Debt Freedom Date Calculator

Are you ready to pay off some serious debt? To say “goodbye” to the car payment, Sallie Mae and credit cards? If you said yes, the Debt Freedom Date Calculator found HERE on our website can really help you. This tool combined with the Debt Snowball Technique is how I became debt free and you can too! 

Step One: Identify All Debts Owed (Lender, Amount Owed, Monthly Payment)

Make sure you list out all of the debts that you owe and how much each one is. You can check your credit report just to double check that you have no outstanding debts that you may have forgotten about. 

Step Two: Sort Debts By Amount Owed (Smallest to Largest)

List your debts out by sorting the debts from smallest to largest by the amount owed. Make sure you have sorted by the amount owed and not the payment amount. 

Step Three: Pay Minimum Payments on All Debts, Except The Smallest Debt

Make the minimum payment on all of the debts except the smallest one. It can be very tempting to start to attack your credit card bills or car payment but if that is not the smallest amount you owe, make minimum payments for now. 

Step Four: Apply Any Extra Money to Smallest Debt

If you have leftover money in your budget, apply that to the smallest debt that you owe. The quicker you can see a victory, the more effective this technique will be! 

Step Five: When Smallest Debt is Eliminated, Add Its Monthly Payment to Next Smallest Debt

Once you have paid off the smallest debt, take the payment you were allocating towards it, and apply it to your next smallest debt. That way, as you pay off more and more debts, you’re creating a debt snowball! 

If you would like more information on this topic, check out this quick YouTube video HERE where I explain the technique and give visual examples. 

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Debt Payoff Spectaculars

Did you make a resolution this year to finally off that debt that has been hanging over your head? Once that debt is gone, that payment will be freed up for you to start making progress towards your plans, hopes and dreams. If you need a visual tool that can help you gain traction in your debt freedom journey, you should check out our Debt Payoff Spectaculars found HERE on our website. 

These spectaculars are incredibly easy to use and can give you a visual representation of your debt being paid off. All you have to do is take the amount of debt you owe, and divide that by the number of squares on the payoff spectacular. This will give you the amount of debt that each square represents. Each time you make a payment in that amount, color off a square! 

While it may sound simple, there is something cathartic about visually marking that debt out of your life. If you’re paying off a truck, you can physically see the amount of that truck that you now own and you will find yourself wanting to color more and more squares. You might even go crazy and adjust your budget to cut your spending and allocate more towards debt! 

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Known, Upcoming Non-Monthly Expenses Calculator

Have you ever prepared a budget and faithfully followed it only to have it crushed in the middle of the month because of an expense you forgot about? Does Christmas seem to creep up on you every year? Have you had to suddenly replace the tires on your car? Chances are, you answered yes to at least one of these questions. 

These budget busters are called “Known, Upcoming Non-Monthly Expenses.” The reason these expenses get forgotten is because they are non-monthly so they tend to be pushed to the back of the mind until the bill suddenly comes in the mail. But when they do finally appear, they can create a financial emergency causing you to either break your budget or go into debt. 

Think about what non-monthly expenses you know will come up throughout the year.

Here are a couple of common expenses that people have: 

  1. Car tires need to be replaced 

  2. Heating & Air goes out 

  3. Christmas 

  4. Vacation

  5. Life insurance premium

  6. Property taxes 

  7. Health Insurance Deductible 

Once you have these expenses listed out, you can plan to save monthly for them in your regular budget. Check out our Known, Upcoming Non-Monthly Expenses Calculator to do this with ease. Below is an example of the calculator in action: 

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By knowing what these expenses are and saving for them monthly, you’ll no longer have to “come up” with the money when the bill arrives. You will simply be able to pay the bill in cash. A cool feature of this tool is that not only does it calculate what you would need to save per month, but it also calculates the amount based on different pay frequencies. If you get paid twice per month, you would need to save $289.58 out of each paycheck. For a bi-weekly frequency, you would save $267.31. Regardless of how often you get paid, you can save accordingly and have the money available when you need it. 

Tips for using the tool: 

  • Be sure to recalculate your monthly savings number at least once per year. 

  • Don’t forget more long-term expenses such as college, weddings, vehicle replacement, and major home renovations. 

  • Make your savings for these expenses AUTOMATIC by establishing an auto-draft. 

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Set Financial Goals For Next Year

As we move closer and closer to a new year, I’m sure many of you are considering the goals you want to accomplish in the next. I know I am! As you think about your goals, I would encourage you to also set financial goals that you can aim to achieve next year. You should consider setting financial goals for the following categories: 

Earnings/Income Goal: Set a goal for how much money you want to earn this next year. The more valuable you can be in your career, the more money you can bring home to your family. 

Giving Goal: How generous do you want to be this upcoming year? Do you want to give more to your church or have different charities you would like to support? Set a goal for how much money you want to be able to give away next year so you can be intentionally generous. 

Saving Goal: How much money do you want to put aside in savings? Do you want to have a Fully Funded emergency savings? Do you need to start saving for a new vehicle? You could even get ahead of the game and start saving for Christmas next year in January! How awesome would it be to have a full Christmas fund by September of next year? You should set a savings goal to get ahead of expenses that will pop up. 

Investing Goal: Do you want to increase the amount that you contribute to your retirement fund? We have never heard anyone say “I have saved too much for retirement”. Decide how much money you want to start putting away in investment accounts for the future. 

Debt Elimination Goal: Are there any debts that you want to see leave your life for good? Is there a medical bill you need to pay off? Are you ready to break up with Sallie Mae? I remember when debts left my life and it was a great feeling. Make sure you have set a goal for how much debt you want to be rid of by the end of next year and never look back! 

Once you have decided on the goals you want to accomplish, write them down! When you physically write something down you are way more likely to actually do it! How awesome would it be if you could end next year being more generous with more income, more money in the bank, more of your money working for you, AND less debt? Think about your goals, write them down, then make it happen. 

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How to Have A Debt Free Christmas

What if I told you that you don’t have to go into debt Christmas shopping this year? That you can buy your gifts IN CASH and can avoid those dreaded credit card bills in January? Can you guess how you accomplish this? That’s right, a budget. 

Christmas is a known, upcoming, non-monthly expense. That means that we know that Christmas comes on the same day every, single year and we should plan for it accordingly! In the Sangl household, we do this by saving a little bit for Christmas each month. 

First, we decide how much we want to spend on Christmas altogether. Then, we create a list of every person or organization that we’re planning on buying a gift for and decide how much we plan to spend on each person. All that’s left to do is make that budget equal EXACTLY ZERO. Once you have your plan put together, you can do your Christmas shopping guilt-free!   

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For more tips on how to have a debt-free Christmas, check out our full episode of the Monday Money Tip Podcast HERE

Retirement Nest Egg Calculator

Do you know how much money you will need per year in retirement? Do you know how that number will be affected by inflation? I would encourage you to check out our Retirement Nest-Egg Calculator Tool. While it may trigger a shock to your system when you see the numbers, it can help you get into gear to retire well. 

This calculator is incredibly easy to use and only needs two pieces of information from you! All you need to do is enter the amount of money you would like annually in retirement and how many years until you expect to retire. After that, the calculator will compute the amount of money that you need to have saved and how different annual rates of return will change that number. 

Below you can see a calculation that I ran for an “annual amount I want” of $75,000 if I hypothetically retire in 20 years:

 
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As you use this calculator, keep a couple of things in mind: 

  1. The calculator assumes that you will never touch the principal. 

  2. The calculator assumes that you will give your nest-egg a “cost-of-living-raise” of 4% each year.

  3. This calculator adjusts the “annual amount your want” for an average annual inflation of 4%. 

So, at 4% annual inflation, I will need $164,334 per year in 20 years to have the same purchasing power that $75,000 has today. 

The bottom six rows tell you what you need to have in your nest-egg at different rates of annual growth. At 8% annual return, I would need $4,108,356 when I retire. That number drops significantly if I expect growth of 12% and I would only need $2,054,178 when I retire. 

These numbers may seem astronomical and you might feel like you will never build a nest-egg of that size. But remember, the power of compound interest can work in your favor! By starting early and investing consistently, you can watch your nest-egg grow to numbers you may have only dreamed of. 

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Black Friday Budgeting

Black Friday deals are probably piled up on your kitchen counter and overflowing your inbox right about now. Companies start promoting these deals at the beginning of November and most of the time cannot even wait until Black Friday to start selling! These sales are a great way to cross items off of your Christmas shopping list but can also become budget busters without the proper planning. You don’t have to spend January afraid of the credit card bills coming in, you can use our Christmas Mini-Budget to get Black Friday ready. 

This budget tool is incredibly simple to use and does all the math for you. All you have to do is enter the total amount you want to spend this Christmas season and then list each person you plan on buying a gift for. Make sure you include everyone that you will spend money on, if they don’t make the list, they don’t get a gift. It might sound harsh but you don’t have to spend money on every single person that you know.

 
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After you have listed the amount of money you want to spend and the people you plan to spend it on, you can begin to divy up your spending. Next to each person’s name, put the dollar amount that you plan to spend on them. You’ll notice as you start adding in numbers that the bottom of the spreadsheet will change colors. Like all of our budgeting templates, the trick is to make you INCOME – OUTGO = EXACTLY ZERO. Once you have accomplished this, the cell will turn green.

 
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Until you begin making purchases, the “actual” column will be yellow. This indicates you still have money to spend. When you actually buy the gift, record that in the actual column. If you spend less than you planned, the cell will remain yellow. You can either spend more money or reallocate those funds to another person. If you spend the exact amount you planned, the cell will turn green. On the other hand, if you spend more than you planned, the cell will turn red. You either need to take that money from someone else’s gift or take the gift back and find one within budget. You’ll know when your budget equals EXACTLY ZERO on all fronts when all of the cells turn green. 

 
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Black Friday and Christmas shopping don’t have to be stressful. With the proper planning you can avoid going over budget and putting yourself in debt to start the new year.

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Benefits of An IRA

You have probably heard something at some point about making contributions into an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) to prepare for retirement. Retirement and investing can seem scary and difficult or only for the super rich but I’m here to tell you: That is a lie. You can (and should!) begin investing for retirement and an IRA is a fantastic way to do just that. 

The most popular types of IRA’s are the Traditional IRA and the Roth IRA. These investment vehicles are great ways to accumulate retirement money although they differ in their taxation. You can learn more about their differences in our podcast, Roth vs. Traditional IRA

When you decide to invest into an IRA, regardless of the one you choose, you can expect to experience a variety of benefits. 

Taxation: When you invest into a Traditional IRA, those contributions are made with “pre-tax” dollars which means that you can deduct them from your income. In a Roth IRA, contributions are made with after-tax dollars. This means that while you will not get a tax deduction, you will not have to pay any taxes when you withdraw the money in retirement. The tax benefits of both accounts can provide great traction when accumulating money for retirement. 

Automation: One of the reasons IRAs are so popular is because they allow you to automate your savings. These accounts are incredibly easy to start and with a simple bank draft, you can make sure that you are investing every single month. 

Compound Interest: After you have set up your IRA and automate your contributions, you will eventually be able to see the 8th Wonder of the World: Compound Interest. This means that once you start adding money you will start earning interest on that money. And then interest on THAT money. Your money will begin to work for you. 

These are only a few of the benefits that you’ll experience when investing into an IRA. Ultimately, you want to make sure that you are taking advantage of every benefit that you can when you’re trying to save money for retirement. Whether you are fast approaching retirement or just getting started in life, using one of these accounts can greatly help you accumulate money so you can live your best life when you eventually leave the workforce.  

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Pulling Money Out of Retirement Accounts Early

As people take off on their debt freedom journey, so many times they are tempted to withdraw money from their retirement accounts in an attempt to speed up their debt elimination process. We get questions all the time from people who want to know whether or not we think this is a good idea. 

I do not think it is ever a good idea to take money out of a retirement account in an effort to pay off debt. Many people feel like retirement is so far away that they have plenty of time to begin saving. And while you may have plenty of time to start saving, you will never regret starting as early as possible. The key is to start investing early and invest consistently. In all likelihood, no matter when you begin saving for retirement, you will wish you had started sooner.  

When you get started on your debt freedom journey, it can seem like the end is so far away. But I would encourage you to stay the course. Get a budget using one of our FREE tools, calculate your debt freedom date using our FREE calculator and slowly but surely, you will see those debts drop off. And once they are all gone, not only will you be debt free but you will also still have your money working for you in your retirement accounts. 

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Make Your Retirement Savings A TOP Priority

Do you feel like retirement is so far away you cannot even imagine it? Or do you feel like retirement is so close that you can taste it? Either way, you should be making your retirement savings a TOP priority today! 

Statistics show that many people do not start saving until they are only 10 to 15 years away from retirement! If you choose to wait on starting your retirement savings, you are missing out on something that can actually carry your financial burden called compound interest. Compound interest can take your $100/month investment to $1,176,477 in 40 years. The earlier you start and the more consistent you are, the better off you’ll be when you get ready to retire. 

If you are not actively contributing to accounts dedicated to retirement, I would highly encourage you to start doing so immediately! I have never ever heard someone say “Wow I wish I had waited to start saving for retirement” or “Joe I am retired and I just have too much money”. You will never be able to go back and retroactively start your retirement accounts. But what you can do, is make sure that you do not waste another minute and you start investing today. 

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Joe Sang's Current Investments

Full Disclosure: I am not a certified financial planner, nor do I sell investments, insurance products, or other similar financial products. My goal in sharing this information is to shed light on a topic that few people understand well. It is my hope that this information will help inspire more people to climb the I Was Broke. Now I’m Not. Ladder (download a free copy HERE) and become wise investors so they can live fully funded lives. 

Throughout the month of October, we have been heavily focused on investing. I wanted to end the month by sharing my current investments. I do not recommend specific investments. I can only tell you the investments I own, and that they have worked well for me. The investments that you choose are up to you. I update this list of investments every March so make sure you are on the lookout. 

Click below to see a chart of my current investments.

Prepare Your November Budget

November is only a couple days away so now is the perfect time to make sure that you have prepared your budget! It is so important to have your budget prepared BEFORE the month begins. You are way more likely to stick with the budget if you have a plan in place for the first day of the month. 

Make sure you download one of our FREE Budget Tools. You can choose either the monthly budget or the weekly budget template from our website. After you have downloaded your tool, you can get started putting together your income and expenses for the month of November. 

Step One: Enter your expected income for November. Put a number in that you KNOW is going to happen. If you should receive more money throughout the month, you can always adjust this number upwards. 

Step Two: Enter your expected expenses for the month. Even if you do not know what all of your bills will be, put in a number that is conservative enough that you know will be enough to cover it. Once your bills actually arrive, you can adjust these numbers to match what you will actually need to pay. Make sure you also include any Known, Upcoming Non-Monthly Expenses. You can use this calculator HERE to make sure you are saving enough to cover these expenses when they come up. 

Step Three: Make your INCOME – OUTGO = EXACTLY ZERO™. If your budget turns yellow or red, it is now time to start adjusting so that your budget turns green. You might have to make some uncomfortable decisions or even tell yourself “no” a couple of times this month. It will be worth making some sacrifices in order to finally have a working budget. 

Make sure you take some time this weekend to get that budget put together so that when Thursday rolls around, you’ll be prepared for a new month. This could be the month that you have your first ever successful budget. How awesome would that be? It all starts with a plan so make sure you have yours in place! 

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OXEN: The Key to An Abundant Harvest

There was a point in my life where I came to the realization that I needed to find oxen in my life and start getting my money to work for me. From an average bank balance of $4.13, I have since acquired multiple oxen and experienced a truly abundant harvest. In my book, Oxen, I share these principles along with step-by-step instructions so that you too can win with your money. Check out this excerpt from my book and make sure you grab a copy for yourself. 

“Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.” Proverbs 14:4

Imagine a farmer who was responsible for farming a full section of 640 acres, which is one square mile of land. Imagine if he decided to “do it all on his own” and attempt to plow all the ground without oxen. It doesn’t matter how strong and energetic the farmer is, it would be an impossible task. For me, just hoeing a small garden in my backyard wears me out! The farmer might be able to do enough work to produce food for the family to eat, but the potential for an abundant harvest would be impossible. 

Don’t miss the point here because it is vital to understanding oxen ownership. A farmer knows it is impossible to reap an abundant harvest without oxen. The same is true for all of us even if we aren’t farmers. 

If I continued managing my money without the help of financial oxen, the opportunity for an abundant harvest would be greatly limited. After all, there was only so much I could accomplish on my own. Like most people, I was working a “Work, get paid. Don’t work, don’t get paid.” job. Even if I worked twelve hours every day, there was a limit to how much I could earn on my own. My earnings would allow me to feed my family, but without a serious change to the way we managed our money, the income would probably only be enough to maintain our household. We would continue to be stuck in the “empty manger” cycle cleaning out the manger each month and then standing around waiting for the next paycheck to arrive. The worst realization of all was knowing that even if I worked the next fifty years of my life, my income would cease the moment I chose to retire. It became imminently clear that I needed oxen in order for my family to experience abundance. 

Is This Mutual Fund a Good Investment?

Many people are hesitant to begin investing because they think that it is some incredibly complicated venture that is only for the uber wealthy. I am here to tell you that it is not that difficult and you can (and should!) get started today at some level. 

Most people feel this apprehension towards investing because they do not really know how to tell if they are making a sound investment. There is some research that you can do to make this decision. In fact, I have a process that I go through when deciding if a mutual fund, specifically, is a good investment. Here are the questions I ask when I get ready to make an investment: 

  1. Do I like the product or service they are delivering? Do my children like it? I want to like a product that I am going to invest in first and foremost. If I like a product there is a good chance other people will like it as well. The same holds true for if I dislike a product or service.  

  2. Is the company profitable? Does the company share those profits with shareholders in the form of dividends? I do not typically invest in companies that are not profitable although there are a lot of people that have made a lot of money off of their stock. When I invest in a company I want to see that they can move an idea towards profitability. 

  3. What is the P/E? Once I know if a company is profitable, I next look at the P/E or the price to earnings ratio. This is calculated by finding the earnings per share (the total profits of the company divided by the total number of shares) and the current price of the stock. The P/E is calculated by dividing the price by the current earnings per share. I want to see a P/E that is less than 20 and ideally less than 10. Now, do not freak out about having to calculate this number every time you want to invest. You can simply google the company name followed by P/E ratio and easily find out. 

  4. What is the vision of the company? Do I like the leadership and the direction they are headed? 

To find this information, I typically utilize several different websites including finance.yahoo.commoney.cnn.com, and schwab.com

As you can see, investing does not have to be super complicated or involve a lot of intense research. When picking mutual funds it can be as simple as checking out their products, leadership and vision and then doing a quick check to make sure they are profitable. If you can put a check mark next to those four boxes, you can probably say that you are making a good investment. 

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Do you want to learn more about how you can acquire and maintain oxen? You can get my book Oxen by clicking HERE.

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The Basics of Oxen

Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest. Proverbs 14:4

This verse had a profound impact on me as I went through my financial freedom journey. From this verse, I realized that I could either live a life with an empty manger or with an abundant harvest and the choice was up to me. In the pursuit of financial abundance, I could choose to rely on myself and my own abilities, or I could acquire oxen to help me. Which do you think I chose? 

In my book, Oxen, I have outlined the different types of oxen, how to acquire oxen and how to lead oxen. These principles will help you maximize your financial resources and experience an abundant harvest, just as I did, so that you can fund your biggest and wildest dreams. 

Most people earn money by showing up to work and in turn they get paid. If you do not show up to work, you do not get paid. Oxen can allow you to earn money whether you are working or not! There is only so much time in a day and therefore there is only so much work that one person can physically put in. This is why oxen are so important: they allow you to eliminate the time barrier. 

Oxen can do things you cannot do. They have the ability to carry a load that you cannot carry and can endure more than you can endure. Oxen can be trained and can work together and accomplish even more. They work rain or shine, night and day so that you do not have to. They can multiply and take you places you may have only dreamed about. Oxen can provide. 

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Investment Value Calculator Tool

Are you ever tempted to pull money out of your investment accounts? Sometimes it can sound like a good idea to withdraw money from retirement funds or other accounts to pay a debt or even go on a vacation. However, most of the time taking money out of the market is not a good idea! The one thing you will never be able to get back is TIME! If you take money out of an account or wait to start investing, it could be a decision that you really regret in the future when you see the value of your accounts. In most cases, people wish they had started investing sooner. I have never heard anyone say, “I should’ve waited ten more years before I started saving for retirement”. 

It can be encouraging to get an idea of what your investments will be worth five, ten, fifteen, or twenty years down the road. I Was Broke. Now I’m Not. has a tool that can help you illustrate just that! The Investment Value Calculator Tool takes the current amount of the investment, the annual rate of return, the amount of time you plan to invest, and your monthly contribution and calculates the value of the investment. It also shows a range of your investment value from five years all the way to sixty years! While, of course, these returns cannot be guaranteed, the tool can allow you to imagine what these accounts have the potential to grow to. This can keep you from making an unwise decision to withdraw funds and can even tempt you to add more money to your accounts! Check it out today! 

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5 Year Buckets For Investing

What is the most important thing to do when it comes to investing? START! Often when you are looking at making an investment, it can seem like a daunting task so taking that first leap is the most essential. Once you have taken that crucial first step, it does not have to be a confusing road to making smart investment decisions. It can be as simple as looking at your life (and investments) in five year increments. 

The concept of five year buckets is so simple but it is a great way to look at your investments and deciding when to put your money in the market. The principle is this: if you are going to need the money within the next five years, it should not be attached to any investment. This is important because you cannot risk losing the money in the short term because you simply will not have enough time to recover it before you need it. That can put you at the risk of incurring debt when you could have paid for the expense in cash. 

If you are looking into the future and decide you will not need the money within the next five years, you should definitely tie it to some sort of investment vehicle, that suits your risk tolerance, or else you will face the next obstacle of inflation. Make sure your money is working for you to at least outpace inflation. 

Investing is as simple as deciding to start and then figuring out when you will need the money. If you need it in the short term, now is not the best time to put it in the market. But if you can put the money away for longer than five years, investing is the way to go. There is always a risk associated with investing and the short term can be particularly volatile but, if you make wise decisions, starting to invest will be a decision you will not regret.  

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Early Pay-Off Calculator

Do you have debt that you are really trying to get rid of? Are you interested to see how much time and money you could gain by paying off that debt earlier?

This tool allows you to enter the interest rate, outstanding loan balance, the principal & interest monthly payment, and the additional amount that you want to pay towards the loan each month.  Once you have entered this information, the calculator will tell you how many months you will gain back of no payments and how much money you will save in interest payments. It is time to break up with that student loan debt and pay off that home mortgage. Check it out today! 

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Good Vs. Bad Debt

If you have been following my posts for a while, you probably know that I talk a lot about reducing and eliminating debt. So it might come as a shock to you that I do not think all debts are created equal and there is a such thing as good debt! I actually break debt down into four different categories ranging from terrible to good. 

  1. Terrible Debt: This debt is the worst type of debt you can have. This debt includes payday loans and pawn shop loans. These loans typically have a VERY high interest rate. When I say very high, I mean that I once saw one that was 640% interest! I think we can agree that is terrible. 

  2. Bad Debt: This debt may not be terrible but it is still pretty bad. This includes your credit card debt, unsecured signature loans, car loans, etc. Yes you read that correctly, car debt is not considered good debt. The average new car drops in value $100 per week during the first four years. 

  3. Better Debt: I only classify one type of debt as better debt and that is home mortgage debt. Every time you make a payment some of this money is going into home equity so hopefully when you go to sell it, it will have gone up in value and you will have made money. 

  4. Best Debt: If you are going to have debt, business debt is the best debt you can have. This is where I would categorize rental properties, buying franchises, buying into a small business, etc. This type of debt will allow you to scale your business and make more money. 

All debts are not created equal and there are some that are way, way worse than others. Make sure you take this into consideration any time you are contemplating going into debt so that you can make the right financial decision. 

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Understanding Credit Scores

Credit scores are a measure of one’s ability to manage debt. The dominant credit scoring system which is used by most lenders was created by Fair Isaac. This system provides a measure of an individual’s credit worthiness and is commonly known as a FICO Score.

A credit score impacts many things. It determines whether or not you can obtain a loan. If you qualify for a loan, the credit score dictates the interest rate charged.

Credit scores also impact insurability. When you obtain auto, renters or homeowners insurance, the credit score directly impacts the insurance cost. The lower your credit score, the higher the insurance premium will cost. I have seen insurance premiums doubled because of poor credit.

Credit scores also impact the ability to obtain a cell phone contract or an apartment lease. It can affect utility connections. Utility providers usually require much larger deposits from people who have low credit scores. If you have an excellent credit score, a deposit might be waived entirely.   Credit scores can even impact your ability to obtain a job. Your credit score will have an impact on your life.

Many people know their exact credit score. If it is great, they wear it as a badge of honor of their financial prowess. “My credit score is 814,” they will say quite proudly.

Others who have a more colorful experience with credit, will wear it as a badge of dishonor. “My credit score is in the toilet,” they say with a glum look.

The fact is that credit scores are only a measure of how well a person can manage debt and contractual financial agreements.

Credit scores are calculated using these data points:

  1. Type of credit issued [Revolving debt (credit card) or Installment debt (anything with payments and a pay-off – car loan, boat loan, student loan, etc.]

  2. Age of the credit relationship

  3. Amount of credit one can obtain (total of all credit limits)

  4. Amount of credit one has consumed (percentage of total credit limit)

  5. Payment timeliness

  6. Requests for credit (“hard pulls” of credit)

  7. Outstanding judgments

Look at the list again. Does it include any relationship to how much money one might have in a savings account? Or any connection to a person’s net worth?

Here’s the fact: You could be a millionaire and have a terrible credit score.

How? By having zero credit relationships.

While a great credit score is more desirable than a terrible credit score, it is not the best indicator of financial success. Choose instead to make financial decisions about what best increases financial margin and net worth!

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