 TITLE: How to Know Whether You Need a Credit Counselor CONTENT: What Does a Credit Counselor Do?\n--------------------------------\nCredit counseling agencies provide several services to help people get out of debt and improve their money management skills. Counselors are trained and certified to help you improve your overall financial literacy, and can show you how to create a budget, get a copy of your credit reports and interpret your credit scores. Some also provide counseling on housing or bankruptcy.\nIn addition to one-on-one services, credit counselors may also offer group workshops, where you can learn and get access to free resources.\nIf you need more hands-on assistance, credit counselors can also work with you to create a debt management plan.\nUnlike debt settlement, which uses risky strategies to try to settle for less than you owe, a debt management plan focuses on reducing your monthly payments. Credit counselors do this by negotiating lower interest rates, reduced or waived fees, longer repayment terms and more with your creditors.\nInstead of continuing to pay your creditors individually, you make one lump-sum payment to the credit counseling agency, which divvies it up and makes payments on your behalf. Debt management plans typically last three to five years. END