StudentDC Interactive

“With the economic situation right now, is this a bad time to start or buy a chiropractic practice?” If you are graduating from chiropractic school right now, you’re probably wondering if you are graduating at the wrong time. Sure, gas prices are high and going higher, and people in some areas of the country are having trouble paying for their homes. But health care is a pretty “recession-proof” business. People will always need health care, and if people understand the value of chiropractic care, they will keep coming back. Sure, you may lose a few people who have to drive a long distance to get to your office, but you may pick up others who don’t.

This might be a good time to consider buying an existing practice rather than starting a new practice. Why? You will have a built-in patient base and employees who know how to run the practice. You may also have an easier time getting a loan for an existing practice, since it has a track record that a bank can rely on.

The answer is:  probably, but you will have to pay more to do this.  (In interest, I mean.)Here are some suggestions to work on to increase your credit rating: 

50 tips

Ways to increase your credit score

I was asked if putting your student loans into deferment or forbearance would have a negative effect on your credit rating.  As usual, I have to say “it depends.”  In this case, it seems to depend upon the lender, and the credit rating service. 

First, you will need to understand the difference between deferment and forbearance.

Deferment is a time when you can suspend payments on student loans.  This is the more common situation, and you can get a deferment for such reasons as being in school, graduate studies, and economic hardship.

Forbearance is another way to get your loan payments suspended, and it is usually reserved for situations when deferment cannot be granted.  Here is a good website which explains both situations in more detail:  http://studentloan.citibank.com/slcsite/repay/defer/1a6b.asp 

Be aware that, in both cases,  interest will continue to accrue on your loan, and it will need to be paid at some point.  So the amount of your loan will continue to increase, even if you are not making payments for a time.

If the credit bureau (Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion) sees that you are not making monthly payments on a loan, they may consider this a negative.  You would have to write the credit bureau and explain.  If you otherwise have good credit, it probably won’t affect it much.  If your credit score (FICO) is low, it would be another thing that would lower your score even more. 

Here is a good article from eHow with some suggestions:   http://www.ehow.com/how_2002591_avoid-loan-deferment.html