No Virginia, You Don’t Have to Carry a Credit Card Balance

I recently taught a session (nine weeks) of Dave Ramsey’s “Financial Peace University” at my Church.  The Pastor reached out to me with one of those “do you know anyone queries” that was actually a guilt trip to get me to raise my hand.  It worked.

While I’ve ALWAYS been maniacal about NOT carrying credit card debt, Ramsey’s teachings really underscored the damage associated with carrying credit card debt. Further, he outlined a simple strategy to pay off your balances.

It is 100% possible if you have the discipline!

A Sneaky Trick

What’s really interesting is to see how paying off your credit card debt (or student debt, or auto debt, or home debt) can MASSIVELY accelerate your path to financial freedom.

While it’s obvious that you’re never really going to be financially free while carrying debt, there is another thing in play when you go psycho on eliminating debt.

If (or hopefully when!) you decide to accelerate your plan to pay off debt, you’ll have more cash flow going out for this purpose.  That will leave you LESS cash flow to “live off of”.  As you stick to the plan for a period of time you RESET your spending expectations.  You establish a new “living expense set point” that is lower.

And then, like magic, it gets crazy.  You finish paying off the debt and you have the cash flow that was going to debt servicing available for other purposes.

We don’t even realize this is happening.  It just does.  And it’s huge.

And just like with Illinois weather, people like to complain about things!

Why Get Out of Debt?

Simple. So you have choices.  Choices on whether or not to work.  Choices on experiences for your family. Choices on where to give to make a difference.

I’m not for a minute suggesting that this process is easy.  But I PROMISE you that if you want to do it, you can.  If you have any doubts, reach out to me and we’ll talk it through.  If you’re ready to get serious on the topic, sign up for Ramsey’s “Financial Peace University”.  You’ll be glad you did.

Don’t wait on this.  You’ll be over the moon happy when you pay off that last financial obligation!

Would you like more support?

• Do you have a well-defined Investment Policy Strategy that is used to drive your investments in support of a comprehensive financial plan?
• If not, would you like to partner with someone who is used to helping people get through these struggles and (then, with confidence) implement portfolio strategies in a systematic manner while focusing on your desired outcomes?

If so, feel free to send us an email or give us a call. We’d love to have the opportunity to help you find a bit more peace of mind when it comes to investing.

Some other posts that you might like:

• How Are DFA Funds Different than Index Funds?
• How Families Can Calculate Retirement Income Wants Versus Needs
• What Your Grandma Taught You About Investing
• Making Sure You Can Collect a Paycheck in Retirement