Speaker 1: It's time for the b a q a A the
Speaker 1: b a q a, which is saying the b a
Speaker 1: q a with Manda, the b a q a with
Speaker 1: a A.
Speaker 2: I finished my mantra. Y now, so this show is
Speaker 2: going to be a lot zippier than the.
Speaker 3: First show.
Speaker 1: This week it is Brad a vision Question and answer.
Speaker 1: You have questions, We have answers, but we're not sure
Speaker 1: an attorney. We're not your to financial advisory. Why not
Speaker 1: your mama. But we are two smart brown girls on
Speaker 1: the interwebs with a podcast, I mean like or two. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we do, we do, but take it with the grain
Speaker 1: of salt.
Speaker 2: Rational best selling authors in the house. Come on now,
Speaker 2: career expert coaches in the house.
Speaker 3: Let's go.
Speaker 2: That's some respect on our names.
Speaker 1: Uh. So we're gonna answer some money questions this week.
Speaker 3: All right. First one's from Shana.
Speaker 1: Hello, my husband and I had My husband had a
Speaker 1: stint of medical issues in twenty twenty one. He's better,
Speaker 1: we are grateful for that, and has insurance to them,
Speaker 1: but at the time he had no insurance. We are
Speaker 1: now drowning in medical bills. His credit score has gone
Speaker 1: from good to fair. Do you have any recommendations on
Speaker 1: how to handle them. Well, we don't have enough cash
Speaker 1: flow to pay them all, right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's so tough. And I mean the thing is
Speaker 2: like it sounds like his medical condition, his medical issues
Speaker 2: happened before he had insurance. And I think that that's
Speaker 2: just like yay America, just putting our citizens into debt
Speaker 2: by no fault of their own. But yeah, I think
Speaker 2: that medical debt, especially when it's from a hospital, I
Speaker 2: would say before anything, just be aware of your rights
Speaker 2: and be aware of your options. I have had family
Speaker 2: members successfully get on the phone with their hospital and
Speaker 2: be put through. If they're super low income, they have
Speaker 2: like charity care options for potentially you may have some
Speaker 2: of your debt forgiven or if not all, or be
Speaker 2: reduced or be put on a payment plan. But I
Speaker 2: think the worst thing you can do is just ignore
Speaker 2: it and let it accrue and then you feel like
Speaker 2: you're drowning. But actually, like contact the hospital and say,
Speaker 2: here's the situation. I do not have the cash flow,
Speaker 2: I cannot afford these payments. What can I do?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: No, absolutely, Like there's as specifically if they have a
Speaker 1: financial assistance policy. I know for a fact I don't
Speaker 1: know what is in other states, but I know because
Speaker 1: a friend of mine used this back when we were
Speaker 1: in college in New Jersey. They call it charity care.
Speaker 1: To Mandy's point, so ask they might have that even
Speaker 1: if you're not eligible, people, can you can still negotiate
Speaker 1: your bills that I did this, so I did not
Speaker 1: know I was aglergic a black hair dyed.
Speaker 3: But now I know.
Speaker 1: And my face blew up like the movie The Mask,
Speaker 1: Google the Mask movie, not with Jim Carrey, like the
Speaker 1: one would share, and my face literally all this liquid
Speaker 1: formed underneath my skin, and it was it was scary.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna lie. So I luckily lived down the
Speaker 1: street from the hospital. I actually was born on Saint
Speaker 1: Michael's in Newark. And I walked up the street. My
Speaker 1: mom was like, go to the emergency room, and I did,
Speaker 1: and because I had no money, so I was scared
Speaker 1: to go.
Speaker 4: I was.
Speaker 1: She said, so you'd rather just pass away in your sleep? Okay, gotcha?
Speaker 1: So I walked up the street. They basically it was
Speaker 1: an alluxury action. They gave me the equivalent equivalent of
Speaker 1: benadrill in liquid form and then sent me to the
Speaker 1: to the pharmacy with a subscription a prescription in Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: it was literally for benajul Off the shelf. I was
Speaker 1: pissed because that prescription cost me a couple hundred bucks.
Speaker 1: So all together it was like I want to say,
Speaker 1: I owed like maybe twelve hundred dollars in that one visit,
Speaker 1: which I was like freaked out about. I didn't have
Speaker 1: any money, so I called them and I was like,
Speaker 1: and they got it down to eight hundred dollars, which
Speaker 1: I didn't have, but I was able to at least
Speaker 1: start paying on it. So I say all that to say,
Speaker 1: you know, the truth is I probably did qualify for
Speaker 1: charity Care, but I didn't know at the time to
Speaker 1: apply for him. I just called the hospital directly that
Speaker 1: I don't have it, can you help me? And they
Speaker 1: were like, well, we can do this, and I said, okay.
Speaker 3: You know that's the.
Speaker 2: Key is like using that phrase charity care.
Speaker 3: Yes, you know.
Speaker 2: There was this like viral TikTok. I remember at the
Speaker 2: beginning of the I keep saying the recession, the pandemic,
Speaker 2: there was this TikToker I think his name was Jared something,
Speaker 2: and he was going viral because he himself had gone
Speaker 2: through a lot of medical issues and had so many
Speaker 2: bills and now it's his whole mission, Like he has
Speaker 2: a nonprofit or he started one helping people, helping advocate
Speaker 2: for patients to apply for charity care and actually help
Speaker 2: them apply and that there sometimes is an application, and
Speaker 2: like how to navigate that process. And so I quickly
Speaker 2: found his website that he started. It's called dollar four
Speaker 2: like the word dollar and then for and right on
Speaker 2: his site, you know, we crush medical bills. You can
Speaker 2: click get help and go through the little tool the
Speaker 2: last where the bill came from. It's not a bad
Speaker 2: place to start, you know, but at least knowing what
Speaker 2: your options may be. And you know, if you're truly financial,
Speaker 2: this is I mean, bank medical debt is like the
Speaker 2: cause of the majority of bankruptcies personal bankruptcies in the US, right.
Speaker 2: But it's a shame because you may not have to
Speaker 2: let it get to that point if you have these
Speaker 2: other options out there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for one thing, don't do, Shane, Please don't put
Speaker 1: it on your credit card because then it goes from
Speaker 1: medical debt to credit card debt.
Speaker 3: So just keep that in mind.
Speaker 1: Anybody who's listening, but Shane especially and remember that it's
Speaker 1: not as urgent as of your other bills. And to
Speaker 1: Mandy's point, there's nonprofit help, so there's also a dollar four.
Speaker 1: And also consider it's called the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.
Speaker 1: It's a nonprofit and you can share with them what
Speaker 1: you're going through and they can help you navigate that
Speaker 1: process as well. And these are nonprofits, so you're not
Speaker 1: by yourself. This is a really good question. I don't
Speaker 1: know we've ever answered a medical that question. So I'm
Speaker 1: glad you asked it, Shane, And so we wish you well.
Speaker 1: We're glad that your husband is better now. You know,
Speaker 1: we want to make sure your finances are better now too.
Speaker 2: Do you want to mention really quick too? You mentioned
Speaker 2: credit or just like putting it on credit, But medical
Speaker 2: debt it's not that in terms of like, because you know,
Speaker 2: she mentions her husband's credit how it's gone from good
Speaker 2: to fair. But haven't there been some recent changes to
Speaker 2: how credit scores are calculated that medical debt or unpaid
Speaker 2: medical debt or paid off medical debt is not as
Speaker 2: big of a factor in your credit score anymore.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, according to c NBC as of July first of
Speaker 1: this year, your medical debt may no longer hurt your
Speaker 1: credit score anymore. So it's not unpaid medical debt, because
Speaker 1: certainly if you're behind, you will have to pay, But
Speaker 1: if you've paid off medical debt, that was sometimes weighing
Speaker 1: down your score. So if you've paid off medical debt,
Speaker 1: the three largest credit briuros, TransUnion, Equifax, and Experience are
Speaker 1: removing cleared medical debt from consumer credit reports beginning July first,
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two. So we've passed that time, which is
Speaker 1: you know, which is good news.
Speaker 3: I guess. I mean, you know you.
Speaker 1: Paid it off, which is great. But yeah, so if
Speaker 1: you you'll have more time before. Unpaid medical debt also
Speaker 1: is reported on your credit report, so typically it's increased
Speaker 1: from let me see, what does it say, unpaid medical
Speaker 1: debt that is currently in collections for one year were reported,
Speaker 1: so before it used to be six months, like twenty seventeen,
Speaker 1: the law was six months. You know it's going to
Speaker 1: be reported now they're going to give you a whole
Speaker 1: year to be behind. So that's actually really good too,
Speaker 1: because they understand that medical debt is not as a
Speaker 1: result of you being financially irresponsible. Yeah, and then starting
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three, according to CNBC Equifax Experience, TransUnion
Speaker 1: will also no longer include medical debt and collections under
Speaker 1: five hundred dollars on your credit report.
Speaker 3: So that's good too.
Speaker 2: I'm going to say that this is definitely those things
Speaker 2: where you should be on top of it. You know,
Speaker 2: if you know that you have paid off some debt
Speaker 2: and it's still like, check your credit reports once a year,
Speaker 2: speaking of which isrobody check mine. I haven't done in
Speaker 2: a minute, But check your credit reports and if you
Speaker 2: still have medical debt there, then I would say, get
Speaker 2: some records and keep the records of it, like ask
Speaker 2: your hospital or whoever the debt collector whatever the age
Speaker 2: and see is get that letter that says that it's
Speaker 2: been settled or paid off or whatnot. And then you know,
Speaker 2: show that to the credit reporting agencies and see if
Speaker 2: they can expedite or you know, if they haven't actually
Speaker 2: taken it off your records yet, be like, hey, here's
Speaker 2: a CNBC article and you're supposed to do this, here's
Speaker 2: my proof what's happening. Because I think that's some of that.
Speaker 2: That's sometimes what happens is like the there's like a
Speaker 2: lag between when something should be happening and when it's
Speaker 2: actually happening. Definitely be on top of that, and Shana
Speaker 2: please keep us, you know, updated on what happens, what
Speaker 2: you guys decide to do. Feel free to send us
Speaker 2: another email and you guys, if you want to send
Speaker 2: your questions and reminder, you can go to Brandambition podcast
Speaker 2: dot com and senmit your question through the website. You
Speaker 2: can also dm us directly. We are at Brand Ambition
Speaker 2: Podcast on Instagram. Take a quick break, yeah, and come
Speaker 2: right back with a question from a listener who wants
Speaker 2: to know about private student loan debt. Let's do it
Speaker 2: all right, va fan, We are back with another one
Speaker 2: of your questions. This question comes from listener Kim, who
Speaker 2: hit us up on ig. Kim says, Hey, Mandy and Tiffany,
Speaker 2: I'm a new listener to your podcast. Thank you for
Speaker 2: all you do. Your podcast is everything.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Kim.
Speaker 2: My dilemma is with Navian shake my head. I've been
Speaker 2: paying five hundred and twenty five dollars a month on
Speaker 2: a twenty one thousand dollars loan from two thousand and
Speaker 2: seven that is now has a current balance of thirty
Speaker 2: seven thousand dollars. My balance isn't going anywhere. Can you
Speaker 2: guys recommend a great company that I can refinance my
Speaker 2: private loans with? When she said private, it made sense.
Speaker 1: Yes, because I was like, well, she said refinance, I
Speaker 1: was gonna say, we don't recommend around these parts.
Speaker 3: We don't talk.
Speaker 4: About ruh, no, no, no, we don't recommend over around
Speaker 4: here refinancing your federal student loans, especially you know, like
Speaker 4: that moratorium save plenty of lives.
Speaker 3: You know, when you have federal loans.
Speaker 1: That means when things happen with the economy at large
Speaker 1: or whatever, you know, you.
Speaker 3: Potentially can have assistance. It's an aid.
Speaker 1: You know, we'll know by August thirty first whether or
Speaker 1: not there's going to be an erasure of some student
Speaker 1: loan private I mean federal student loan debt by the
Speaker 1: federal government. So there are protections that are in place
Speaker 1: for federal student loans, and you cannot refinance with the
Speaker 1: federal government. So if you were finance a federal student loan,
Speaker 1: you were financed out of federal protection into a private loan.
Speaker 1: But that's not what's happening here. Like this is great,
Speaker 1: So we just want to make sure that like you're
Speaker 1: under Like what advice for giving to Kim is because
Speaker 1: she's going from private to private, not private to federal.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and let's be clear too, people who have private loans,
Speaker 2: and whether that's credit card debt or a personal loan
Speaker 2: that's not being or an unsecure loan that's not a
Speaker 2: fixed it doesn't have a fixed rate, or a private
Speaker 2: student loan, you know you're susceptible to those variable interest rates.
Speaker 2: And with the Fed increasing rates, debt is getting so
Speaker 2: much more expensive. So I think this question is really timely, Kim,
Speaker 2: because if people out there you have private student loan
Speaker 2: debt and you haven't refinanced it yet because rates are increasing,
Speaker 2: I mean, check your rate and see how much more
Speaker 2: it is, and then definitely shopping around to see if
Speaker 2: you are eligible to refinance. So just in a nutshell,
Speaker 2: when you refinance, you are basically getting another lender to
Speaker 2: cut you a check for the debt that you owe,
Speaker 2: and now you owe a new debt to that lender.
Speaker 2: And the idea is that you're going to have a
Speaker 2: lower interest rate, so it's going to be less expensive
Speaker 2: debt than what you had before. Sometimes you can negotiate
Speaker 2: other terms like maybe if the term of your loan
Speaker 2: you to have it paid back and I don't know,
Speaker 2: twelve years, maybe you can refinance it and they'll give
Speaker 2: you twenty years, which will make your payments smaller. That
Speaker 2: being said, when it comes to student loan refinancing, I
Speaker 2: think the important thing is to understand you can shop
Speaker 2: around and compare rates, So, just like any other kind
Speaker 2: of loan, that's my first thing. I would recommend you
Speaker 2: can go to a website called student loan Hero. There's
Speaker 2: also credible dot com. These are two student loan marketplaces.
Speaker 2: Full disclosure, I used to work for I managed the
Speaker 2: content team behind student loan Hero. But they are one
Speaker 2: of the best. Okay, But they have a marketplace where
Speaker 2: you can search for especially lenders that'll let you get
Speaker 2: pre approved or pre qualify, which means they'll do like
Speaker 2: a soft pull which won't go on your credit report,
Speaker 2: and then they'll give you like an example of a
Speaker 2: rate that you may get that could help you Just
Speaker 2: shop and compare different lenders and just make sure that
Speaker 2: you know exactly what you're getting into.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I mean so, yes, refinancing is probably going
Speaker 1: to be I don't know what Navviance interest rate is. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the number one rule with refinancing is make sure you
Speaker 1: get a lower interest rate, but make sure it also
Speaker 1: makes sense. I would also compare because Naviant should have
Speaker 1: some sort of statement that says, this is how much
Speaker 1: you end up paying in the end if you if
Speaker 1: you continue to pay whatever your minimum payment is. So
Speaker 1: I would also compare, like how much more because Samanda's point,
Speaker 1: you might go from twelve years to thirty years, but
Speaker 1: does that mean you're going to attack on another ten
Speaker 1: thousand dollars on your loan? So first and foremost, can
Speaker 1: you get a lower interest rate, but then what it's
Speaker 1: going to cost you overall, and then you just decide
Speaker 1: whether or not it's worth the cost and then mosey
Speaker 1: on over Also too, make sure you're not trying to
Speaker 1: buy a house or a car anytime soon, because this
Speaker 1: is going to be your hard pull when you finally
Speaker 1: decide to move forward with whatever. So make sure you
Speaker 1: don't have any other need for your credit in the
Speaker 1: next few months, like major need like a house. You
Speaker 1: know you don't want to you know, you know you
Speaker 1: you're I don't want your realtor cussing us out, like, what.
Speaker 3: The hell, that's the one.
Speaker 2: I don't think they excuse me. My name is Becky,
Speaker 2: I'm Kim's realtor, and on August fifteenth, you gave some
Speaker 2: shitty advice.
Speaker 1: So just be mindful of that because sometimes people don't think.
Speaker 1: Because oftentimes people are trying to get their student loans
Speaker 1: together because they want to purchase like a home or something,
Speaker 1: which is great. So if you're six months to a
Speaker 1: year out or whatever, fine, But if it's in a
Speaker 1: few months or a few days, not fine.
Speaker 3: So just keep that in mind too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm trying to think what else she should look
Speaker 2: out for. You know, be clear on whether or not
Speaker 2: you want to fixed rate or a variable rate. Variable
Speaker 2: means that can go up and down. Right now, fix
Speaker 2: is probably the way to go because of the fact
Speaker 2: that the FED is continuing to raise rates or it
Speaker 2: looks like they may. What else, you know, starting I
Speaker 2: know that right now you're feeling like thirty seven thousand dollars.
Speaker 2: You know, this balance is not going anywhere. If you can,
Speaker 2: if you can get to a place where you can start,
Speaker 2: you know, contributing more to the loan, looking for additional
Speaker 2: sources of income. I mean that's the way to chip
Speaker 2: away at a much faster I know it feels overwhelming,
Speaker 2: but increasing income or finding additional streams of income, it's
Speaker 2: going to be like the real That and being able
Speaker 2: to reduce your your rate obviously, those are the two
Speaker 2: best ways to tackle that student loan debt, the private
Speaker 2: student loan debt as soon as possible. But you're not alone,
Speaker 2: miss Kim, and thank you so much for sending your
Speaker 2: question in.
Speaker 3: So that's our show for today.
Speaker 1: Hit us up on all of our socials, brand Vision
Speaker 1: podcasts on its, the BA podcast on Twitter, and brandibisionpodcast
Speaker 1: dot com.
Speaker 3: You can ask us.
Speaker 1: Anything, anything, anything, and I can't probably gonna get to
Speaker 1: all of them, but we will get to as many
Speaker 1: as possible. We like to switch between like money questions,
Speaker 1: career questions, your financial questions.
Speaker 3: Or at large.
Speaker 1: Yeah, business questions for sure are like answering those. So yeah,
Speaker 1: if you have business, career, money question, life question chat,
Speaker 1: we can even do some of them.
Speaker 2: Just be anonymous. We won't put all your business out there,
Speaker 2: but do a fun name.
Speaker 3: I you're gonna be anonymous, say sassy and Seattle something.
Speaker 3: You know. We like to do those.
Speaker 2: All right, TIF We'll go get some rest rest the
Speaker 2: Vocal Cords thank you for making it through the show
Speaker 2: on the men from COVID and all but still looking
Speaker 2: fabulous than you, and we will see y'all next week.
Speaker 2: By ba Fam, Hey, ba Fam, we could not do
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Speaker 2: Crosby and produced by Tanya Bustos. Dennis Timplinsky is our
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Speaker 2: your co host, and I will see y'all next week.