Georgia parents often struggle with teaching their grown children about financial independence, especially if they can afford to just bail them out. However, young adults can’t learn how to deal with debt issues on their own if their parents constantly intervene. At some point, instead of writing a check, Georgia parents must say “no” to a handout and offer guidance instead. This is especially true if constant assistance with debt issues causes the parents hardship. Of course, Georgia parents want to give their kids a good start in life. However, they shouldn’t sacrifice their own financial well-being and credit scores to do so.
How Georgia Parents Should Know When it’s Time to Say “No” to Adult Children Dealing with Debt Issues
Helping an otherwise responsible adult child out of an uncharacteristic financial jam is fine. Everyone makes mistakes. Yet, when Georgia parents instill dependence in their grown children, it can set everyone up for failure. Here are a few clues that it’s time for sons and daughters to take control of their debt issues.
There is an established pattern of mistakes and bail-outs.
If Georgia parents dread the first of the month because there’s a good chance that a child will call, asking them for rent money, this is a problem. Or, if Mom or Dad has payed off a maxed-out credit card several times, what will prevent the grown child from overspending again?
Parents try to say “no,” receive a negative response, then give in.
When parents in Georgia say “no” to a bail-out request, they have to follow through. If, on the other hand, they go back on their denial, they send the message to their child that “no” isn’t the end of the argument. Even worse, if the child screams, yells, or otherwise throws a fit, and the parent gives in, mom or dad effectively rewards bad behavior, and this is never good.
Parents drain their savings and/or get behind on their own bills to fix their kids’ debt issues.
Many Georgia parents of grown children are either retired or thinking of retirement. For this reason, they should be careful with their savings and credit scores. Chances are, they’ve worked hard to attain a certain level of success with both their finances and credit. If they compromise their stability at this stage in their lives, recovery may not come easily.
Ways that Georgia Parents Can Offer Guidance to Grown Children with Recurring Debt Issues
Again, if Georgia parents just put a cash band-aid on their kids’ debt issues every time they run into trouble, grown children learn nothing. However, if parents offer sound advice and practical solutions, their children may eventually learn financial independence.
First, help your son or daughter create a realistic budget. Help them to eliminate unnecessary expenses and set up a schedule for paying bills on time. You should also teach them the importance of always having at least a little cash left over every month to add to an emergency fund. If their debt issues are severe, consider setting them up with a financial planner or debt counselor.
Finally, teach them why credit scores and credit reports matter when it comes to getting loans, renting apartments, and getting competitive rates on car insurance. You can walk them through the process of checking their credit reports. Also, if you haven’t checked your credit reports in a while, now is a good time to take this advice for yourself.
How Both Georgia Parents and their Grown Children Can Protect their Credit Scores by Checking their Credit Reports
Many Georgia parents don’t realize that most credit reports are flawed in some way. Unfortunately, creditors and the credit bureaus frequently misreport or mishandle consumer information. Then, this carelessness leads to credit report errors that can bring down credit scores.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) entitles all Georgia consumers to accurate credit reports, but you must check them in order to catch and report mistakes. Fortunately, another federal statute, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) allows consumers to request free copies of their credit reports from each of the three major credit bureaus once every 12 months. Just go to www.annualcreditreport.com to get copies of your credit reports from TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian all in one place.
If, while reviewing your credit reports, you find inaccuracies, call Credit Repair Lawyers of America. As credit pros, we know that the error-disputing process is often difficult for consumers who attempt it on their own. That’s why we’ll connect you with an experienced credit attorney who will handle everything on your behalf, and get you clean credit reports – for free.
The Free and Legal way to Get Better Credit in Georgia
Don’t let errors on your credit reports bring your credit score down. At Credit Repair Lawyers of America, we’ve been cleaning up credit reports for consumers since 2008 for free. How do we do it? All of our fees come from the defendants in settled cases. This is why our clients pay nothing for the work we do.
Let’s start the conversation about what we can do for your credit. Set up your free consultation today by calling Attorney Gary Nitzkin at (404) 591-6680 or sending him a message through our contact page.
For more information about Free Credit Repair, please visit https://creditrepairlawyersam.com/credit-repair-free/.
