Before the pandemic, Americans prioritized paying down debt—now experts say you may want to hold off

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Before the pandemic, Americans prioritized paying down debt — now experts say you may want to hold off. (via CNBCMakeIt)

With many Americans struggling with a loss of income, financial planners say those feeling the impacts of the coronavirus may need to think twice about prioritizing paying off their debt. "Not all debt is created equal and not all debt is bad," says, a financial planner and professor at New York University. Even if you do have "bad" debt, such as carrying a high credit card balance, you need to rank paying it off within your other financial priorities.

When times are tough, what matters is being able to pay your bills and buy necessities. That takes cash, so you may need to put your debt repayment plan on pause to free up some money in your budget. "As long as you can keep paying your bills and keep putting food on the table, you can get through the tough times," Mendels says. "It is when you come up short that you end up in trouble.".

It's helpful to remember that paying down debt now frees up money in the future to spend and invest, not to mention adding to your peace of mind, Hoang says. If you can, you may want to consider applying for aoffering a 0% APR and use that low interest to help pay off more of your debt at a faster pace.

Not sure where you fall? Do a quick "risk level" check on your money, says Dallas-based certified financial plannerIf you've already lost your job or you're at a high risk of getting laid off soon, consider your income options. Find out how much unemployment benefits will cover and how long will they last. Consider applying for a temporary job and factor in how much income that will generate.

Aim to build up three to six months worth of cash for now, Cowles says. If you only have enough to cover the necessities, then don't worry about the debt now: "Right now ... cash flow is absolutely king."

Source: Loan Digest (loandigest.net)

 

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MakeIt What an idiotic read this is .... what a convoluted mixed messages piece of garbage this is ... someone actually got paid to write this lol

MakeIt Yes. With 40 million people having just lost their jobs in the past eight weeks, a guy should try to make sure he has all the debt he can possibly incur.

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MakeIt It is sad how USCongress is quick to bail out big companies and pay Millions to corporations that don’t even need the money when the AmericanVote consumer struggles everyday ... it is past time to help the very people that make the economy the strongest the world has ever seen

MakeIt ... Been swiping the card more than usual during lock down. Trying to conserve cash... keeping it all safely in the old prison wallet.

MakeIt Let's just pretend all the debt disappeared and start over

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