Staying Out of Debt Once You Get Out of Debt
As you reduce liabilities, embrace behaviors that may improve your balance sheet.
Paying off a major debt can produce a sense of relief. You can celebrate a financial milestone; you can “pay yourself first” to a greater degree and direct more money toward your dreams rather than your creditors.
Once you get out of excessive consumer debt, the last thing you want to do is fall back in. What steps can you take to reduce that possibility, and what missteps should you avoid making?
Step 1: Save money. So often, an unexpected event can put you in debt: an auto breakdown, a job loss, a trip to the emergency room, or a hospital stay. If you earmark $50 or $100 a month (or even $20 a month) for an emergency fund, you can create a pool of money that may help you deal with the financial impact of such crises. Every dollar you save for these events is a dollar you do not have to borrow through a credit card or a personal loan at burdensome interest rates.
Step 2: Budget. Think about a 50/30/20 household budget: You assign half of your income for essentials like housing payments and food; 30% to discretionary purchases like shopping, eating out, and entertainment; and 20% to savings and/or paying down whatever minor debts you must incur from month to month.
Step 3: Buy things with an eye on value. Do you really need a new car that will require financing, one that will depreciate as soon as you drive it off the lot? A late-model used car might be a much better purchase. Similarly, could you save money by eating in more often or bringing a lunch to work? These are smart consumer steps, net positives for your financial picture.
You should also be aware of potential missteps that could lead you right back into significant debt or negatively impact your credit rating. Some of them may be taken consciously, others unconsciously.
Misstep 1: Spending freely once you are free of debt. If you get rid of consumer debt but retain the spending mentality that drove you into it, your financial progress may be short-lived. If the experience of getting into (and getting out of) debt does not change that mindset, then you risk racking up serious debt again.
Misstep 2: Living without adequate health, auto, or disability insurance. Sometimes people are forced to assume large debts as a direct consequence of being uninsured. Hopefully, you have not been one of them. If you must pay for your insurance and the premiums seem high, remember that they will likely be lower than the bills you could be forced to pay out of pocket without such coverage.
Misstep 3: Getting rid of the credit cards you used to go into debt. You may think this is a great way to quickly improve your credit rating. It may not be. Closing out credit cards reduces the amount of credit you can potentially draw on per month, which hurts your credit utilization ratio. Having more accounts open (rather than fewer) improves that ratio.[1]
The key is how you use the accounts. Using about 10% of your available credit each month is a positive for your credit score. When you use more than 30%, you potentially harm your score. For the record, the length of your credit history accounts for about 15% of your FICO score, so if a card has more good payment history than bad, getting rid of it could be a slight negative.[1]
Instead of closing these accounts, keep them open, and use the cards once a month or less. Should a card charge you an annual fee, see if you can downgrade to a card from the same issuer that does not.
If you can keep debt reined in, you will have an opportunity to make financial strides. Not everyone has such a chance due to the weight of their liabilities. Earlier this year, total U.S. credit card debt alone surpassed $815 billion.2This material was prepared by MarketingPro, Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. This information has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note - investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment.
Citations
1 - cnbc.com/2018/01/19/why-you-should-keep-old-credit-card-accounts-open.html [1/19/18]
2 - usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2018/08/15/simple-things-anyone-can-do-stay-out-debt/989168002 [8/15/18]
Parkshore Wealth Management is a family-owned, independent, fee-only Registered Investment Advisor serving the greater Sacramento area with an office in Roseville, CA. We partner with financially responsible individuals and families who are eager to take positive steps that will allow them to use their money to build the life they desire. The firm is led by Harold Anderson, CFP®, and Daniel Andersen, CFP®, both members of NAPFA, the country's leading professional association of fee-only financial advisors.