Shall I offer a settlement amount or wait?

Hello,
To date my credit cards are current. I have an inherited annuity that will mature on Nov. 11, 2012. I am 75 and live on my SocSec. I ran up the CC debt to open an art gallery which, although the art was good, failed. My question: at what point should I stop making the CC payments to start the settlement process? The annuity will afford perhaps a 30% settlement on the various accounts. I would like advice on strategy and opinions on how things might play out. This chunk of money, left to me by my mother, is probably the last I will ever see. Other than this bit of dough I have nothing of value. One blogger (elsewhere) suggested just to stop paying anybody anything. Any suggestions. Incidentally, this site is really super.

Unless you stop paying, I don't think you will be able to get much of a settlement. I couldn't even get anything close to a 50% settlement offer until I was over 90 days late. You might be able to get onto hardship program, which will reduce your interest rate and possibly the monthly payment slightly, but that may not be enough at this point to help you. Sorry, I don't have any advice on using the annuity. Good luck!

Your account needs to be delinquent before you can be eligible for an outright settlement. Hardship programs don't require you to fall back on your payment, rather, you should get into a hardship program before your account goes delinquent. Given that you think you can pay off the debt with your matured annuity, you can opt for a settlement.