I've Paid Off My Debt. What's Next?

Well done – you finally did it! After months, or even years, of funneling your income towards that lingering cloud of debt, you’ve made your last payment and will never have to worry about that particular payment again. Now that you’ve shrugged off this burden, it can be hard to know what you should do next with your money. Here are some good next steps to consider…

Treat Yourself!

Okay, a tendency to spend on some of life’s luxuries could have been what got you into debt in the first place. However, if you’ve been shackled to this debt for a long time, and it’s been dictating every little purchase you’ve wanted to make, use this relief to reward yourself for all your self-discipline. A special meal out, a luxury purchase you’ve been putting off, or even a little getaway could all be in order depending on the kind of debt you’ve managed to rub out. Just exercise a little moderation, and don’t start the process of racking up debt all over again!

Re-prioritize your Goals

After you’ve had this celebratory spending spree and come back feeling refreshed, your next important step is to prioritize your remaining financial goals. It’s pretty common for people to pay off a debt that’s been hanging over their heads for some time, and then relax the financial part of their brains, figuring that they don’t have much else they need to be worrying about. However, when you’ve managed to free up some of your personal cash flow, you’re presented with a great opportunity to start planning for your next big goal. Whether you want to use up spare cash investing at a binary options broker or simply move onto dealing with the next big debt, don’t lose your sense of structure!

Bolster Your Emergency Fund

If paying off your debt has caused you to dip into your emergency savings, then re-building this should take priority over any of your other financial goals. After all, the next time a big, unexpected expense gets dropped on your head, you don’t want to be left with no resources to tackle it! If you’ve totally depleted your emergency fund, then start it up again with a nice big contribution; around half of what it was before you used it to pay off your debt. Then, aim to contribute around a half of this every month until your emergency cash cushion is looking healthy again.

Start a Savings Plan

If you’ve spent a fair length of time paying off this debt, there’s probably going to be at least one big purchase that you’ve been putting off thanks to the financial burden. Now that you’ve been able to free up some of your money, you should set out a savings plan for the next big purchase you’ve been putting off. Whether it’s a new car, a trip of a lifetime or a big home renovation, set yourself a rough budget and then give yourself a marker for making monthly contributions towards it. This is one more thing that will give your personal finances a firm sense of structure.

Invest or Pay Off Debt – Which Should I Do First?

When evaluating your financial position, you may be wondering what will give you the best result in the long term. Many people feel that investing their money takes priority over eliminating debt, however there are a number of reasons why this approach can be troublesome. Here are a few important things to consider when you’re in the position to either invest or pay off your debt.

Understanding Your Priorities

Paying off debt isn’t easy, and often it takes many years of dedication and hard work to become debt free. It can be very tempting to invest your money instead and enjoy the returns of your venture, however you should always consider the big picture. By paying off your debts, you are ensuring that your credit rating stays in great shape and that you are in a strong financial position sooner. Investing always carries an inherent risk, and should it fail, you will find yourself back at square one with the added disadvantage of having your debt still hanging over you.

Seeking Professional Advice

When you are unsure of how to proceed, it pays to enlist the help of a professional. Agencies such as Fox Symes offer expert advice and assistance to anyone who is looking to improve their financial standing. The consultants will be able to individually assess your personal circumstances and help you to decide which will be the best way to proceed.

Consolidate Your Position

One of the best ways to reduce your debt and take control of your finances is to consolidate. Debt consolidation combines all of your existing debt into one easy to maintain loan, allowing you to focus all of your efforts into paying it off faster. This means only one set of monthly fees, and often a far lower rate of interest than you may currently be paying. Once your debt is consolidated, you can assess the situation and see whether you should keep trying to pay it off as fast as possible, or if you would prefer to take the gamble of making an investment.

Eliminate Debt

One of the benefits of eliminating your debt is that you ensure your credit rating is protected. This is especially important for anyone who is looking to apply for a home loan, and is trying to rid themselves of their personal debt. By reducing what you owe and working towards saving a significant deposit, you present a far more stable application than someone who has several different personal debts yet has chosen to invest.

With these things all in mind, you can start to make an informed decision about your finances. Remember that by eliminating debt, you are setting yourself up to have a strong financial foundation in the future. For more advice on strategies to reduce debt, budgeting advice or general financial assistance, check out Fox Symes. With some professional help, you will be able to find the right solution for your financial needs.

Easily Write Off Your Debt With an IVA

In the UK, eight in every ten people are struggling with debt, say researchers; and that’s excluding mortgages. We’ve a national crisis on our hands, and so it’s not surprising that more people than ever are turning to Individual Voluntary Agreements (IVAs) for help. If you’re one of the 80%, an IVA could be just what you need to get yourself back on your feet. Within five years, you could be debt free.

Explaining IVAs

An IVA is a legally binding contract between you and your creditors which approximately lasts for five years. After this time, your remaining debt will be written off. First of all, you have to be insolvent, which means that your debt is of greater value than your assets. You also need to have a debt of more than £10,000 to be considered eligible.

IVAs were established as an alternative to bankruptcy. You’ll have to disclose openly your financial situation and an IVA will remain on your credit record for six years after the contract is terminated. If more than 75% of your creditors agree to the terms of the IVA, all the remaining creditors are bound to the contract. From this point onwards, creditors can propose amendments to the agreement, but it’s down to your discretion entirely whether you say yay or nay to these requests.

Good news is that your interest and charges will be frozen completely, leaving you the space to start paying off your debt. Creditors aren’t allowed to demand any more money off you. Every month, you’ll pay a premium of (minimum) £200. The sum is usually agreed based upon what the debtor can afford. After the last payment is made, the rest of the debt is wiped away.

Getting An IVA

Usually, you’ll need to be employed before you’re granted an IVA. Your creditors will want to see that you’re able to make the payments. Before you make any moves, talk to a free, independent debt charity for advice on moving forward. An Insolvency Practitioner (IP) will collect details about your financial situation and arrange a meeting with your creditors; you won’t have to attend this.

Missing Payments

Always keep up communication with your IVA company. If you find yourself unable to meet one month’s payment, it should be dismissed as a one-off, especially if there’s a good reason. However, if you start regularly missing payments, you’ll have broken your IVA contract and it’s likely that you’ll be declared bankrupt.

Bankruptcy

During bankruptcy, you’re forced to sell all your assets to pay off your creditors. Whereas an IVA generally allows you to keep your house and your job, bankruptcy seriously jeopardises your home and employment. If you can apply for an IVA it’s best to, when you consider how an individual voluntary arrangement can clear debt, with minimal effect to your life.

Review

Annually, you’ll receive a review of your financial circumstances. If there has been an increase in salary, then your payments will reflect that. Likewise, if you’re struggling to meet the premiums, your IVA company should lower the amount of money you’re paying in.

Tax debt relief - How to choose the right tax attorney?

Getting tax debt relief can oftentimes be a harrowing experience unless you are prepared and have the perseverance to negotiate with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The fastest and one of the better ways to get rid of your back taxes and get tax debt help is to hire the services of a tax attorney. But it isn’t as simple as it sounds.
Failure to choose the right tax attorney can make matters worse for you. Professional assistance can by all means give you the best possible tax debt settlement that will suit your purpose. Pay heed to the following points if you want to zero-in on the right tax attorney to get tax debt relief. These points are mentioned below.
Identify your need
Prior to hiring a tax professional, identify your need. Why do you need a lawyer? You may want to seek assistance from the attorney for a number of reasons that might include settling your real estate tax issues, employment tax issues, business taxes, and above all IRS tax debts that you owe. So, you need to choose a professional that has the required expertise in the field.
How qualified should the tax attorney be?
Juris Doctor Degree is the basic qualification. Aside from that he should have been rewarded the LLM or Masters of Laws in taxation. Also your attorney should be a member of the local state bar and should have a valid license to practice in the state.
When you are trying to get tax debt relief and you want an attorney to represent you, hiring the services of one is a smart and wise move and perhaps the first step to get appropriate tax debt help. The tax attorney can guide you and suggest the right tax debt settlement option that will work in your case.
What are the other requisites?
Perhaps it will not be very difficult to come across a tax lawyer. But if you want to hire the services of an expert who has specialized in this field, you can face some difficulty. But do not be disappointed as you still can hit upon the right tax attorney. Let us see how. Just pay heed to the following aspects.

• Ask your friends, relatives, and peers for recommendation

• Is he a member of the state bar?

• Does he possess LL.M?

• Get the rate chart right and ask if you need any clarifications pertaining to the fees and charges

• Does he have a specialization in the area for which you want to hire him?

• If yes, how long has he been in this field and how many cases have he handled before and most importantly, what was the success rate?

• If it is a firm you are hiring, get the terms and conditions before you sign up. It does not make sense in retreating on your words once you have signed up already. Find out what you can expect, how they will go about the tax debt relief process and what will be your role as well as the role of the tax attorney in the entire process.

The author Neil Smith is an expert writer on IRS tax debt settlement. He writes many articles on how to resolve your tax debt problems.

Bankruptcy Advice for Your Debt Issues

Bankruptcy is a phenomenon that can only generate more problems for you if you know that the filing of the petition will guide you towards more financial issues. Bankruptcy advice in this regard can be successfully required form the many lawyers, attorneys and the accountant sin bankruptcy so that you are able enough to know if it is suitable for you, or, it can harm your financial health.

Bankruptcy advice is not only beneficial in getting advice from professionals in the field of bankruptcy but also on how to avoid it. The last alternative on your mind should be the bankruptcy filing and before that, you need to know about the information on other alternatives to bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy filing can cost you around 700 pounds, but the other alternatives that you may find feasible can cost you in the range of 90-15 pounds. The alternatives to bankruptcy told to you by the professionals can be:

1) Debt management companies
a. Debt management plans
2) Debt consolidation
3) IVA
4) Trust deeds
5) Snowball methods
6) Debt negotiation techniques
7) Collateral based secured loans to pay the previous loans etc

All you have to do is to get information on each alternative. You are the right person to know which option can be the best for you because; the problems are faced by you. You are the judge of your problems and the better you know about each alternative, the better you are in a state to hire a company for such an alternative.

Let me discuss one or two alternatives that can be generally the best for you in any sort of financial issues that you are facing:

Debt Management Plans

Debt management plans are made by the different debt managers in the market. The plan is a type of a renegotiation process among you and the creditors on the severe conditions of the loans that they are asking from you and you are not able to pay them back the loans in this regard. The plan will help the debt management company that you hire, to study your condition and on your behalf, talk to the creditors on lowering the terms and conditions on the payment of loans, along with the installments from your discretionary income every month.

Debt Consolidation

Debt consolidation is another type of technique used by the debt managers dealing in this area. They will merge all your loans in one, with one prevailing nominal rate of interest. The creditors will be legally bonded to get the payments equally with one rate of interest. You are now; the debtor of only one creditor and that is the debt consolidator.

Still, if you need more information, the best source of information for the topics discussed is the websites of all those companies that offer you the services of such financial help. You can also log on to the many websites of the informatory blogs and forums that have been made by the past customers so that you may know what their actual experiences they have with the company.

Muhammad Azam is an expert financial writer and avid financial blogger having experience in the field of debt relief. He has written posts on Bankruptcy advice, bankruptcy register, IVA, Debt relief orders and on other financial topics as well.

IVA Forums and Debt Help

The IVA forum for the help on the advantages and disadvantages of IVA can be accessed through the help of internet on the website goodbye2debts.co.uk.

So many other websites and the blogs created by us, help you to get full information on the alternatives to bankruptcy. You know that the filing of the bankruptcy petition will not help you and you need to know about the other, cheap alternatives to bankruptcy.

Those how directed you to file for bankruptcy did not tell you how wrong it is to file the petition when you know that you cannot afford it. It will also get you into trouble. Our company offers the services in every regard to provide you with the consultancy services on every alternative to bankruptcy with the feasibility of helping you out with debt issues. Our professionals make sure that you are out of trouble and see to it, that after that, you plan your financial future with care as well.

What is an IVA

An IVA is a legal way of managing all your debts and managing the burdens of the creditors on your head as well. The installments are revised and scheduled on the basis of your financial health conditions, so that you are able to pay them. An individual voluntary arrangement is also helpful when you have to pay the loans, and have to plan your financial future without the burdens of debts on your head.

However, a word of caution is that, you have to abide by the legal terms. If you do not, and the terms are breached, it will end you in the state of bankruptcy. So for avoiding this, you have to look forward to a strictly rule based financial future.

Debt Consolidation

Other than that, you can also look for the alternatives like the debt consolidation services. We are capable of guiding you on how the debt consolidation services work. A debt consolidator will help you with the debts that are on your head from different creditors with different rates of interest. The debt consolidator, on your behalf, offers you a loan amount. This loan amount pays off all the creditors with equal installment payments and one prevailing market rate of nominal interest.

Our clients that have been successfully served know how we help our clients with their debt issues. You can ask them any kind of question regarding our help and the consultancy that we provide so that you know how reliable out company is in dealing with your issues and telling you how to manage the creditors.

We also guide you on how to look for a better financial future ahead of you where you manage your wants, fulfill all your needs and you do not even have to take further loans as well. If you are looking for more information, you can log in free on the many websites, informatory blogs, and the forums on which we have provide help, and where the readers and the users have uploaded testimonials about us. You will be then satisfied form our service sand can hire us.

Muhammad Azam is an expert financial writer and avid financial blogger having experience in the field of debt relief. He has written posts on Bankruptcy advice, IVA forum, IVA, Debt relief orders and on other financial topics as well.

Bankruptcy Guide: How an Accountant in Bankruptcy Can Help You

An accountant in bankruptcy is the most appropriate person in the field of advisory services for the debt issues. The debt issues faced by the people are due to the fact that they have not paid their due date based loans in time. The maturity date has passed and they now face the problem of outstanding debts with an increased rate of interest, known as the default rate of interest with risks attached.

Now when you face such situations, this is not appropriate that you go for the filing of a petition for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy should be the last option to avail if you have to look for the best solutions. The best of all solutions can be anything but, bankruptcy. The other alternatives are much cheaper in cost to avail as well. For example, a DRO may cost you only 90 pounds, but the bankruptcy filing can cause you to pay around 700-1000 pounds.

So many other ways of rendering you the ease of debt help are as follows:

1) Debt management companies offering debt management plans
2) Debt consolidation
3) Trust deeds, in case you have borrowed a huge amount of debt and you need collateral
4) IVA
5) Snowball debt management etc

Trust deeds

The accountant can help you in avoiding bankruptcy and can tell you all you need to know about the trust deeds. The trust deeds help when you want to buy property or land on the basis loan. The trustor, the debtor or the person who wants to buy the property will get the loan through the trustee who offers the trust deed and the lender or the beneficiary holds the interest over it. You can be a trustor if you have to get a property or land for good reasons. If however, it is just a want, do not borrow loans for wants. The loans borrowed for wants are never paid and you are never in a condition to pay them either.

Snowball Technique

The snowball technique is a useful way of paying back the credit card debts. It is the easiest way of managing debts by the debtor on one’s own behalf. If you are such a person, and you want to manage all your debts in time without any help, you can just follow this technique. All you have to do is to list all the debt amounts in ascending order and then add up the extra amounts to be paid with the rate of interest with each.

Start paying with the lowest amount, and add the extra charges with the other amounts when you are done with one amount. By this, the overall amount will decrease and the effect will be naturally visible, as the whole amount of the debts will decrease instantly.

You can also look for the details on other methods and the techniques on how to lower the debt amounts, manage hem and then pay them off easily, without letting yourself fall for the short-term benefit based bankruptcy. Log on to many blogs and informatory websites for details online.

Muhammad Azam is an expert financial writer and avid financial blogger having experience in the field of debt relief. He has written posts on accountant in bankruptcy, bankruptcy register, IVA, Debt relief orders and on other financial topics as well.

Few useful tips to Pay off your Debts...........

Everyone is worried about their debts. And all of us wants to recover it as soon as we can.

But every time it is not possible. Either we don't have sufficient amount to pay off our debts or we have money but we don't have the proper information to utilize the money to overcome this debt problems.

I think i can help you better say this below video will help you to pay off your debts. In this video you will get some useful tips & suggestions to overcome it. Thanks to "You tube" for this constructive video.

Share your pay off debts experiences with the comment below. If you want to add anything you are also welcome.