| About Debt Management on the AOL® Money & Finance Channel
Discover the True Cost of Loans on the AOL Money& Finance Channel About Debt Management Information
on the AOL Money & Finance Channel
The Debt Management page on the AOL Money& Finance channel offers links to articles about using credit
wisely, managing debt, and lowering your credit card fees. From
the Debt Management page, you can get a
free credit report from Experian and use the links in theCredit Report Basics section to find
articles on debt management and using credit wisely, and the links
in the Credit Tools sections to use
helpful tools to help make money management decisions easier. In
addition, the Finance Talk section on the
Debt Management page provides links to AOL® Message Boards
about related topics.
To get to the Debt Management area:
In the navigation row at the top of any page on the AOL Money& Finance channel, click the Personal
Finance drop-down menu, then click Debt
Management.
OR
Go to AOL® Keyword: Debt
Management. Back to Top Discover the True Cost of Loans
on the AOL Money & Finance Channel
In addition to the helpful debt management tools you find in theCredit Tools section of the Debt Management page, AOL Money & Finance'sCredit Cards page contains a calculator
that helps you figure out the true cost of a loan, which includes
the cost of interest over time.
To use the How important is the interest
rate? calculator:
1. In the navigation row at the top of any page on the AOL Money& Finance channel, click the Personal
Finance drop-down menu, then click Credit
Cards.
2. On the Credit Cards page, locate theCredit Card Tools section, then click theImpact of Interest Rate? link. TheHow important is the interest rate? form
will be displayed.
3. In the Amount you owe box, type the
amount of your loan.
4. In the Future monthly charges box, type
the amount you expect to charge to this card each month.
5. In the Future monthly payments box,
type the amount you expect to pay for this card each month.
6. In the Interest rate box, type the
percentage rate (without a percent symbol) you are charged for
this card.
7. In the Annual fee box, type the amount
of any annual fee associated with this card.
8. Click the Next button. The calculator
will display a graph, showing the number of months it will take to
pay off your debt, based on the payment amount you entered, in
comparison to the interest rate charged for that debt.
9. Click the Next button. The calculator
will display a table, showing your monthly payment, the remaining
balance, the amount of principle paid, the amount of interest paid, and
the cumulative amount of interest paid for each month it will take to
completely pay off this debt, based on the information you entered. If
it will take you more than 12 months to pay off this debt, click thearrow buttons below the table to scroll through
each year.Back to Top
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