I keep seeing ads promising to reduce your debt.
How do they do it? I doubt the debt holder is willing to lose that money.
So they just pass it on to their other customers - you and me.
And what's to guarantee the debtor will not just build up more debt?

They strong arm the debt holder with threats of bankruptcy so they get a only a short percentage, and take a middleman's generous cut doing it.

I am Numero uno the last guy to answer a finance question, but I think it's a matter of lower interest rates and some kind of guaranteed payment of debt.

So the entity looking to collect on the debt is willing to take a smaller payment rather than no payment at all.

One big step toward debt reduction is to reject liberal fiscal practices! You can't borrow your way out of debt. Regards, Bill.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Leeper:
One big step toward debt reduction is to reject liberal fiscal practices! You can't borrow your way out of debt. Regards, Bill.

We'll just ignore the inconvenient fact that Republicans increase the debt far more with tax cuts for millionaires and corporations than Democrats do with spending for the American People...

This is not rocket science. It is actually pretty simple. A good analogy is a barrel of water. The barrel of water is the money the government has. Now you have a hose that is adding water to the barrel that is the money that the taxpayers are paying and another hose that is taking water from the barrel, that is the money the government spends.

Now the republicans are screaming and crying that the democrats are taking too much water out of the barrel (spending to muck money) and that is causing the water level to drop real fast. But on the other hand the democrats are screaming and crying that the republicans are slowing the amount of water that is entering the barrel (giving tax breaks).

The reality is that both side are causing the water in the barrel to go down very fast. the democrats really do need to control their spending and be more prudent in how they spend, however, the republicans also need to stop giving tax breaks to everyone. Both parties are to blame on this one and it can only be fixed if both parties quit pointing fingers a work together to control spending and tax breaks.

The amount of government programs including foreign aid that suck the water out of the barrel is astounding
Tax code should be extremely simple so we don’t need to hire CpA
I could all be done but never will because all the governmental institutions are addicted to money and every year raises

We ran Brits out in 1776 and now we are back to 1775

there's a couple ways
1: declare bankruptcy
2: threaten to declare, which includes NOT MAKING PAYMENTS to "Scare" the creditor -
3: a home equity LOC or loan
4: actually offering a full balance loan to consumer, usually with T&Cs such as canceling credit cards, LOC, etc --

IMHO, #4 is the "most honest" but usually requires a higher potential credit score and a good deal of assets ...

btw, student loan debt is usually outside of these offers in 1,2,3 -

Don't forget what is currently going on nationally...

Monetize the debt through inflation.

If we can pay off with .10 dollars for what were $1 dollars, that makes the debt of less value.

Screws the creditors, but since when have we been concerned about fairness to them... or the taxpayer?

quote:

Originally posted by Jefffive:

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Leeper:
One big step toward debt reduction is to reject liberal fiscal practices! You can't borrow your way out of debt. Regards, Bill.

We'll just ignore the inconvenient fact that Republicans increase the debt far more with tax cuts for millionaires and corporations than Democrats do with spending for the American People...

And I repeat, reject liberal spending practices. This is not a party thing. Both parties spend wastefully. Both parties tax those who are most productive and transfer the money to those who are least productive. Fiscal responsibility is foreign to both.
On an individual level, excessive debt is, of course, a bad thing. On the other hand, as long as debt is balanced by income, debt can be of great value to the borrower. Leveraging assets, minus income, is seldom beneficial, in the long run; this is what governments (party notwithstanding) do.
When people get in over their heads, it is usually the result of multiple credit sources; where it just snuck up on them. Generally, the fix is some sort of debt consolidation. This is costly and works only with some level of commitment. Kind of like economic re-hab.
Monetizing debt through inflation has an effect at many levels. Inflation makes my assets worth more. This makes my taxes much higher. My business costs are much higher, which increases tax deductions. There are a lot of smoke and mirrors in play. Regards, Bill.