How Do I Know If I Should File Bankruptcy?
Should I Declare Bankruptcy?
I guarantee that no one wished upon a star as a young person and thought to themselves “I want to be a real estate mogul and a famous singer and…bankrupt!” That has NEVER happened. However, even real estate moguls and famous singers have ended up bankrupt. Do the names Donald Trump or Toni Braxton ring any bells? And look at them both now – very successful again. What they have in common is that they both needed to go through the bankruptcy process in order to regain their spots at the top.
How did they come to this realization? Chances are, you will someday read all about it in their memoirs. For now, let’s focus on you. Are you receiving more phone calls from collectors than from friends and family? Do you get more bills around the Holidays than you do Greeting Cards? Was the first phone call you got on your last birthday from your credit card company? If you answered yes to any of the above, it might be time to start thinking about it.
Now, it might be possible to avoid it by cutting back on your expenses and redirecting funds to pay creditors. For most of us though, by the time we are on a first name basis with the dude from Discover Card, this isn’t really an option for us. Think of bankruptcy like the root canal you need but never wanted. It will hurt for a bit but then you’ll be done – you can walk away and hopefully never have to go through it again. You will be one infected tooth/financial situation lighter. You can begin to enjoy life again because there won’t be a nagging and constant pain eating at you. What a treat!
Remember – talking to a bankruptcy attorney about your options is free. He or she will help you make the difficult decisions and will handle the process for you – think of the bankruptcy lawyer as the anesthesia you would get if you had a root canal. It won’t hurt as much when you have a good lawyer to show you the way.
