Debt Consolidation – How to reduce your debts?

Debt consolidation is the taking out of a single loan to consolidate a number of existing debts. It often takes the form of a second mortgage and it is estimated that 60 per cent of second mortgages are for this purpose. Debt consolidation is the term, which is used in clubbing together two or more debts. Usually, this method is of special use, when a borrower is facing debts of various natures. Debt consolidation is the way to convert your multiple debts and too many interest rates into single loan with affordable rate of interest. Debt consolidation means combining all your existing debts into a single amount and to pay off the loan at a single interest rate.

Debt consolidation is offered in two ways. Secured and Unsecured. With a secured loan you secure the loan against your house. But the pay off is that if you miss repayments, you could lose your home. This type of loan is often offered at a lower rate of interest as the risk to the lender is less. Conversely, an unsecured loan is offered without any collateral security but usually at a higher rate of interest.

Debt consolidation is a process aimed at both simplifying the management of multiple debts and of reducing costs. Achieving one without the other can be a useful move, but unless you can tick both boxes, the sense in going through the move can be questionable. Debt consolidation is advisable in theory when someone is paying credit card debt because credit cards carry much higher interest rate than even unsecured loans from banks.

Warning. You must remember that companies that offer debt consolidation solutions usually have their own agenda. What this means is that they may persuade you to borrow more than you need to ‘consolidate’ and over a longer period with the ‘carrot’ that your repayments will remain the same. They may even offer some sort of loan protection which pays them huge commission.

Debt consolidation is not a problem but a symptom of something more serious about our very own purchasing habits. Borrowing more money to get out of a debt problem is not an option to be undertaken lightly. If you are taking out a debt consolidation loan you also need to make sure you are acting to rectify the true cause of your debt problem. Borrow only the amount needed to pay off old debts and be sure the payment established is an amount you are able to pay easily. It should be much lower than the minimum payments of your old debt combined.

Make sure that you take the appropriate independent financial advice & explore all other options so that you don’t end up even worse off than before.

You will find ‘alternatives’ in my book ‘Gateway 2 Wealth’ which you can read here.