Many of us — if not most of us — have had it drilled into our heads since we were old enough to become consumers that carrying any debt, regardless of what kind of debt it is, should be avoided whenever possible. We see this belief constantly reinforced via shelves of financial “self-help” books, as well as on television and radio. The most notable of the latter has to be Dave Ramsey, whose callers are given free rein to celebrate wiping out all of their debts, usually their home mortgage, while chronicling the financial sacrifices they made to get to that point.

But is debt always a bad thing? Aren’t there times when it makes more sense to carry a home mortgage vs. scrimping and saving to get that loan off the books as soon as possible? The overarching answer is . . . that really depends, but we’re not being evasive here. There’s a very strong distinction between amassing debt to embellish one’s lifestyle and provide temporary gratification vs. taking on debt that, even upon closer inspection, actually makes a lot of financial sense.

What does this distinction entail? Then join us for the latest episode of A Place of Possibility™, as Richard and Angela provide you with a roadmap to determine what types of debt you’ll really want to avoid, while highlighting situations where taking on debt is not only a good thing, but can provide an effective return on investment that you won’t likely achieve when you stick to a “cash is king” mentality.

And, because so many of us tend to associate carrying debt with a thoroughly compromised credit rating, they’ll also provide a clearer picture of how credit ratings are calculated, what you can do to maximize your credit rating, and, if you find yourself in more challenging financial circumstances, the steps you should consider in order to dig yourself out of the hole.

Some other talking points we will touch on include:

• What constitutes wise uses of debt vs. the types of debt that should be avoided to ensure your financial well-being.
• Examples where borrowing money can provide a substantially better accelerated rate of return than paying only with cash.
• Why debt, if taken on prudently and used for the right purpose, can actually be a hedge against today’s prevalent inflation.
• What you should do as a matter of regular practice to ensure your credit health, as well as the steps you should consider if your debt level is becoming unmanageable.
•  

And more!

Our goal with this episode is to help you better understand why you shouldn’t automatically fear debt and how debt can be a helpful tool to increase your net worth when it’s used wisely.