You can hardly turn on the TV without seeing an advertisement for a debt consolidation program or a debt management company. The advertisements seem to be everywhere, and they are.
The reason is because there are so many people who are burdened with more debt than they can handle. Their mailboxes are full of second, third, and final notices. Their phones are ringing off the wall with calls from bill collectors.
People can find themselves drowning in debt for many reasons. Sometimes the reason is what happens beyond their control, like sickness, injury, or the loss of a job that was believed to be secure. These things happen.
Sometimes the reason for a person finding themselves deeply in debt, however, is just because they failed to plan properly, and this is much more often the case.
There was a time when debt management companies were more like social services than for-profit businesses. These debt management companies were nonprofit, and they were known as consumer credit counseling services (CCCS) affiliated with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC).
As more and more Americans became deeply embroiled in debt, companies began to spring up that are generally classified as debt management companies. These businesses do charge fees and their object is to make a profit.
Debt management agreements with debt management companies really are not for everybody who has a debt problem. The best way to assess for yourself whether a debt management company can help you is to add up all of your payments, and if you unsecured minimum payment obligation exceeds 20% of your take-home pay, then you might need their services.
Remember that only unsecured debt is covered by debt management companies. Unsecured debt is generally credit card debt. Your mortgage payment and your car payments are not unsecured debt.
Milos Pesic is a professional Debt Management consultant who runs a highly popular and comprehensive Debt Consolidation web site. For more articles and resources on debt management, debt consolidation programs, free debt counseling and much more visit his site at:
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