Article: Smart Money: ; Paying off your son's debt rewards his irresponsibility

DEAR BRUCE: My son has credit card debt. He quit paying a year ago. The nonpayment, late payment and interest have now been placed on the account over the original charges. A debt-recovery company has purchased the default. The group has offered a settlement offer for the original charges. This seems like a good opportunity to settle this account. What steps should be taken to ensure this is indeed a settlement and will close this financial fiasco?

J.D.

via e-mail

DEAR J.D.: While you didn't indicate that he hasn't done it before, I'd be willing to gamble that he has. If you pay off his debts, you're just rewarding his bad behavior. That having been observed, since the debt-settlement ...

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