Posted by Mike Smith :: April 28, 2009 @ 6:42 am

The older we get, the faster time seems to pass. Think about how much quicker your college years went than your high school years. Three years constitute a very long time to a child and a moderate amount to a young adult, but they go by in an instant for older adults. It also happens to be a great length of time for making a financial plan.

So why should you consider a three-year plan? A three-year period is long enough to make some real progress with your finances but not so long that the end is beyond comprehension. A three-year plan will allow you to make long-term progress without getting bogged down in the minutia of daily adjustments.

Three years also happens to be the length of a loan from Lending Club. You can fix your financial troubles today and be in a much better place in just three years. The main way people do this is by consolidating their high interest credit card debt, even from many different credit cards, into one low monthly payment. They use a P2P loan from Lending Club to pay off those cards and then pay off the loan over the course of three years. The important part of your three-year plan is to avoid adding more credit card debt once you use a P2P loan to pay off your current debt.

Even if three years seem like a lot of time to eliminate your debt, remember that it would take nearly 10 times that long if you just keep making minimum credit card payments. With average rates at Lending Club significantly lower than those of credit cards, you’ll be saving money in addition to time. Without taking action, you’re likely to be in the same place you are today a few years down the road. Are your finances better today than they were three years ago? If not, take the first step towards making your financial health much stronger by consolidating your high-interest credit card debt. Your future self will thank you.

What time frame do you use for financial planning?