Submitted by the Bond & Botes Law Offices - Thursday, April 2, 2015
Most people plan to retire when they reach a certain age or when they start receiving their Social Security benefits, thus leaving the stress of working everyday behind. Retirement brings with it its own stresses, especially if you have not saved adequately throughout your working career to support your lifestyle. Saving for retirement in today's economy may seem like an enormous obstacle.
If you are someone who is making all your monthly payments at the minimum payment allowable, but have nothing left to put aside for retirement you may be a good candidate for bankruptcy. If you are not putting money away for retirement now it can lead to you having poor living conditions later in life or becoming a financial burden on your family. If you are just paying the minimum payment it could take you 20 years or more to pay your credit card in full, and that is both assuming you do not add any more charges to the card and are never late on your payments causing your interest rate to hike. The amount of money you spend on just the minimum payments toward your credit cards could instead be used to put quite a bit of money away for retirement. Retirement savings, no matter the amount, can help ease the financial burden of getting older. Retirement savings is next to impossible if you are struggling with credit card debt. Bankruptcy can help you start planning for the future instead of simply living paycheck to paycheck.
Alternatively one of the worst mistakes I see people make when they come into my office is throwing good money after bad debt. I see so many people who have tried to dig out of their debt to no avail by emptying out their 401k accounts. These accounts are completely protected from creditors, and should not be used to pay current creditors. Do not leverage your future for a short term solution today.
An experienced Bankruptcy Attorney at Bond & Botes can go over all your options with you to determine if bankruptcy is the right path for you. I urge you to look at your finances and if you simply cannot save any money for the future, please call one of our conveniently located offices to set up a private consultation with one of our experienced attorneys. Our affiliated offices offer free initial consultations. Filing bankruptcy to prepare for life down the road is not being financially irresponsible. By planning for the future you are being financially savvy and trying to correct a situation that could affect your quality of life in your later years which should be some of your best years.
Related Information
- IRAs Protected in Bankruptcy
- Inherited IRAs No Longer Exempt
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