“In the United States, there is $15+ billion in delinquent credit card debt (people who are more than 90-days behind on credit card payments) — besides restricting the act of lending what are viable options for solving this problem?”
About the Student Who Submitted the Following Essay:
My name is Samantha, and I am a high school senior, just a month and a half away from graduating. After graduation, I will be attending the University of Maine in Orono. I am going to get a PhD in Anthropology. I want to double minor, in both Biology and Geology, and I plan to integrate classes and experience, to write research papers, and make full use of the fact that UMaine is ranked a Top Research University by the National Science Foundation. I know that our current President is working very hard to ensure that a lot of funding towards Humanities, the Arts, the Society for American Archaeology, the Society of American Archivists, the Archaeological Institute of America, and (evidently) for humanity itself is lowered or ceased. However, I plan to get past the odds. I want to make a difference in my field, and in known history. One more thing you should know about me is that I’m a registered Native American of the Mohawk Tribe. I plan to not only make an impact on our understanding of American history – but also of Native American History. I plan to use this scholarship to help me pay my tuition and fees, so that I can save up money that will help me get to my PhD.
Credit Card Debt Relief – Education, Support, and Reform
EDUCATION
I believe that the solution to the excessive amount of credit card debt is a three-tiered one, involving education, support, and rethinking of a credit card’s purpose. Many people are saying that school had never taught them about important things, like taxes and cooking. In preventing credit card debt, education would be the mightiest solution.
Schools should be required to teach every student about their finances and financial options, as well as how to use those wisely. Teenagers are taught that debt is easily reversible, and not something to worry about, thanks to college advocators.
College advocators know that, to teenagers who want a future, debt is the biggest deterrent. In their reasoning, therefore, they downplay the accumulation of debt as much as possible – reasoning that as long as you have loans and scholarships, you will have time. And if you try really hard, and get a career that pays well, you’ll have no problem paying it all back. This implies that loans will bide you time and you’ll pay things off when you get around to it. This implies that debt isn’t a big deal. But it is. Educating people to be smarter about spending money, so they don’t accumulate interest or spend money they don’t have, will help prevent financial mistakes that could be lifelong setbacks.
SUPPORT
However, support is also immensely significant, because there are many people already consumed by credit card debt. Support should be readily available in colleges, schools, and public buildings. Support Organizations offering free classes on wise financial practices and financial recovery should be readily available to anyone because people make mistakes. It’s a defining part of being human. Teaching people not only how to recover from financial debt, but also come out of it with better habits, will help recover their financial stability and teach them how to better balance their financial responsibilities. One-on-one financial planning sessions and job or career planning should be available for a small fee by businesses like Golden Financial Services. One-on-one sessions would be helpful to those who feel like there’s no way out. People who need personalized help, i.e. special cases. Debt is consuming. With more than 15 billion dollars in delinquent credit card debt in the U.S., there’s an ocean of people who need help.
RETHINK
Lastly, and most optimistically, I think that the average person’s ideal about how to use credit cards should be rethought. Oftentimes people will regard a credit card as being able to spend money you don’t have, or as a safety net for heavy financial emergencies. The way we think about credit cards is very important in how we reform our spending practices. People need to understand the importance of savings, both long-term and short-term. Long-term savings can accumulate over time, and pay for retirement, a vacation, wedding, or other big and planned event. Short-term savings will accumulate over short periods of time, but bigger amounts are put into them. These can be used for emergencies or unprecedented events, like fixing your car or replacing a window. Credit cards can not replace savings! Credit cards accumulate interest and are wholly dependent on your credit score. They are less reliable. Using a credit card is a risk, but it should be a planned one. If a person decides to use one, they should plan on paying it back as soon as possible and devise a plan on how to do so. By learning this, people can change the way they think about credit cards and (hopefully) use them more wisely.
Aforementioned is a three-tiered solution to credit card debt: educate, support, rethink. One might wonder about the confidence that this will work. Think back to the Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s solutions were to provide relief, begin recovery, and initiate a reformation of the country. While this is on a large scale, and required a lot of government power, the same concepts can apply on a lower scale. Educating teens will provide the relief, by preventing credit card debt before it can happen. Providing support that is easy to access will help those already in debt to recover. And rethinking the way we use credit cards will reform our financial stability. These things can all be accomplished by the community, and do not require government intervention. And whether we rise as a community or individuals, one thing can be sure: we will do better, as is human nature. Start by seeking information and educating yourself.
Keep in mind, however, that “in our personal ambitions we are individualists. But in our seeking for economic and political progress as a nation, we all go up or else all go down as one people.” (Franklin D. Roosevelt)
About the company offering the scholarship: Golden Financial Services is a debt consolidation company that is IAPDA Accredited and “A+” rated by the Better Business Bureau.
Learn more about how debt relief programs work.
