The debt tag refers to all situations where money is owed to another party, often a bank or other financial institutions. This tag covers how to get out of debt, how much debt to carry, and other borrowing related questions.
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0answers
18 views
Does “gross (private) saving” in national account include money that will be drawn out due to debt interest? [closed]
So national accounting identity basically says total expenditure = total income. I get this, but then confusion arises: so we can write C+I+G+(X-M) = C+S+T where C is consumption, I is investment, G ...
4
votes
1answer
36 views
Does total US public debt include state debt?
When I see total US public debt, I wonder whether state debt is included. If "total US public debt" used differently for different cases, I will restrict my case to the usage in national ...
3
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1answer
127 views
How to start a business when you owe the IRS and Everyone else?
My history:
In 2006 I was doing pretty well, my online ventures were doing around $30k profit a month however I am a programmer and did not run the business side of it well at all. (taxes, forming a ...
7
votes
1answer
69 views
Pay off debt with RRSPs, or refinance and roll into Mortgage?
A few years of a combination of under-employment and trying to keep afloat a floundering business has left me (us) with 50k debt on a line of credit and a credit card. We are getting 5k back from ...
6
votes
1answer
117 views
What is a rule of thumb for accruing debt on a rental property?
My sister and I were fortunate enough to inherit 2 properties from my father, one a suite of apartments and cottages worth about ~$3M and also his home.
We currently have about $200K in mortgage ...
6
votes
2answers
113 views
Borrowed Canadian Money and paying back in US
My husband borrowed Canadian money from his relative to pay for his American education. At the time the Canadian dollar was .50:1. Now the exchange rate is 1:1 and we are paying back the debt in US ...
2
votes
3answers
75 views
How do I account for monthly expenses when calculating how much house I can afford?
I am looking to buy a house (in the US), and I'm using a bunch of online calculators to see how much house I can afford. In each calculator, there's usually a field that asks about monthly debt. What ...
5
votes
2answers
148 views
Cash out retirement account or sell and downsize the house to pay off line of credit?
I am in my mid 40's and I have an outstanding secured line of credit with a large balance that I want to clear.
I can only come up with 2 scenarios to clear this amount based on my home equity and ...
2
votes
1answer
101 views
How long does it take to have no credit history?
In considering my 5-10-20 year goals recently, one of them is to not use debt - whether credit card, mortgage, car loan, etc - even on a monthly basis. I currently am young, single, and have no debt ...
10
votes
3answers
225 views
can the government or debt collectors garnish money from any bank account to which the debtor has access?
A trusted family member has access to my savings account. The savings account is mine, but the family member's name appears next to mine, which means that they are entitled to withdraw money from the ...
7
votes
2answers
255 views
How do I assume title as the co-signer on car loan after the borrower's death?
I signed for a car with my room mate she has since passed away. I just found out she is the only person on the title. I am stuck with paying the car and no title. There was no estate, no will or ...
4
votes
2answers
278 views
How can I build up my credit history when I have nearly none
I am trying to build up my credit, but I'm not sure how to. Currently, I only have 2 minor things on my report. Both are not necessary good. I owe $75 to a company(which I plan on paying now that I ...
1
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0answers
91 views
How much time does one have to pay an invoice in Australia?
How long, legally, does one have, to pay an invoice? I have done extensive research on this, and there are too many contradictions on the Internet and a lot of it seems, to me, to be hearsay. I cannot ...
7
votes
1answer
210 views
Is it correct to take interest swap rates as a prediction of future bank rate?
In the context of managing the risk of (non-fixed rate) debt where the interest rate is linked to a bank base rate, I want to understand how/where to get a sense of where a bank's base interest rate ...
10
votes
2answers
510 views
Should I pay off zero interest debt early?
My cash reserves are around $11k, including an emergency fund of about a month and a half, and I budget rigorously. The only debt I have is $7k at zero interest, paid at $300/month, and it's from a ...
6
votes
2answers
125 views
Credit Consolidation, Credit Settlement
I've done a little research but I would like to have actual feed back from people. I am currently behind on credit card payments and I am not sure exactly what to do. The interest rate is high and I ...
2
votes
2answers
190 views
How are minimum payments calculated for auto loans, education loans, etc.
I'm working on a calculator and I have a good handle on Mortgages (amortization) and Credit Cards (daily average, apr, multiply between 3-5%), but I'm not sure how to calculate minimum payments for ...
4
votes
2answers
162 views
How would a collection against me affect my credit
I went to a new city two weeks ago and rented a 2011 Civic in the meantime. On the last week of the rental, someone hit my car in the front bumper in a parking lot.
The damage was a 2 by 3 inch dent ...
18
votes
8answers
675 views
Optimal way to use a credit card to build better credit?
I have a credit card with a $700 limit and I am curious how to optimize credit gain with it. Right now, I use it once a month (usually on something small like a drink from a convenience store or ...
12
votes
4answers
545 views
Can someone help me understand my student loans?
I have more loans than these but I am wondering how to handle these three (all with the same bank):
3%, last payment ~$36, current balance $6153, original amount $5500, payoff balance $6170
2.5%, ...
6
votes
3answers
212 views
How to get started with savings, paying off debt, and retirement?
I am getting married soon and I am in grad school (I get paid a stipend and have a tuition scholarship). I have no retirement plans available to me. My fiancee will be starting her job soon and will ...
0
votes
1answer
101 views
Can my company buy my personal debt?
i owe $50,000 to my mother and father who have helped me consolidate my debt over the years.
Can my business buy my debt from my parents for the full amount owing and then forgive me from having to ...
7
votes
4answers
115 views
When does credit card counseling work?
I have a friend who has $18K in credit card debt and makes $25K a year. I think this person needs help, and I've thought about recommending credit card counseling. However, I've also read articles ...
1
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1answer
146 views
Governments Debt/GDP and Budget (deficit/surplus), how to read the figures to decide what bonds to buy?
After searching for hours on Google I found these two great tables (theya are also sortable):
list of Government Debt to GDP ratio
list of Government budget (I took hours to find this because I ...
7
votes
4answers
400 views
Is it OK to use a credit card on zero-interest to pay some other credit cards with higher-interest?
I was reading up on
What is the difference between "good debt" vs. "bad debt"? and it says borrowing money from a credit card is a bad-debt.
So, I was wondering if the credit card ...
6
votes
4answers
677 views
Collections for Medical Bill - Pay Settlement or Full Amount?
I live in California, and I had an ER visit in November 2010.
I originally owed ~$800. I've been contacted by a collection agency, and offered a settlement of ~$400
I have verified with the original ...
4
votes
4answers
193 views
Repaying Debt and Saving - Difficult Situation
I apologize ahead of time if this is too simple a matter for this Stack Exchange. My mother has been in a sticky financial situation for a while now, and I was hoping to get a little bit of help, and ...
1
vote
3answers
166 views
Bank/broker that offers no credit cards (ally.com/vanguard.com)?
Is there a bank/broker that offers no credit cards? Are ally.com and
vanguard.com good choices?
I'm considering debt settlement, and have been advised to open a
bank/brokerage account not owned by ...
4
votes
1answer
133 views
Can I pay a collection agency in a way that will improve my credit score?
Finally, I've got cash in the bank.
But this comes after a few years of building up a credit card debt of about $5,000 and not paying it off. A collection agency has come after me. I'm sure my ...
12
votes
5answers
235 views
Why would a company with a bad balance sheet be paying dividends?
As an example, Ford Motors recently reinstated its dividend. It still has a lot of debt and a high debt-equity ratio. Its bonds are still rated as junk. Why would a company like this spend its cash ...
4
votes
3answers
316 views
Debt Collection Agency wants $30 for an unpaid Newspaper subscription
I'm a college student in the United States, and for an Economics class I was taking I needed a subscription to the Wall Street Journal, so during the first class we filled out a subscription form with ...
4
votes
4answers
444 views
“Pay to Delete” letter for removing an entry from my credit report. Legit?
I am negotiating with a collection agency over payment of around $2500. Talking on the phone with them, it seems that I can't get an unequivocal "yes" to delete their entry from my credit report on ...
1
vote
2answers
212 views
How to structure a loan for my owner-financed business sale, so we are paid sooner than later?
My wife and I are in the process of selling our business to a buyer. We have agreed on an amount to sell the business for, and to owner-finance the balance.
The buyer has already taken over ...
13
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7answers
502 views
Pay off credit card debt or earn employer 401k match?
Should a person with high credit card debt pay it off before contributing to a 401k with matching?
2
votes
1answer
92 views
Calculate how much interest I will pay given a creditcard balance and a monthly payment?
Assuming I have a $1000 balance on a credit card with a 12% APR how can I calculate my total interest payments if I pay $300 a month? All the online calculators I've found are geared toward showing ...
5
votes
4answers
239 views
Best way to repay parents for college
I am at a point where I can start repaying my parents for college. Is there any financially beneficial/smart way I can/should go about doing this? Or is using taxed income and mailing a check to them ...
10
votes
5answers
730 views
If a debt collector offers to settle for substantially less than the owed amount, should the offer be accepted?
Someone I know has had an outstanding debt (almost $10,000) for a number of years. He recently got a letter from a debt collector saying that if he pays about $2,000 by the end of the month, the debt ...
3
votes
1answer
213 views
Can I borrow against my IRA to pay off debt or pay for a car?
I am going to need a new car soon and I was curious if I can borrow against my IRA to pay for the majority of the car so I don't have to finance much. Also, can I borrow against my IRA to pay off ...
14
votes
10answers
1k views
Snowball debt or pay off a large amount?
I recently received a large amount of money, well large in my eyes, around 5000 dollars.
I have the following cards:
$10619 citi card ($234.35/month)
$2500 Best Buy Card - deferred interest ...
11
votes
2answers
1k views
Does the United States really owe 114 trillion dollars? Please explain “unfunded liability”?
I would like to refer to the site USdebt.Kleptocracy.us (A visualization of United States debt)
I'm just a little bit curious as to what these figures mean. I understand the 1 trillion dollar ...
4
votes
2answers
940 views
If you receive life insurance, does the estate have any claim to it? Do you have to use it to pay for debts of the estate?
If after someone dies, you receive life insurance as the beneficiary, is the estate entitled to any of that money? Are there cases where the life insurance money can be included in the estate and ...
8
votes
4answers
648 views
How can all these countries owe so much money? Why & where did they borrow it from?
When I look at this long list of countries with debt, I get the feeling we've all been sold a load of manure. How can so many countries owe so much money? Generally speaking, why did they borrow it, ...
3
votes
4answers
101 views
What are some options for getting loans with lower interest rates
Like many other folks nowadays, I'm trying to lower my debtload, and one of the ways would be to reduce the interest that I'm paying on my debt (currently around 9/10%). I've tried the debt
...
10
votes
2answers
295 views
Can a company have a credit rating better than that of the country where it is located?
Inspired by this question.
In one personal finance book I read that if a company is located in a country with credit rating X it can't have credit rating better (lower - i.e. further from AAA level) ...
4
votes
1answer
124 views
Will U.S. downgrade actually help large, financially sound corporations?
From everything I read, the U.S. debt downgrade is expected to drive up borrowing costs all across the board. But I have a theory that it will actually lower the borrowing costs of large, financially ...
9
votes
3answers
178 views
Does getting more credit or credit cards improve your credit score?
I'm reading Ramit Sethi's I Will Teach You To Be Rich, and one of the tips from the first chapter is to apply for more credit card debt. He warns it's only for people like me who carry no credit card ...
3
votes
3answers
90 views
Where do I get the best interest rates on a loan?
What do you think about Peerform, Lending Club, and Prosper in relation to these other Banks, credit unions, etc.?
I am looking for a debt consolidation loan and I have a decent FICO ~700.
6
votes
2answers
175 views
How could the 14th amendment relate to the US gov't debt ceiling crisis?
I saw a reference to the 14th amendment in the news today. What could that have to do with the US debt ceiling crisis? Could somebody explain please.
6
votes
1answer
75 views
Can creditors force sale of shares to pay debt?
Can creditors force us to sell our shares in order to pay or reduce debts owed or perhaps put a court order in place in order that we use any income from them to reduce any debt? (We are in the ...
4
votes
6answers
1k views
Is it better to spread debt out on multiple credit cards or consolidate it to just a few?
Is it better to spread out my credit card debt so that each of my cards is at around 30% of my limit or is it better to consolidate it all to just one or two cards even if these end up being at close ...
