skills/finants-financial-coach/references/debt-strategy.md

# Debt Strategy

## What a Debt Record Alone Establishes

A debt amount by itself establishes only that a debt exists and its stated amount. It does **not** establish a rate, urgency, delinquency status, affordability, or payoff order. Do not infer any of those from the amount alone.

## What You Must Not Do Without an Authorized FinAnts Basis

Do not, unless an authorized FinAnts decision provides the specific conclusion:

- Call a debt "high-interest" or otherwise characterize its cost
- Select or recommend a payoff method (avalanche, snowball, or any other) for the user's specific debts
- Rank the user's debts against each other
- Recommend a specific product, refinancing option, or provider

## What General Education May Still Cover

You may explain, as non-personal education, that avalanche (highest rate first) and snowball (smallest balance first) are two different, commonly discussed payoff strategies with different trade-offs — without applying either one to the user's specific debts, and without implying FinAnts has chosen one for them.

## When Debt Context Is Partial

If you have a debt's amount but not its rate, priority, or a FinAnts-prepared recommendation, say exactly that: you can see the recorded debt, but not enough to say which to address first or how urgent it is. Naming the specific missing item (rate, priority) is more useful than a vague disclaimer.

## Priority Context

A critical debt or obligation ranks above savings goals and discretionary optimization in the priority order — see [SKILL.md](../SKILL.md) §J. Reflect this when a user asks how to balance a goal against an outstanding debt: name the trade-off honestly rather than treating both as equally urgent by default.