It is really a question that many of us have in our mind. You should not have unused credit cards in your wallet if your primary goal is to maintain good credit score. But in case of emergencies, that extra card may come to you as a real help.

Unless you extra credit card causing problems like annual fee or inactivity fee – there is no such a great reason to close the account. “A zero balance on a credit card account won’t hurt your FICO score, but closing an account could”, says Craig Watts, a spokesman for Fair Isaac.

However the bank may cancel your credit card if your credit card remains unused for many days. The reason is “eventually the card issuer will close the account due to inactivity,” says Watts, as keeping the unused credit card account open costs the lender money.
If you are to apply for a loan then you should consider this quotation given by Rod Griffin, the director of public education for credit bureau Experian, “Closing an account causes you to lose the available credit limit associated with it. Your utilization rate, also called your balance-to-limit ratio, will increase as a result of closing the account. That may cause a temporary decline in your credit scores.”

Watts says, “The FICO score assesses all the information on your credit report. So the score impact from any one action, such as closing an account, will depend on what other information is present on the credit report”. He also says “closing one card is much less likely to affect your FICO score”.

If you are responsible enough borrower then an account closure would not have much impact. As good credit involve not to carry excessive debt and making payments on time.

Worries about Europe’s debt problem grew after Germany and the stocks were falling again today. In the morning the Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost 74 points and down to 10,437, Nasdaq was down to 17 points to 2,300, and S&P had down to 1114 after lost 6 points.

Germany’s ban effect the euro as it continues to fall. After Germany’s announcement euro fell down in the morning to the 4 year low of $1.0144.

• See the exchange rate

What is short sell?

It is a bet that short sellers play, they expect that the value of an asset will fall.

Credit card debt is an epidemic which broke out quite a few decades back in the U.S. it has always been on the rise and is literally damaging the system very badly like a virus. Be it any kind of unsecured debt like a credit card or payday loans, it is a kind of vice in itself. Since this line of credit or the personal loans are easily available, people do not realize the mistake until their line of credit is exhausted or is on the verge of exhaustion. They understand it only when the monthly payments keep on going higher. In order to reduce these concerns, debt settlement option is the best recourse.

The question now arises that of, how would you know when is the right time to decide that one needs a debt settlement solution. The answer to this question is hidden in the question itself. You are the final decider who will decide for yourself! But if you go through one or more of the instances given below and feel that you are in the same situation, then debt settlement program is highly recommended.

• If you think that your shoulders are stooping down with the burden of your debts, then it is the right time.
• Again if most of your cards have reached their maximum limits, then it is the right time.
• If you are too much dependant on your credit card.
• Credit card is a necessity to you as you need the funds badly, because you are short of it.

Ultimately you start hiding your guilt and end up in collections. You change your phone numbers (and address in some acute cases). This will further add to your worries. You start getting cash advances to pay off your monthly payments and other credit card bills. You will land up to a situation where you will feel suffocated with all these debts building up and you will be forced to file for a bankruptcy. Repercussions of bankruptcy are unbearable. If you want to try the final resort before doing a bankruptcy, then debt settlement is the best alternative.

All you need to remember is that, be it a credit card or an online debt, you have to pay it back. So transferring balances from one credit card to another is not a resolution. It will not solve your problem of debts. It may even lead you to larger amount of debts. However if debt settlement is the word on your mind, then to have a basic understanding of how it will work for you, here are some important tips that can be beneficial to you while choosing a debt settlement service:

• First research and choose a firm which provides its debt settlement services genuinely. See whether it is interested in only making money from you.
• Sign up with a debt settlement program after you are convinced that your search ends there.
• Start by defaulting on your payments. This is because the creditors will notice it only if the payments late.
• In a debt settlement program, all you need is to make payment(s) towards a trust account with the settlement firm.
• Now this amount gets accumulated as a reserve.
• This pool of money then is used to make payments to your creditors.
• Once the firm or a company takes over from you, then you may not get calls from a collection agency. This is because a professional takes over from you after that as your representative.
• Negotiations start precisely after you have made your first payment.

Nevertheless debt settlement is not at all a flawless solution. It comes with its own disadvantages:

a) No denying the fact that this will affect your credit score as you are going delinquent with your accounts.

b) It is to be noted that Internal Revenue System levies tax on the saved loan amount (i.e. the amount that was waived off to you).

To wake up debt free tomorrow, start organizing your debts today. Only you can help yourself. It is not only about debt settlement or management. It is actually about your pride and dignity which are at stake. Either through a call or by a mail, no one likes to be nagged about payments on a regular basis. It will only add to your worries, if you are being called day in and out for credit card, online or any other debts, talk to a debt counselor and work out suitable repayment plans to pay off your existing debts.