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What is Debt Consolidation?
If you’ve stuck around for long enough, you probably heard of the phrase “debt consolidation” from time to time on our page. So, what exactly is debt consolidation?
In layman’s terms, it simply means combining all your debts together into one. However, why would it make sense for someone to combine all their debts into a bigger one, wouldn’t he/she increase his/her monthly commitments substantially and jeopardise their personal finances?
In reality, there are multiple real-world benefits to consolidating your debts.
Okay, What Are The Benefits?
- Combining Multiple Payments into One Payment
- Debts Can Be Paid Off Faster
- Better Interest Rates Offer
- Improves Your Credit Score
- Less Financial Stress
Combining Multiple Payments into One Payment
As mentioned previously, debt consolidation combines all your debts into one account, hence multiple payments made to different loans can now be paid into a single account resulting in a simpler debt management plan for yourself.
Not only does it reduce your monthly payments, but it also removes the need to juggle around multiple payment deadlines which allows you to focus on a single debt source.
Debts Can Be Paid Off Faster
When someone is overwhelmed with multiple accounts to juggle with, they may not know which debt to focus on and may end up paying back their debts way past the deadline.
A key takeaway from debt consolidation is that the process takes various factors from your personal finance into consideration when setting the length of your loan.
This is done to ensure you have a sensible payback plan which may result in a shorter payback period.
Better Interest Rate Offer
As a tradeoff for possessing no collateral, unsecured debts typically come with steep interest rates that can add to debt you already owe.
By combining all your high-interest debts into one and paying it off with one lower interest, you’ll be paying a lot less to interest payments in the long run, especially if you have a good credit history.
Improves Your Credit Score
When you take out a loan to consolidate your debts and pay off your credits, you’ll see a noticeable improvement in your credit score. Wait, but how?
Due to credit utilisation rate being a factor in credit score calculation, reducing it means you’ll get a higher credit score. Hence, it is likely that your credit utilisation rate will greatly reduce because you have already paid it off.
Less Financial Stress
Being able to clear up your “debt-clutter” by consolidating them into a single, manageable payment, you will feel that a great weight has been lifted from your shoulders and will notice that you are experiencing less financial stress.
By giving yourself control over your finances, you’ll find it easier to get on top of your monthly payments and find yourself in a better financial position than before!
Alright, But How to Do It?
There are many ways for an individual to approach debt consolidation. Each method has the same purpose of consolidating one’s debts through finding better credits but varies greatly in execution.
Hence, it is crucial to do research into debt consolidation before actually committing yourself to find the best solution for your financial position.
Below shows a list of common methods for debt consolidation: –
For Homeowners:
For Non-Homeowners:
- Debt Management Programs
- Personal Loans
- Credit Cards
The Bottom Line?
Do not go into debt consolidation expecting it to be a miracle that settles your debts immediately.
Make sure you do proper research on the topic first before doing it. As a wise man once said, “Don’t jump the gun.”
Refer to a financial advisor if you have to.
