Clean Up Your Finances (Collection)

Description

<>Today, people struggling with debt have far fewer options: lenders are stingier, which makes it harder to avert disaster, or to recover from setbacks like foreclosure, short sales, or bankruptcy. (Meanwhile, people with good credit have more options than ever, including some of the lowest interest rates in decades.) Debtors need an up-to-date guide that can help them assess options, find help, discover opportunities, and take action that works. Liz Weston's Deal with Your Debt, Updated and Revised Edition is that guide.

Most "conventional wisdom" about debt is just dead wrong. People are told to pay it all off, and live forever without it. Doing that can leave them a lot poorer in the long run. They're more likely to give up, or pay off the wrong debts. They may give themselves too little flexibility to survive a financial crisis. They could neglect saving for retirement. They may even wind up in bankruptcy -- just what they're trying to avoid! For most people, it's more realistic -- and smarter -- to control and manage debt effectively.

In Your Credit Score: How to Improve the 3-Digit Number That Shapes Your Financial Future, 4/e, Weston thoroughly covers brand-new laws changing everything from how your credit score can be used to how you can communicate with collectors. This edition also adds:

• Simple graphics revealing exactly how much skipped payments, bankruptcies, and other actions will lower your scores, and how long it takes to rebound.
• New information on "FAKO" alternative scores.
• Expanded coverage of the impact of short sales and foreclosures, the new FICO 8 Mortgage Score, and deciding when to "walk away".
• An all-new chapter on safeguarding against unethical or illegal use of credit scores by employers.
• Expanded coverage of credit scoring by insurers.

 Weston also updates her guidance on using FICO 08 to raise your score… fighting lower limits or higher rates… maintaining the right mix of cards and balances… bouncing back from bad credit… choosing credit "solutions" that help, not hurt… and much more!

Sample Content

Table of Contents

Deal with Your Debt

Introduction     xvi

Chapter 1 Isn’t Debt-Free the Way to Be?      1

Chapter 2 Your Debt Management Plan     15

Chapter 3 Credit Cards     39

Chapter 4 Mortgages     63

Chapter 5 Home Equity Borrowing     85

Chapter 6 Student Loans     99

Chapter 7 Auto Loans     119

Chapter 8 401(k) and Other Retirement Plan Loans     133

Chapter 9 Loans You Don’t Want to Get--or Give     147

Chapter 10 Dealing with a Debt Crisis     159

Chapter 11 Putting Your Debt Management Plan into Action     177

Index     195

Your Credit Score

Introduction     xxii
Chapter 1  Why Your Credit Score Matters     1
Chapter 2  How Credit Scoring Works     15
Chapter 3  FICO Versus “FAKO”--Competitors to the Leading Score     39
Chapter 4  Improving Your Score--The Right Way     51
Chapter 5  Credit-Scoring Myths     71
Chapter 6  Coping with a Credit Crisis     83
Chapter 7  Rebuilding Your Score After a Credit Disaster     109
Chapter 8  Identity Theft and Your Credit     133
Chapter 9  Emergency! Fixing Your Credit Score Fast     157
Chapter 10  Insurance and Your Credit Score     167
Chapter 11  Can Bad Credit Cost You a Job?     183
Chapter 12  Keeping Your Score Healthy     189

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