monthly payment will likely mean that you’ll pay more money over the life of your loan. Put as much money that you free up from lowering your monthly payment towards your highest interest debt to pay your debt off more quickly.

Bottom line.

The best way to improve a bad situation is to have an improvement plan.

This five-point plan should get you headed in the right direction. As you proceed, tweak as necessary to continue heading in the direction of paying your student loans off and increasing your income fast.

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