Q We're considering refinancing our mortgage and adding $10,000 to pay off credit card debt. We have 14 years left on a 20-year, 7 percent, fixed-rate mortgage with a balance of $112,000. Our credit ...

Q A creditor is trying to collect $11,000 from an account that I supposedly opened in 1972. Somebody used my Social Security number to acquire this account. I called the creditor and explained my case ...

Q I am trying to repair my credit. Currently, I have three older accounts in collections and have the ability to pay all off in full. What is the best way to go about doing this? Can I simply call and ...

This used to be an easy question to answer. "Pay your mortgage first" was always the mantra of financial advisers. And it's still true — if you can afford your home. Unfortunately, the subprime crisis ...

Q I enrolled in a debt-management plan in August 2003, and have finally finished paying off all my credit cards. I would like to find out if having used the agency will hurt my credit score. As a ...

Q I am 72 years old and my husband is 73 years old and disabled. We live on $1,800 dollars a month, paying $1,197 dollars a month for the mortgage of the house, including taxes and insurance. I have ...

Q I have a debt of about $4,000 from a cell-phone company that said I was using my minutes and phone while I was in Iraq. I am still in Iraq and won't be home until the beginning of October. The debt ...

The writer served for three decades as an Army Special Forces officer and top Pentagon official. He is director of the Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation. In a ...