PROTECT · VOLUME 2 OF 3 · STRATEGIESDebt shelf
Debt Elimination Strategies
The second book on debt, for readers who know what they owe and want a plan. It covers a payoff order that saves the most interest, student loans under the 2026 rules, how credit scores and reports work and how to protect them, when refinancing a mortgage pays, whether to prepay a mortgage or invest, and the risks of borrowing to invest.
Chapters7
Reading time45 min
Worked examples23
Updated2026-10-01
What you will be able to do
- Build a complete debt list, choose an avalanche or snowball order, and see what an extra payment saves on each debt.
- Compare federal student loan plans under the 2026 rules and judge whether forgiveness, faster payment or refinancing fits your situation.
- Explain what drives a credit score, raise yours with the habits that matter, correct report errors and freeze your files against fraud.
- Decide whether a mortgage refinance pays, using the break-even point and total interest rather than the monthly payment alone.
- Weigh prepaying a mortgage against investing, and test whether any borrowing to invest survives a bad year.
Contents
7 CHAPTERS · ABOUT 45 MIN- 01A Debt Payoff Roadmap How to list every debt, why the order of extra payments matters, the avalanche and snowball methods compared, where extra money comes from, and how to keep a plan going through the slow middle.7 min3 computed
- 02Student Loans Under the 2026 Rules What changed for federal student loans in 2025 and 2026, how the standard plan, Income-Based Repayment and the new Repayment Assistance Plan compare, when Public Service Loan Forgiveness fits, and when paying faster or refinancing makes sense.7 min4 computed
- 03How Credit Scores Work and How to Raise Yours What a better score is worth in interest, the five groups of information behind a FICO score, the habits that move it, how to build credit from nothing or rebuild it, and the shortcuts that do not work.6 min4 computed
- 04Credit Reports, Disputes and Fraud Protection How to get and read your three free credit reports, dispute errors under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, choose between a freeze, a fraud alert and a lock, use monitoring well, and recover from identity theft.6 min
- 05Refinancing a Mortgage The three numbers that decide whether a refinance pays, why a lower payment can still cost more, how to keep the rate cut without resetting the clock, the main kinds of refinance, and how to shop for one.6 min4 computed
- 06Prepaying a Mortgage or Investing What an extra mortgage payment really earns, a full-term comparison of prepaying and investing at different returns, what that comparison leaves out, and a better test than good debt and bad debt.5 min6 computed
- 07Borrowing to Invest: Margin, Rental Property and Business Loans How leverage magnifies gains and losses, how margin calls work, when a rental property mortgage helps or hurts returns, how to judge a business loan, and a checklist to run before borrowing to invest.6 min2 computed
CALCULATORS USED IN THIS BOOK