The Debt Elimination Scam … Version 2.0

Posted: March 6, 2008 
Filed Under: Observations

When people are faced with a difficult financial situation, sometimes they make decisions out of pure desperation that they’ll later live to regret. One such decision is taking the “debt elimination” plunge.

The basis of the debt elimination “procedure” is that promoters claim that you never actually borrowed any money on those credit cards, because credit card debt is not *real* money. Hence, there’s nothing to pay back.

Yeah, tell that to the judge, then let me know how that worked out for you.

My good friend, Charles Phelan, of www.zipdebt.com, just published an excellent article on this whole debt elimination thing. It’s definitely worth reading. Here’s a direct link to his article >> www.zipdebt.com/blog/debt-elimination-variation

Over the years I’ve seen the debt elimination scam come and go, and apparently it’s making it’s rounds again with so many people struggling financially these days. And sadly, there will be unwitting people that will sign up for the debt elimination procedure and it will make their financial predicament even worse. Just don’t be one of them.

Warren Buffett: U.S. In Recession

Posted: March 4, 2008 
Filed Under: Observations

Last night I watched a fascinating (to me, anyway) interview on CNBC with billionaire investor Warren Buffett. Among the many things he talked about, he came right out and said, “From a common-sense standpoint right now, we’re in a recession.”

Ironically, I published an article on this blog just last week stating the exact same thing, even though many in the media and government are presently waffling on the topic and afraid to come right out and say it. Here’s the link to my article in case you’re interested.

The numbers don’t lie. They are what they are.

On a positive note, though, he did restate his view that over the long-run the U.S. economy will do fine and that each generation will live better than the one before it.

Is The U.S. In A Recession?

Posted: February 28, 2008 
Filed Under: Ask Mark, Observations

While watching the evening news the past few weeks, there have been several stories about the “possibility” that the U.S. “might” be headed into a recession.

Might?

Yet today President Bush told reporters at a news conference that “I don’t think we’re headed into a recession”.  

Huh?

You don’t need to have graduated from the Harvard Business School to know that we already are in a recession. Hello! Maybe certain business leaders or people in the government don’t want to “scare” the American public by actually uttering the word r-r-r-recession. How sweet of them.

But come on, give us a little credit here. We in the American public know exactly what’s going on. We’re not stupid. Things are not going that well financially for a lot of Americans right now. All you have to do is take a look around.

And you know what? As much as I hate to say it, I think it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better. You don’t just snap your fingers and halt a juggernaut overnight. It took years (perhaps a couple decades) for us to get to where we are right now, and I believe it’s going to take a few years or longer to get this thing turned around.

Sorry to sound like Mr. Doom-and-Gloom, but you can’t ignore the facts.

But in a strange way this cloud could have a silver lining. I actually think something good can come of these challenging financial times.

With all the financial pressure and uncertainty, we’re all eventually going to be forced to make some new choices that will require all of us to …

In a way, we’re going to have to re-invent ourselves. 

From a financial perspective, we’ll going to need to reduce our debt burden and consume less and less. As we do that, things are going to settle down, and we’re going to start to experience freedom again by not having to work so many hours to support our previously stupid spending habits, and we’ll come to realize that we didn’t need half of the crap that we bought in the first place.

And maybe one day we’ll get back to the day where it’s socially acceptable to just sit on your back patio with your neighbors on a July evening and just listen to the baseball game … or play fetch with your dog … instead of checking your email 20 times a day from your iPhone.

Sign me up.

The Effect Of Difficult Economic Times And Its Impact On Debt Settlement

Posted: January 22, 2008 
Filed Under: Ask Mark, Answers To FAQ

During the past couple weeks, numerous people (both clients and colleagues) have posed the following question to me:

With the U.S. and global financial markets presently experiencing a lot of stress and turmoil, how do you think that’s going to affect credit card companies’ willingness to settle for less than full balance on delinquent accounts? 

At first glance you might be tempted to say, “Gee, in difficult economic times with so many people struggling financially and unable to pay their bills, credit card companies would probably be very eager to accept just about anything they could collect.” However, my experience actually suggests just the opposite.

What I’m saying is that when we are in a challenging or recessed economy, it is common for large financial institutions to actually be less willing to write off a substantial portion of the debt that you might owe just because profit margins aren’t what they used to be (when the economy was booming).  In other words, when profit margins are down they just can’t be as generous in writing off large amounts of debt.

Now that’s not to say that you still can’t obtain settlements for less than full balance on delinquent accounts when we’re in a tough economy. Quite the contrary. It’s just that you might have to work a little harder because creditors might put up more resistance than usual because their coffers are not as full and there’s less margin for error. When the economy rebounds, it’ll more than likely return to business as usual.

Just my opinion and observation after working in this industry for over 12 years.

Credit Card Debt Statistics … The Numbers Might Surprise You

Posted: January 9, 2008 
Filed Under: Observations

A few weeks ago I came across a fascinating article written by Associated Press writers, Rachel Konrad and Bob Porterfield titled, “Unpaid Credit Cards Bedevil Americans”. Here are a few highlights from their article that really caught my attention:

If you’d like to read the full article, here’s the link  >>  Unpaid Credit Cards Bedevil Americans

If you’re looking for additional information on credit card debt statistics, here’s another link that might be of interest to you  >>  Credit Card Debt Statistics

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