CBS News
Can’t make your credit card payments? Consider this instead
Getty Images
If you have credit cards that you carry a balance on from month to month, you’re not alone. Credit card debt is a common issue in the United States, and card balances are on the rise, according to the Federal Reserve.
Unfortunately, today’s high interest rate environment can make it difficult to make your minimum payments. After all, credit cards typically have variable rates, and the minimum payments you make are meant to primarily address interest. So, with rates rising over the past couple of years, your credit card minimum payments likely followed.
But what if you can’t afford to make your minimum payments? While you may think your primary option is bankruptcy, there’s another option you may want to consider.
Don’t struggle any longer. Tap into the debt relief you need now.
Can’t make your credit card payments? Consider this instead
If you need a feasible way out of debt, you have options, including debt relief services. Debt relief professionals usually help in one of two ways:
Debt consolidation (debt management)
Traditional debt consolidation involves taking out a new loan at a lower interest rate to pay off your current debt. However, if you’re struggling to make your minimum payments, you could be hard-pressed to find, and be approved for, an affordable debt consolidation loan.
A debt consolidation or debt management service could provide the relief you need in this case. These services typically ask you questions about your debts, income and expenses and then use that information to attempt to negotiate better rates and terms with your creditors on your behalf.
Once negotiations are complete, you’ll generally stop paying your credit card companies directly and start making a single monthly payment to the debt consolidation service. The company you work with will make individual payments to your creditors on your behalf.
Save time and money with debt consolidation today.
Debt settlement (debt negotiation)
Debt settlement programs are designed to help you settle your debts for less than you owe. As is the case with debt consolidation programs, the process usually starts with a representative who asks you questions about your debt, income and expenses.
The representative will then work with you to create an affordable, yet effective, payment plan. At this point, you’ll usually be instructed to stop making payments to your creditors and make your new payments to the debt settlement company — which will likely store the money in a special-purpose savings account.
Once you’ve saved enough money to settle your debts, the settlement company will negotiate with your lenders on your behalf in an attempt to get them to accept a lower payoff amount. Your creditors aren’t required to accept your settlement offer, but debt settlement companies are often successful in negotiations.
Frequently asked debt relief questions
Find the answers to some of the most common questions about debt relief services below.
How long does debt relief take?
The amount of time it takes you to pay your debts off as part of a debt relief program depends on several factors. For example, your balances, the company you work with and the terms they negotiate on your behalf will play a role in the timeline.
However, Brandon Robinson, president and founder of JBR Associates, recently told CBS News that “if a person is not able to absolve the debt (through settlement or consolidation) within 36 months with lower monthly payments, then filing for bankruptcy may be the best option.”
Does debt relief hurt your credit score?
Whether or not debt relief impacts your credit score — and by how much — largely depends on the type of debt relief you take advantage of. Debt consolidation may have a short-term negative impact on your score, while the detrimental effects debt settlement can have on credit scores could last significantly longer.
On the other hand, if you can’t afford to make your minimum payments, you may already have a low credit score. The good news is that once you pay off your debt, you’ll have a fresh foundation to rebuild your credit on.
Is debt relief worth it?
If making your minimum payments is a breeze and you even send extra money to your creditors from time to time, debt relief probably isn’t going to be worth it for you. On the other hand, if you’re struggling to make ends meet and need a clear way out of debt to achieve financial stability, debt relief is likely a good fit.
The bottom Line
It can be stressful if you’re unable to make your minimum credit card payments, but you’re not out of options. It may be possible for you to pay your debts off faster than you thought with a little professional guidance. Reach out to a debt relief specialist today to start putting your credit card debt behind you for good.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Russian President Vladimir Putin approved changes to his country’s nuclear doctrine this week, formally amending the conditions — and lowering the threshold — under which Russia would consider using its nuclear weapons. Moscow announced Tuesday that Putin had signed off on the changes to the doctrine, formally known as “The basics of state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence,” as Ukraine launched its first strike deeper into Russia using U.S.-supplied missiles.
The updated doctrine states that Russia will treat an attack by a non-nuclear state that is supported by a country with nuclear capabilities as a joint attack by both. That means any attack on Russia by a country that’s part of a coalition could be seen as an attack by the entire group.
Under the doctrine, Russia could theoretically consider any major attack on its territory, even with conventional weapons, by non-nuclear-armed Ukraine sufficient to trigger a nuclear response, because Ukraine is backed by the nuclear-armed United States.
Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine multiple times since he ordered the full-scale invasion of the country on Feb. 24, 2022, and Russia has repeatedly warned the West that if Washington allowed Ukraine to fire Western-made missiles deep into its territory, it would consider the U.S. and its NATO allies to be directly involved in the war.
U.S. officials said Ukraine fired eight U.S.-made ATACMS missiles into Russia’s Bryansk region early Tuesday, just a couple days after President Biden gave Ukraine permission to fire the weapons deeper into Russian territory. ATACMS are powerful weapons with a maximum range of almost 190 miles.
“This is the latest instance of a long string of nuclear rhetoric and signaling that has been coming out of Moscow since the beginning of this full scale invasion,” Mariana Budjeryn, Senior Research Associate at Harvard’s Belfer Center, told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle when the change to Russia’s nuclear doctrine was first proposed last month.
“The previous version of the Russian doctrine adopted in 2020 allowed also a nuclear response to a large-scale conventional attack, but only in extreme circumstances where the very survival of the state was at stake,” Budjeryn noted. “This formulation has changed to say, well, extreme circumstances that jeopardize the sovereignty of Russia. Well, what does that really mean and who defines what serious threats to sovereignty might constitute?”
Budjeryn said Russia had already used weapons against Ukraine that could carry a nuclear payload.
“Russia has been using a number of delivery systems of missiles that [can] also come with a nuclear warhead. So these are dual capable systems. For example, Iskander M short range ballistic missiles. Those have been used extensively in this war by Russia. So when we have an incoming from Russia to Ukraine and we see that it’s an Iskander missile, we don’t know if it’s nuclear tipped or conventionally tipped,” Budjeryn said.
Ukrainian parliamentarian Oleksandra Ustinova, who says she helped lobby the Biden administration for the permission for Ukraine to fire the ATACMS deeper inside Russia, told CBS News she didn’t believe Putin would actually carry out a nuclear strike.
“He keeps playing and pretending like he’s going to do something,” Ustinova said. “I’ve been saying since day one that he’s a bully, and he’s not going to do that.”
contributed to this report.
Susan Smith up for parole 30 years after drowning her two sons in a South Carolina lake
American Airlines’ new system cracks down on passengers trying to board plane early
Putin just approved a new nuclear weapons doctrine for Russia. Here’s what it means.
Susan Smith up for parole 30 years after drowning her two sons in a South Carolina lake
American Airlines’ new system cracks down on passengers trying to board plane early