dave ramsey
Dave Says
By Dave Ramsey
Author, The Total Money Makeover
CBNMoney.com
– Transfer Credit Debt to Another Credit Card?
Dear Dave,
I’m thinking about transferring the $2,500 in credit card debt I’ve accumulated on my current card to another one with a lower interest rate. Is this a smart move toward getting out of debt?
-- Trevor
Dear Trevor,
It will save you a little money thanks to the lower interest rate, but the big problem is that it’ll also make you feel like you’ve done something about the situation when you really haven’t. Plus, the offers you’ll find for zero-interest or low-interest credit cards are good only for short periods of time. There’s always a catch.
The best thing you can do is get jacked-up angry about attacking this debt and get rid of it as fast as possible. You can sell some stuff, take on an extra job for a little while and knock it out in less than a year by making $250 payments every month.
Lots of people make this kind of switch for the interest rate, Trevor, but they don’t change the behavior that got them in trouble in the first place. If you don’t get mad at debt and draw a line in the sand where you’re determined never to borrow money again, you’re liable to find yourself back in the same bad situation.
-- Dave
Protests Over Assessed Value of Homes Legit?
Dear Dave,
We keep getting offers in the mail from a law firm that offers to protest the assessed value of our home for property tax purposes. They say that we’ll pay them nothing if they can’t save us money, but if they do the fee is 50 percent of the property tax savings. Do you think it’s ethical to dispute these findings, and are these services legitimate?
-- Kristen
Dear Kristen,
There’s no real problem with this, so long as there are no up-front fees. The real question, though, is whether your assessment is accurate.
First, there would have be some kind of basis for the protest – like if your assessment is really out of line compared to similar homes in the neighborhood. Usually, they aren’t assessed at 100 percent. But if you discovered that a comparable home was assessed at 73 percent and yours was based on 82 percent, then you’d have both an ethical AND a legal right to protest the assessment.
I think one of two things will happen. If you talk to this firm, you’re either going to find out that there’s something going on with the tax base that makes them think they can actually reduce the numbers, OR they’re going to try and hit you with a “processing fee” or some other excuse.
If this is the case, you should just walk away.
-- Dave
Lost Job and Might Need to Move
Dear Dave,
The job I have currently is about to be phased out, and I’m looking at two other offers. The pay for both is the same. One is short-term, nine months to a year, and it has a per diem so I wouldn’t have to move. The other job would last much longer, but I’d have to move and that would throw me about $3,500 further into debt. This company acts like it doesn’t want to help with the moving expenses, but I think I’d like the job better. What do you think I should do?
-- Michael
Dear Michael,
I’d move. And I’d also try to negotiate the heck out of this company and get them to foot some of the bill for the move.
If you’re valuable enough and they like you enough to want you on their team, then I’d use that as a negotiating point before accepting the position. Tell them that you really want the job and you’re excited about it, but the only thing holding you back is $3,500 in moving costs.
You never know until you ask, and at that point they may kick in $1,000 or so to make it easier for you to decide!
-- Dave
Dave Ramsey is a nationally-syndicated radio talk show host and author of the New York Times bestselling books, Financial Peace Revisited and The Total Money Makeover. His life-changing advice in the area of personal finance helps people get out of debt, stay out of debt and build wealth that will last a lifetime and beyond.
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