If you are one of the millions of baby boomers in your 50s or 60s having trouble sticking to a budget, you aren’t alone. With the rising cost of food and housing, it’s becoming more difficult to retire on time. Many boomers plan to keep working past their full retirement age. When you reach out for credit counseling help before or during retirement, you eradicate debt so it’s easier to live on a fixed income. In fact, consolidating debt and agreeing to a Debt Management Plan could give you the practice you need to budget carefully in retirement. A recent article by U.S. News & World Report says people who are nearing retirement need to improve their budgeting skills to survive. The article cited a 2014 Bank rate survey that showed 60 percent of people can’t afford to cover unexpected expenses. With credit counseling, you can finally get a handle on your expenses including runaway credit card debt with high-interest rates.

Bringing expenses inline with income

A trained credit counselor makes sticking to a budget much easier. If you have several credit cards with high interest rates, a trained counselor will set you up with a Debt Management Plan that fulfills your obligation to creditors while saving you money with a negotiated lower interest rate. A budget gives you back control by bringing expenses inline with any social security or pension income.

Knowing when to wait

Another benefit of credit counseling and budgeting is that you determine how much to spend. Although almost everyone needs to spend money on food and housing, you will prioritize so you wait on non-essentials such as a new dishwasher or a cruise.

Giving away more money

If you don’t have money for your own bills, you likely don’t have money to give to your church, charities or family. At the same time, many baby boomers are generous people who like to share. By getting your credit card debt squared away before you retire, you’ll leave more money to your beneficiaries. When you pass away with debt, the probate process often kicks in so your creditors get paid before your beneficiaries. Your loved ones will appreciate anything you can do to pay off debt.

Other benefits of credit counseling and debt consolidation are more money to manage-increasing expenses due to inflation as well as money for rainy days. At Christian Credit Counselors, we believe you are never too young or too older to get rid of debt. We help many of our clients get out of debt 80 percent faster with our debt snowball method.

Do you want to know more about debt and how you can make smart financial decisions now that will help you secure a more prosperous financial future? Sign up for our newsletter for monthly money tips.

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