http://www.prodebtreduction.com/debt-reduction/debt-reduction-plan.html Debt reduction plan information is crucial in your quest to annihilate your debt. en-us Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT Weblog Editor 2.0 Would you rather be indebted to MasterCard, Visa and Discover or to the debt management professional who got you out of debt and saved you thousands of dollars through a debt reduction plan? We hope that's a no-brainer. But if you're wise, you want to know what's available to you before you jump into a debt reduction plan blindly. Debt Reduction Plan Defined A debt reduction plan is any type of program (besides bankruptcy) that's designed to get you out of debt. Below is a list of the most common types of debt reduction assistance: Debt Consolidation - Works by getting a debt management professional to contact your creditors to get your balances reduced and your interest rates lowered. In some cases, they can get past fees removed (like late fees and over-the-limit fees) if those apply to you. They can even get your creditors to quit calling and harassing you about your debt. Once your new balances are agreed upon, your debts are all consolidated into one. Then you make one monthly payment to the debt management company instead of several monthly payments to your creditors. This will generally get you out of debt in about five years. Debt Settlement - A debt reduction plan that allows you to pay off your debt at 30-50 cents on the dollar. Under this type of plan, you generally have to have the money for the new, reduced amount of your debt paid off all at once. You may be able to find some plans that will allow you to stretch it out over one to three years. Debt Consolidation Mortgage - A debt reduction plan that allows you to borrow from the equity in your house to pay off your unsecured debts. But borrower beware! If you cannot afford a higher mortgage payment than you already have, do not choose this option, because if you miss payments, you could lose your house. Debt Consolidation Loan - With this type of debt reduction plan, a loan is given to you to pay off your unsecured debts. The interest rate is usually a lot lower than what you're paying on your unsecured debts, so much so that you can usually get it paid off in about five years. Student Loan Debt Consolidation - Combines all of your student loans together into one and locks you in at a much lower fixed rate than what you're likely paying now. It also stretches your payments out sometimes as much as 30 years, thereby significantly reducing the amount of your monthly payment. Within each of these plans are other types of plans, such as Christian debt consolidation, bad credit debt consolidation and credit card debt consolidation, just to name a few. To find a debt reduction plan that's well-suited for you, contact a debt management company today. Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT