And don't hesitate to haggle a bit with the banks and loan companies. Play them off against each other. No matter how good their offer sounds always tell them that you will need to think about it. That not only does that make you sound financially responsible but it allows you to go back to other lenders and say hey I've been offered this by ABC Bank can you beat it? There are many different views on the cause as you would imagine but the general consensus of opinion is that there was a misplaced belief that high share prices could be sustained indefinitely. The Bull market which had lasted throughout the 1920s had even led one eminent economist, Irving Fisher, to state that "Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau. Of course this is the age of the internet so as an alternative to books you can search for financial and stock market terminology online. The important thing to bear in mind with this is that you should only use reputable and trusted sources. Remember that the 'net is unregulated and anyone can put up a site without bothering to check their facts. The interest rate itself may not be higher, but the total interest earned should be. The best source to do the research is definitely the Internet, where you get information not only from the websites of the financial institutions that provide the CD products but also from the various blogs and forums where people discuss about CDs and which of them are the best. Some, not all, but some companies will freeze the interest, especially if you've always had a triple A credit rating in the past. Let take a worst case scenario here and assume your creditors aren't helpful. If you find that is the case then start to look at some of the options. Do you have a family member that can lend you the cash to pay off what you owe? You also need to explain what has changed now and how you will be able to meet the new payments. Try not to be over optimistic here. And for goodness sake tell them the truth, if you don't they will almost certainly find out and you'll fail. They're trained to spot lying by applicants. The secret to success is having a good, well-though out reason why they should grant you a bad debt consolidation loan.