SUMMIT FINANCIAL EDUCATION | Non-Profit Personal Finance Education and Counseling

Welcome to Summit Financial Education’s public education and counseling website.

If you are a bankruptcy counseling or education client, please click here.

We are a non-profit organization committed to disseminating reliable, useful and non-biased personal finance information to the general public. The goal of this website is to make accessible the personal finance information in a user-friendly, unbiased manner.

The personal finance information presented is overseen by Summit’s President, Richard Serlin. Richard has taught personal finance to over 10,000 students at the University of Arizona. He has also taught investments, corporate finance, and business statistics. Richard holds an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, with honors. Posts from Richard’s blog are regularly featured on top economics and finance blogs.

We sincerely hope that the information on this website helps you in making good financial decisions. Please feel free to contact us with any questions, comments or concerns.

Prioritize Debts

If You Can’t Pay All Your Bills – Prioritize Until You Figure Out Next Steps Once you determine that you cannot afford to pay all of your bills, you will have to make hard choices about which to pay first. This section will help you sort out which debts are your...

Negotiate With Your Creditors

You should definitely consider negotiating with your creditors. Especially when the whole economy is going through tough times, creditors may be willing to work with you, realizing that they are better off getting something now, rather than less or nothing...

Debt Management Plans (DMP)

A debt management plan is a service offered by most credit counseling agencies. Through a debt management plan (DMP), you send the credit counseling agency a monthly payment, which the agency then distributes to your creditors. In return, you are supposed...

Debt Settlement Companies, Debt Negotiation, Debt Consolidation

There are a lot of companies trying to make money off of people in debt trouble. You should always approach these companies very cautiously. Ask a lot of questions before signing up and make sure you understand what the company is offering and whether...

Bankruptcy

Filing for bankruptcy is your legal right and this option should be considered on the basis of its legal and financial advantages and disadvantages, rather than on moralistic grounds. Is Bankruptcy the Right Choice For You? - 10 Important Considerations Bankruptcy may...