We are not born with it. But we catch it, and we can't seem to shake it loose. In this sense, it is like a disease. A financial sickness with very few remedies. Sure, there are medicines for it. Just keep making your minimum payments and the keep the collectors off your back.
Like most medicines, this attacks the symptoms, but does not provide a cure for the disease itself. It will stay with you, eating away at your financial health. With this disease however, it possibly may not die with you. The credit card companies may attempt to collect from your heirs or your estate when you pass on.
The only debt cure is to eliminate the disease itself. Like any illness, you also will want to take the proper steps to ensure that the disease does not come back. Cut it away, and keep it away, before it manifests into other health threatening effects, like stress.
Understanding all of the options to rid yourself of this disease can be very confusing. Choosing the best plan of action is a personal decision based on what you believe, what you can afford, and how much time you want to allow yourself for relieving yourself of the burden.
Can you just eliminate the debt? Surgically cut it out of your life and be done with it. If a person is willing to keep an open mind and become a bit educated, the answer is "Yes".
A true debt elimination program will allow someone to legally discharge 100% of their non-secured credit card debt. A person can take advantage of this program just once. So once you are cured, it is up to you to be sure the disease does not return.
The eliminated accounts can no longer be used. The ultimate goal is to learn how to live without credit cards altogether. Conventional wisdom tells us that we cannot live in today's society without credit cards. This is just not true.
An elimination program is not a quick fix. A good program will have you debt-free in 6 - 12 months, and will also include an education on the credit card system, so that it is understood just how and why an elimination program can work.
Student loans, medical bills, and any secured loans are not applicable to be eliminated. Only major credit cards, signature loans, and unsecured lines-of-credit are applicable. For these types of debts, a true elimination program may be the financial re-start people are looking for.
