What About Debt Session What About Debt Some

What About Debt? Session ?

What About Debt? Ø Some facts about debt Ø Debt paradigms Ø What God says about debt Ø A plan for dealing with debt

Some Facts About Debt Ø Average household carried $7, 145 in credit card debt in 2012 Ø Average credit card rate was 15% in 2013 Ø 0. 15 x 7, 145 = $1, 072 = $90/month

Some Facts About Debt Average debt for senior citizens was $50, 000 in 2010; up 83% since 2001 Ø 4 billion credit card offers in 2011 (13 person per year) Ø Personal bankruptcies are increasing Ø Ø Leading causes: medical bills, credit cards Ø 19% of bankruptcies are college-age

Debt Paradigms “Buying on credit is folly!” - Sears Catalog, 1910 Ø We haven’t always had plastic: Ø Ø Diner’s Club – 1950 Ø Bank. Americard – 1958/ Visa – 1976 Ø Am. Ex – 1958 Ø Discover – 1986 Ø In 1970, just 15% of Americans carried plastic

Debt Paradigms Ø Paradigms have changed dramatically: Ø “Use OPM to grow rich” Ø “A 30 -year mortgage is the standard” Ø “Build your credit” Ø “My credit card pays money back” Ø “You’ll always have a car payment” Ø “You have to have a student loan”

A Paradigm Shift

A Paradigm Shift “He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly. ” Proverbs 13: 24

A Paradigm Shift Ø “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave. ” Proverbs 22: 7 (NASB)

Shifting Paradigms Ø Vital Ø importance of paradigms Motivation helps to shift paradigms Ø The “ 10 minute” phone call Ø Explanations help to shift paradigms Ø Naaman Ø Does God have a debt paradigm?

What God Says About Debt enslaves (Prov. 22: 7) Ø Co-signing is foolish (Prov. 17: 18; 22: 26 -27; 6: 1 -5) Ø Refusing to repay debt is wrong (Psalm 37: 21) Ø Paying off debt is a high priority (II Kings 4: 1 -7) Ø

What God Says About Debt Ø God said Israel would be cursed by having to borrow, or blessed by being able to lend (Deut. 28: 1, 12, 15, 43 -44) Ø Lending is not wrong, so borrowing must not be wrong (Psalm 37: 25 -26) Ø Lending is an act of mercy on the disadvantaged – not an opportunity to take advantage (Deut. 23: 19 -20)

A Plan for Dealing with Debt Would you like to be free? Ø Why are you in debt? Ø Ø Do you think debt is a smart policy? Ø Are you unwilling to wait to buy stuff? Ø Do you fail to plan for the future? Ø Do you have no emergency fund? Ø Are you financially careless? Ø Have you had a series of catastrophes?

A Plan for Dealing with Debt Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Recognize, and address, the problem(s) Get on the same page with your spouse Stop borrowing money! Save for emergencies Sell some stuff Increase income “Debt snowball” Don’t give up hope! Pray