75 years of Peter Zwegat: Debt is not taboo!
Peter Zwegat's RTL show "Raus aus den Schulden" (Get out of debt) has made debt counselling popular in Germany and removed the taboo surrounding it. Reason enough to celebrate his 75th birthday - and to once again draw attention to the fact that debt is not embarrassing. It can affect anyone.
In six successful seasons of "Out of Debt" from 2007 to 2019, debt advisor Peter Zwegat showed how to get debt under control again. Debt counseling existed long before the docu-soap, but Peter Zwegat made a significant contribution to bringing the shameful topic of debt and financial problems to the general public and taking it out of the taboo zone.
Peter Zwegat would have turned 75 on February 22. Sadly, the East Berlin native passed away on August 9, 2024 at the age of 74.
But his legacy remains: Through his open and respectful manner, he took the shame out of the subject and showed that anyone can fall into the debt trap - and get out again. Zwegat was not only an analytical numbers man, but also recognized the emotional causes of debt - such as divorce, job loss or illness, a wrong lifestyle or self-deception - and showed that in addition to financial restructuring, a change in behaviour is sometimes necessary to get rid of the mountain of debt for good.
Illness, addiction and accidents are common reasons for debt
People with debts often have the feeling that they have failed. However, over-indebtedness statistics show that many households suffer from financial problems. In 2024, 5.56 million people in Germany were overindebted. Illness, addiction and accidents were the most common causes of over-indebtedness in 2024.
"The earlier you seek help, the better"
"Debt makes you ill and illness makes you in debt. That's why the sooner you face up to the situation and seek help, the better," says income and budget advisor Tanja Wöhner from pme Familienservice. According to the "Debtor Atlas Germany 2024" , single parents are particularly affected by over-indebtedness. Overall, however, more men are in debt.
"We need to take stock first!" was Zwegat's typical phrase at the start of the show when he went through his clients' financial situation with them. On his famous flipchart, he clearly listed debts and income and discovered so-called "money guzzlers", such as overly expensive or unnecessary insurance policies or gym contracts that have not been used for a year.
"Although we don't work with flipcharts, we still draw up a budget with income and expenditure. This remains the most elementary component of debt counseling," says Tanja Wöhner. "Public debt counseling centers or the income and budget counseling for customers of pme Familienservice GmbH provide advice on financial problems.
Income and budget advice for employees
Whether divorce or illness: pme Familienservice advises employees who have lost track of their finances and those who want to make more of their income on income and budget issues.
Advice as a recognized insolvency advice centre
As a recognized debtor and insolvency advice centre, we also provide advice and support in preparing and applying for consumer insolvency proceedings.
Your benefits as an employer
- Avoidance of wage and salary garnishments and long periods of absence due to mentally stressed employees
- Safeguarding the performance of employees
- Employee retention
Contact:
Tanja Wöhner
Income and budget advice
pme Familienservice
E-mail: familienservice