Forbearance programs as part of COVID provided relief to millions of households – giving breathing room to help manage through a challenging time.
Many people had the chance to work with creditors to temporarily pause payments toward credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, federal and private student loans and other monthly payments.
The pandemic-related relief helped some people achieve milestones like paying off credit card and medical debt, saving for a down payment on a home, or starting a family.
But now what?
One of the post powerful steps you can take is to consider your full financial picture. See these resources to level-set when it comes to going forward after protections end:
- Financial calculators: A healthy financial future begins with an understanding of your current situation. Online financial calculator’s help people run the numbers and answer questions related to financing their home or comparing how a debt management plan can help manage credit card debt.
- LearningLab: When we know more we do more. Making healthy financial choices is about having good information at your fingertips. As a national nonprofit, GreenPath makes available the LearningLab online portal offering educational on-demand experiences to help set a simply spending plan or prioritize expenses, and other educational tools.
- Online Financial Assessment: It pays to understand the impact interest charges have on your overall financial health. Especially as temporary payment pauses end, knowing your full financial situation will help you effectively manage your debt and reduce your financial stress. The online financial assessment can help. In just 3 minutes, you’ll see how mortgage, consumer debt, student loans or other debt might be impacting your budget, how long it will take to pay your debt off, and other personalized information.
- Financial counseling and debt management: Teaming up with a trusted financial counseling agency gets the right information to help people make the best decisions about their future. As a national nonprofit, GreenPath Financial Wellness provides free one on one financial advising with certified counselors. You’ll improve your financial literacy education with credit card debt counseling, debt management plans, student loan counseling, housing counseling, foreclosure mitigation, and debt management counseling
Going Forward
As the temporary pause in payments sets to expire, it is a good opportunity to understand options, and take a closer look at not only any loans on pause but also your entire financial picture.
GreenPath’s NFCC-certified counselors help you begin a conversation about where you are today, and what you need to keep in mind when managing expiration of deferrals and forbearance.
Caring, compassionate counselors guide you through a process to assess your financial situation, understand your goals, and create an action plan to work toward them.
This article is shared by our partners at GreenPath Financial Wellness, a trusted national non-profit.
APR = Annual Percentage Rate
