The AI advisor draws on more than 30 years of debt expertise and carries no affiliate relationships, referral fees, or financial incentives of any kind*
WAKE FOREST, NC, UNITED STATES, February 23, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — GetOutOfDebt.org has released Ask Steve, a free AI-powered debt advisor available at no cost and with no registration required, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The tool is accessible at GetOutOfDebt.org/ask-steve and is designed to provide consumers with objective information about all available debt relief options — including bankruptcy, debt settlement, credit counseling, and debt collector rights — without referral fees, affiliate relationships, or sales incentives of any kind.
The Problem Ask Steve Is Designed to Address
For most Americans struggling with debt, finding impartial guidance is genuinely difficult. Nearly every source of debt advice has a financial interest in a specific outcome. Debt settlement companies earn 15 to 30 percent of enrolled debt and have no revenue incentive to recommend bankruptcy, credit counseling, or doing nothing. Nonprofit credit counseling agencies generate operating revenue from debt management plan enrollment fees, which can create pressure to enroll clients regardless of whether a DMP is the best fit for their situation. Bankruptcy attorneys earn fees when clients file and have limited incentive to explore alternatives. Lead generation websites that appear to offer free advice typically sell consumer contact information to the highest bidder — often the same debt relief companies bidding on search ads. Online search results for terms like “debt help” and “debt relief” are dominated by paid advertising from companies with direct financial interests in what a consumer chooses.
A consumer researching debt options on their own frequently encounters the same set of commercial voices, each describing their own product as the right solution. Independent, unconflicted guidance — from a source with no enrollment fees to collect, no leads to sell, and no referral relationships — is rare in this market.
Research conducted by Myvesta, a debt counseling organization founded by Steve Rhode, found that 49 percent of people seeking debt help showed symptoms consistent with depression, compared to 9.5 percent of the general population. That finding suggests that the population most in need of objective debt guidance is also among the least equipped to evaluate competing commercial interests or navigate a confusing market of paid services.
Ask Steve is designed to address that gap. It is available at any hour, requires no money, and carries no financial interest in any outcome.
What Ask Steve Covers
Ask Steve answers questions across the full range of consumer debt situations. Users may ask about:
– Whether bankruptcy may be appropriate for their situation, and the differences between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13
– How debt settlement works, what results consumers can realistically expect, and what the credit and tax consequences are
– How debt management plans through credit counseling agencies work, including total costs over the life of the program
– Rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act when contacted by debt collectors
– What happens when a creditor obtains a judgment, including wage garnishment and bank levies
– The long-term financial cost of withdrawing from retirement accounts to pay unsecured debt
– How to evaluate whether a debt relief company’s offer is consistent with industry norms
The tool does not recommend specific companies, law firms, or service providers. It does not generate leads or referrals. Responses are based on established debt relief principles and reflect the full range of available options rather than any single solution.
Background: Expertise Behind the Tool
Ask Steve is built on the debt expertise of Steve Rhode, who has worked in consumer debt since 1994. Rhode filed personal bankruptcy in 1990 following the collapse of a real estate business and subsequently founded Debt Counselors of America, a nonprofit credit counseling organization that grew to 70 employees and included staff psychologists, attorneys, CPAs, and financial mediators. The organization later became Myvesta, which Rhode operated until 2006.
During that time, Rhode was invited to the United Kingdom Parliament to discuss consumer debt and financial literacy, established debt assistance programs in Ireland, South Africa, and the Netherlands, and appeared as a financial expert on FOX, CNN, ABC, NBC, and MSNBC. He launched GetOutOfDebt.org in 2008 as a free consumer resource with no advertising from debt relief companies and no affiliate relationships that would create a financial interest in directing users toward particular services.
“The people who need debt help the most are often the ones who can least afford to pay for advice or sort through conflicting commercial messages,” Rhode said. “Ask Steve is available any time someone is ready to ask a question — at midnight when the anxiety hits, on a Sunday when no office is open, or the moment someone realizes they need a different path. It costs nothing and has no interest in selling anything.”
Part of a Suite of Free Consumer Tools
Ask Steve joins a collection of free interactive tools GetOutOfDebt.org has made available to consumers without charge or registration. Existing tools include the Find Your Path quiz, which maps a user’s income, debt type, and situation to their most appropriate options; the Bankruptcy Means Test calculator, which provides a Chapter 7 eligibility estimate by state and household size; the Wage Garnishment Calculator, which shows how much a creditor can legally take from a paycheck under federal and state law; and the Retirement Cost Calculator, which illustrates the long-term financial impact of withdrawing from retirement accounts or suspending contributions in order to pay debt.
Ask Steve extends that free-tool library from calculators and quizzes into open-ended conversation. Users who complete the Find Your Path quiz and want to ask follow-up questions, or who receive a wage garnishment notice and need to understand their options, can continue that process through Ask Steve without charge.
Privacy and Access
The tool accepts questions anonymously. No name, email address, phone number, or account creation is required to use it. Conversations are not sold or shared with third parties. Users identify themselves only with a randomly generated nickname that is discarded at the end of each session.
Ask Steve is accessible from any device with a web browser. No app download or software installation is required.
About Get Out of Debt Guy
Get Out of Debt Guy provides free consumer advocacy and debt education. Founded by Steve Rhode, who filed bankruptcy in 1990 and rebuilt his life, the site helps people make informed decisions about debt relief options, including bankruptcy, debt settlement, and credit counseling. Free resources are available at GetOutOfDebt.org.
Steve Rhode
Get Out of Debt Guy
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