In December 2012 I called my credit union to ask about consolidating a loan we have elsewhere with a loan I already have at the credit union. The solution they offered surprised me: A cash out auto loan, whereby I send them the title for the truck I recently paid off and they loan me up to the blue book value at a very low interest rate.
Making a move like this is counter to the general advice offered by Dave Ramsey, whose wisdom my wife and I have been relying on in our pursuit of financial peace by eliminating all our debt. What I would tell Dave is that I’m not taking on more debt; I’m just changing the interest rate and to whom I’m repaying the loan. Besides, by having the loan with my credit union I can be “gazelle intense” in paying it off since I’m reminded of the debt every time I sign in to online banking and I can make extra payments with a couple mouse clicks. Truthfully, this is my real intent.
At first I was uncomfortable with giving my truck title back to the credit union since I had never heard of a loan like this. I wondered how it’s any different than an auto pawn business. In retrospect, it’s probably no different; however, the interest rate is much better than I could get with a pawn broker and I do have a lot more trust in my credit union.
Why is it that we always think the worst? “If I miss a payment, they can repossess my truck,” that voice in my head told me.
“You haven’t missed a payment on any loan for over ten years dummy; your truck won’t be repossessed,” the glass half-full voice responded.
I followed the voice of reason. As a result, I was able to borrow the same amount of money I owed on my other loan but at a much lower interest rate. The other loan was 18% interest and would have taken me another four years to pay off. The rate on my new loan is only 2.5%. The monthly payment is about five dollars more per month and if I make only the minimum payments each month, the loan will be paid off a year earlier. However, my wife and I are committed is to making double payments and paying the loan off completely by the end of 2013.
Provided we continue to be blessed with steady income and no big unforeseen expenses, I’ll have the title for my truck back in a year and we’ll be that much closer to our goal of being debt-free. Works for me!
Paul Fiarkoski 