If you’re ready to take control of your finances, debt consolidation can be an effective way to streamline payments and potentially reduce your interest charges. It also may lower your monthly debt payments.
This is because, unlike credit cards, medical loans and other forms of debt, personal loans often come with lower interest rates—especially if you have good to excellent credit. Many lenders also offer direct payments to third-party creditors, so you won’t have to worry about the logistics of consolidating your other debts.
The best personal loans for debt consolidation offer low annual percentage rates (APRs) and flexible repayment terms, while avoiding fees like prepayment penalties, so you can retire debt early without having to pay a fee.
What Is a Debt Consolidation Loan?
Debt consolidation is when a borrower takes out a new loan, usually with more favorable terms (a lower interest rate, lower monthly payment or both) and then uses the loan proceeds to pay off their other individual debts. Debt consolidation loans are commonly used to help pay off credit card balances, auto loans and other personal loans.
How do Debt Consolidation Loans Work?
To start consolidating debt, apply for a personal loan through your bank or another lender. Once your lender approves you for a debt consolidation loan, it may offer to pay off your other debts automatically—or you will take the cash and pay them off yourself.
After your pre-existing debts are repaid with your new debt consolidation loan funds, you’ll make a single payment on your new loan every month. While debt consolidation often reduces your monthly payment, it accomplishes this by extending the loan period of the consolidated loans. Debt consolidation also streamlines payments and makes it easier to manage finances, like having a single monthly payment due date.
How to Get a Debt Consolidation Loan
While the process varies by lender, follow these general steps to apply for a personal loan:
- Check your credit score. Check your credit score for free through your credit card issuer or another website that offers free scores. This will help you understand your creditworthiness and qualification chances. Aim for a score of at least 610; however, a score of at least 720 will yield the most favorable terms.
- If necessary, take steps to improve your credit score. If your score falls below 610 or you want to boost your score to receive the best terms possible, take time to improve your score before applying, such as lowering your credit usage or paying off unpaid debts.
- Determine how much debt you need to consolidate. Once you check your credit score, calculate how much money you need to borrow to consolidate all of your debts. Remember, though, you’ll receive your money as a lump sum, and you’ll have to pay interest on the entire amount—so only borrow what you need.
- Shop around for the best terms and interest rates. Many lenders will let you prequalify prior to submitting your application, which lets you see the terms you would receive with just a soft credit inquiry and without hurting your credit score.
- Submit a formal application and await a lending decision. After you find a lender that offers you the best terms for your situation, submit your application online or in person. Depending on the lender, this process can take a few hours to a few days.
How to Get Debt Consolidation Loans For Bad Credit
If you have bad credit, you can strengthen your application by improving your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio. You can do this by increasing your income—with a side hustle or otherwise—or by paying off some of your smaller, more manageable debts. If you choose to pay down some of your debts, this could also help improve your credit score, accomplishing two things at once.
You may also have better luck applying for secured loans, which are more accessible to applicants with bad credit because they reduce the lender’s risk and often come with lower interest rates.
Check Out: Best Debt Consolidation Loans For Bad Credit of 2023
Does Debt Consolidation Hurt Your Credit?
Consolidation loans have the potential to affect your credit score in several ways. Applying for a loan requires a hard credit check, which can result in a small dip in your credit score. However, the impact of the inquiry on your score will decrease over time and disappear typically after two years. Your credit score may also decrease if you take out a debt consolidation loan, pay off your credit cards and then rack up more debt on those cards.
That said, consolidating loans can be a great way to streamline your payments, reduce your monthly debt service and build healthy financial habits through regular, on-time payments. For that reason, consolidation loans can actually help you improve your credit score over time. What’s more, some lenders even offer credit tools beyond regular lending services to help you manage your credit profile.
How to Consolidate Debt
The best way to consolidate debt typically varies for each individual and their unique financial situation. Here are some of the best options to consider:
- Debt consolidation loans. Personal loans are among the most common ways to consolidate multiple debts. This method will help you streamline all your debt payments under one loan.
- Balance transfer credit cards. Highly qualified borrowers can access no-interest financing through balance transfer credit cards typically for one year to more than 18 months. This debt consolidation method is a great way to streamline your payments while avoiding interest through the promotional period. However, unpaid balances at the end of the promotional period will begin to accrue interest.
- Home equity. If you have enough equity in your home, you can utilize a home equity loan or home equity line of credit (HELOC) to help consolidate your debt. Be careful with this option, though. Because your house secures the loan, the lender can repossess your home if you fail to repay the loan.
- 401(k) loans. A 401(k) loan is a loan you take out from your own 401(k) account. You typically borrow the greater of $10,000 or 50% of your vested account balance up to $50,000, and you generally have up to five years to repay it.
Is Debt Consolidation a Good Idea?
Determining whether debt consolidation is a good idea for you depends on your credit score and whether you’re taking other steps to improve your financial habits. Debt consolidation may benefit you if:
- You’re committed to paying off the full amount of your debt consolidation loan
- You have enough cash flow to cover all of your debt payments
- You’re okay with repaying your loans over a longer period of time
- You’ve improved your credit score since you took out your original loans
- You have a financial plan to avoid running up your debts again
Tips for Comparing Personal Loans for Debt Consolidation
Personal loans often are available online through traditional banks, credit unions and alternative lending platforms so you can apply quickly and conveniently, without having to visit a bank branch. Many of these lenders also offer competitive interest rates and flexible repayment terms, meaning you may be able to save money by consolidating your other debts.
Consider these tips when comparing personal loans:
- Where possible, prequalify. Many personal loan providers offer prospective borrowers the ability to prequalify for a loan. This means the applicant can submit details about their financing needs, income, housing situation and other relevant information to find out what kind of loan amounts, rates and repayment terms they are likely to qualify for. Even better, this process typically only requires a soft credit inquiry so you can shop around without hurting your credit score. If you think you may benefit from consolidating your debt—but aren’t sure what rates you’ll qualify for—the prequalification process can streamline your search by ruling out lenders with higher rates.
- Consider the purpose of your loan. While personal loans can be used for a broad range of purposes, they are limited to things like consumer debt consolidation, home improvements, vacations, weddings, funerals, large purchases and other personal expenses. For that reason, lenders often forbid you from using personal loans for postsecondary education expenses, business purposes and illegal activities, at a minimum. When considering a lender, always confirm that debt consolidation is an acceptable use of the loan funds. Even better—determine whether the lender will pay your other creditors directly.
- Keep an eye out for additional fees. Some lenders offer fee-free personal loans that don’t require borrowers to pay origination fees, late payment fees, prepayment penalties or other common loan costs. However, this is more the exception than the rule, so it’s important to ask about fees when shopping for the best loan terms. This is especially important if you’re trying to save money by consolidating debt because fees can cut into your savings over the life of the loan. Likewise, if a lender charges an origination fee, find out whether it’s built into the APR or taken out of the loan amount prior to funding, as this may impact the loan amount you need to request.
- Evaluate the lender’s customer support options. If you’ve found a lender that’s prepared to offer the money you need at acceptable terms, there’s one more thing to consider before signing the loan agreement. While customer support may not seem like a big deal in the honeymoon phase of your loan, it can make a huge difference if you encounter issues with payments or face a financial hardship during your repayment period. Review the lender’s customer service resources and read reviews from past and current borrowers to make sure it’s a good fit.
