My options are Care Credit which of course is a scam at 32%, so that's out. Although if they did offer a no interest financing deal would it makes sense if I was certain I could pay it off before the year was up?
My other options are to borrow from my 401k or maybe do an unsecured loan through my credit union. I can also put it on my credit card which is at 13.16%
I have no idea how to compare different kinds of loans and consequences thereof so I really need some help
I have a $20,000 bill coming up and trying to find the best way to minimize the damage
byu/ruinsit inpersonalfinance
Posted by ruinsit
9 Comments
What’s the bill for? Is it medical debt?
If there’s 0% and you’re 100% sure you can cover it then do it.
Fairwinds credit card give you 20k credit limit no fee balance transfer and low apr promo
Can they break it down to $1000/month installments?
This way you can use your credit card once a month, pay off that balance before the statement date every month (maybe get some cashback/points) and just coast with it for like two years and not be as deep in the hole?
Assuming you have decent credit, you can apply for a credit card with 0% apr for 18 months or whatever.
Dental is RIFE with upselling and overtreating. Find recs for the most conservative dentist you can and get 2nd opinion. Can any of the work wait (spread out over multiple insurance years) and do you have an FSA you could fund next year?
Assuming you get it as low as possible, I’d do the 0%, hit it as hard as you can, and look at balance transfers or the unsecured loan once the year is about 75% over, assuming there’s anything left.
401k loans are generally very bad ideas outside of very specific circumstances.
don’t turn a $20k bill into a $20k loan until you’ve tried reducing the $20k.
itemized bill, financial assistance, cash-pay discount, provider payment plan first. then compare credit union loan vs card vs carecredit terms. avoid anything with deferred interest unless you can kill it on schedule.
If you have good credit, you can take care credit at 0% first, keep making payments, and when the time is up open a card with a good 0% transfer bonus for like 18 months
Then you’ll just eat a small fee to transfer that debt to the new card and keep making payments on the next 18 months.
Depending on what it is, it may be cheaper to fly to El Paso, TX or some other border city, then cross the border and have the work done in Mexico.