Money Monday

Money Monday

>> until our economy it came to a screeching hello halt earlier this year, many americans were enjoying some of the lowest employment rates and higher salaries and excellent interest rates and opportunities to save for a rainy day, and then the deluge of covid-19 put us into a spin with debt and no way to pay t on this money monday, we want to talk about debt resolution and what you should do if you hit rock bottom.

We are joined by lezly, an attorney for a law group.

Good to see you.

>> thank you for having me.

>> with or with out a pandemic, we all live with debt and that's just a given nowadays.

>> yes, that's true.

Everybody has debt and it's a matter of whether your debt is good or bad debt.

But everybody has some sort of debt.

>> can you tell us some of the clients who walk through your doors, on the more severe end of the spectrum, what are some of the most common mistakes they make?

>> soe of the most common mistakes that many of my clients make is failure to accurately budget.

So not really understanding what monies are coming intoed house, and then what expenses they have that have to be allocated to those resource.

So that is really one the biggest mistakes, not properly budgeting or not budgeting dahl and having no idea about your income and expenses.

>> getting into debt is the easy part and getting out of it can be nearly 78th possible for?

People, and they have to take extreme measures they've to ask but in a bit.

But maybe you can tell us yourself and your line of work, and you have also written a book, debt and line of debt.

And you're a resolution attorney, and what do you do as a debt resolution attorney.

>> what i do is help individuals and small business owners resolve debt with their creditors.

Basically what we do is take a look at their financial help and come one a budget, a payment plan and we rish bort the be debts with their creditors, and creating new agreements with their creditors, reducing the balances and reducing the interest rates to zero so they have the opportunity to repay the debt in a reasonable amount of time for really less than they owe, but it really allows an opportunity for a lot of breathing room in there are budget and getting caught up on day-to-day expense that's they thought they were about to slip on in get behind on because they were so over whelmed with other debts.

>> it sounds like a win-win situation, and have you had a lot of clients come in as a result of the pandemic and some of the financial hardships that they have experienced?

>> yes, we have had a tremendous amount of clients come to us as a result of the pandemic.

First of all, it has been an upheaval in most people's financial situations.

Either they have been furloughed or have lost their position, there's tremendous amount of unknown or we have clients who can't work because they now have children at home and there are a number of issues that have come up.

So at this point, with the pandemic running out and a lot of the forbearance and deferment programs with their creditors, they have face aid fork in about road and what do i know now when i do not know what's going to happen with my job and income and what do i do with my creditors.

>> we need to take a break, and i want to talk about that and also >> welcome back, and we have been chatting with leslie tain from the law group.

And it's hard for people to dig themselves out of debt.

But debt is something that should be embraced and i love your book, law of debt and what are the lessons that you're teaching in this book.

>> one of the primary lessons, can you have debt and learn to love it and embrace it and make it work it.

I'm not a huge pro opponent of the debt-free life.

I think that's potentially an unachievable goal so.

I like to tell people, it's okay to have debt and it's what you do with it and make if work for you so it benefits you in your life.

There are so many things that debt can help you with, buy a car, get an education, buy a home.

And those are okay as long as they're manageable within your budget.

>> and you were talking about good debt versus bad debt, those things like buying a home, a car and things like that.

And bad debt of course, credit cards maxed out and people find themselves in that predictable and they can't pay it off, so they have nowhere else to turn to but file bankruptcy, and should they do that?

>> good debt can be bad debt when it's out of control.

So you might have had the best of intentions when you took on the bills and that might be your corrected bills, and you find yourself in a situation where you need to make a decision, and how do i get out of this?

Bankruptcy is one alternative to resolving debt.

There are a couple of types of bankrupcies for individual consumer and there's also called a means test where you have to qualify to file for a particular type of bankruptcy, and though you might want to file, it doesn't mean you'll qualify.

Some ways include a debt is it scolesidation plan or other opportunities that might work fur.

Truly, it's what makes sense for your financial circumstances, your credit today and tomorrow and in the future.

>> what are the five things that people should start with when they're trying to get back on their feet?

>> so the five things is the budget.

I understand that budget is a very dirty word for a lot of people, and it's not something you want to do and it feels like a chore, and it doesn't come natural to people, but the more you do it, if you want to get back on track financially, you have to understand your budget.

Know who your have creditors o.

And how much debt you have.

You should be able to tell me how much debt you have and who you owe had money to, and moster importantly, be able to check your c you're entitled to a free credit reports at least once a year.

I recommend doing that on halloween, it's time to check your credit.

And you're entitled to a country credit report.

And make sure that you see is what you know you have, the credit and the balances and you're not only protecting yourself from fraud, butture taking a proactive step, what your score is.

>> and i always push people to annual credit report.com.

That's the best place to get it.

>> yes, it's a great place to get t.

As long as you don't have to input a credit card, also an organization giving you regular reports, and people always ask me, how do i get good credit?

Having good credit is managing debt first.

Make sure that you're not over spending, you're not taking more than you're spending.

>> is it we're just of it scratching the surface, but i want to thank you for that valuable advice.

People need to look hard and good as their debt situation, and it only means when you're dealing with it now, you can move to a better life in the future, thank you so much.