Do-It-Yourself, Traditional, or Tailored Debt Settlement ™: Which Approach is Right for Your Situation?

Still with me? Great. You don’t like the thought of a 5-year Chapter 13 bankruptcy, where you are committed to rigid monthly payments under the supervision of a court trustee and have no control over the process.

Debt settlement makes more sense to you, at least as Plan A. You know it’s not rocket science, and that the banks routinely often offer discounted payoffs to resolve defaulted accounts. You also like the idea of stretching your payoff dollars as far as possible.

You’ve run the numbers and believe you can make it work over a 12-18 month time horizon.

Here’s your next decision. Which approach to debt settlement do you take? Do you make it a DIY project in order to save money on those huge fees? Or do you live with the cost and hire a professional company to handle the project for you?

Until now, these were the basic choices: do it yourself or get very expensive help.

DIY Debt Settlement comes with the lowest possible fees, full control over your money and the process itself, and keeps the risk manageable by avoiding the dangerous techniques used by debt settlement companies. The Do-It-Yourself approach has always made a lot of sense to me, and I’ve taught people how to settle their own debts for more than 10 years.

With All the Advantages, Why Don’t More Consumers Settle Their Own Debts?

The reason is simple: FEAR OF TALKING TO DEBT COLLECTORS.

I’ve talked to thousands of people about the pros and cons of the do-it-yourself approach compared to hiring a debt company, and it always comes down to one thing. The vast majority of people are totally intimidated by the idea of being on their own, getting on the telephone to negotiate settlements with creditors and collection agents.

Let’s be honest. When you think about negotiating your own debts, you’re afraid that you will say something dumb, put your foot in your mouth, and get yourself in hot water with your creditors, right?

I totally understand. Fear of getting on the telephone is what drives consumers into the arms of Traditional Debt Settlement companies. The consumer believes they are better off letting a professional do all the negotiating, even if it means paying fees.

Unfortunately, Traditional Debt Settlement comes with ENORMOUS fees (typically 25% of enrolled debt!!!), offers little to no control over your settlement money or the process itself, and greatly increases the risk of being sued by one or more creditors. That is a very steep price to pay for the dubious privilege of never having to talk to your creditors.

People pay huge fees to Traditional Debt Settlement companies only because they are afraid to get on the phone with their creditors. Tailored Debt Settlement ™ solves this problem at a fraction of the cost of other programs.

This state-of-the-art approach combines the best features of Do-It-Yourself Debt Settlement and Traditional Debt Settlement, while avoiding the pitfalls and drawbacks of both methods. With Tailored Debt Settlement ™, you will be more involved with the process than with the Traditional approach, but I WILL BE WITH YOU EVERY STEP OF THE WAY, UNTIL YOUR DEBTS ARE SETTLED.

No fees are due on enrollment. I do not charge upfront for this service. You will only pay the negotiation fee AFTER a settlement on one of your debts has been negotiated, you have accepted and approved the offer, and the settlement transaction is under way. To help bring all this together for you, here is a simple chart that illustrates the pros and cons of the three major approaches to debt settlement:

Bottom Line: Tailored Debt Settlement ™  avoids the backlash by banks and their collection networks against third party debt settlement companies, without sacrificing the tremendous increase in confidence that comes from having professional assistance every step of the way, until all of your debts have been settled.