Link (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051014/ap_on_bi_ge/bankruptcy_filings_6) Procrastination, eh? Kind of the same reason most of these people have to file to bankruptcy in the first place.

And don't start with the health problem; I ain't buyin!

And don't start with the health problem; I ain't buyin!

You don't believe health problems can lead to bankruptcy? You've never been seriously sick before.

I make a good income, but I have an ICD (pacemaker/defib) implanted. I make too much money for any govt or state health insurance, and most private companies won't cover me because of the risk. I am now trying to get coverage through a group plan, and so far so good. But, if they drop me, I can easily see myself with enough hospital bills to drive myself bankrupt, and that's if everything goes good (I get a new device every 7 years and twice yearly checkups). Of course there are MANY other health problems which cost a great deal more than mine.

"I think everybody should be able to wipe the slate clean and start over," she said. :rolleyes:

Wipe the slate clean? Start over?

What, so those who partied all through high school and bought homes and cars beyond their means can now have the comfortable life that I pinched every penny in order to attain? Everybody should be able to meet with a financial counsellor to devise a plan to pay back the money on a fair schedule. Nobody should get a free ride.

Is the instance of bankruptcies highly correlated to health problems? Canadians file bankruptcy pretty often too. We know a guy that filed bankruptcy several times. And he ALWAYS had a MUCH nicer car and house than what we ever lived in, and went on vacations twice as often too.

It will prohibit most filers with above-average income from filing Chapter 7 petitions that allow debts to be erased. Instead, people deemed to have at least $100 a month left over after paying certain debts and expenses will have to submit a five-year repayment plan under more restrictive Chapter 13 guidelines. The law also sets some restrictions on businesses.

Good. If you've been successful enough to have above-average income, then you shouldn't be in the kind of debt this article is talking about. And if you find that you are, realize that you've made serious financial mistakes, so make up for it by cutting back until you pay it off. Then, you'll be debt-free, and hopefully understand how to live with the amount of money you earn, instead of piling up credit debt.

You don't believe health problems can lead to bankruptcy? You've never been seriously sick before.

I make a good income, but I have an ICD (pacemaker/defib) implanted. I make too much money for any govt or state health insurance, and most private companies won't cover me because of the risk. I am now trying to get coverage through a group plan, and so far so good. But, if they drop me, I can easily see myself with enough hospital bills to drive myself bankrupt, and that's if everything goes good (I get a new device every 7 years and twice yearly checkups). Of course there are MANY other health problems which cost a great deal more than mine.Sure it can, but only in a few small cases. Those who claim that health problems are the cause in 50% of bankruptcies are being disingenuous. With the poor finances of most people, a health problem is merely the straw that broke the camel's back. If you're bedridden for 5 years I can see it but if you were out of work for 4 months because of a slipped disk and now you have to file for bankruptcy, your finances were in a mess beforehand. Considering how few plan for a very reasonable-to-expect loss of income for a time (health problems, loss of work), then anything otherwise moderate in scope can break their financial back, but instead of blaming it upon their overall financial approach they'd rather blame it on something that they had no control over. So then you've got people marching off to bankruptcy court pretending that it wasn't their fault.

In any case, this law doesn't prohibit bankruptcy. It merely says "You borrowed the money, you're going to have to try HARD to pay it off first."

I think politically based threads such as this have no place on the John Stone Fitness Forums. Bankrupcy is certainly a hotly debated socio-economic and socio-political issue, and in just 4 posts we've already seen this debate....this thread should be closed soon.

I think politically based threads such as this have no place on the John Stone Fitness Forums. Bankrupcy is certainly a hotly debated socio-economic and socio-political issue, and in just 4 posts we've already seen this debate....this thread should be closed soon.

well before it is i'm gonna put in my .02

I filed back in March, discharged in September and I have no regrets whatsoever, i've already got a new car to start building back my credit and a secured credit card.

I made MANY MANY MANY mistakes very early like starting when I was 17 and there was NO WAY i would have been able to pay back everything i owed. People can have their opinions but I took this as a learning experience and will never make the same mistakes again.

in no way shape or form is Bankruptsy a free ride, its THE WORST thing you can do to your credit and the next 10 years will be VERY difficult in terms of repairing my credit. But everyone deserves a second chance, especially those who got in way over their heads b4 they even realized what had happened.

Bankruptcy serves a purpose. It is when people abuse it, just like anything that it comes under fire and counter-productive to our economy. I am in the financial industry, and I can say there are certainly consequences to filing, but it is an "easy" way out when many people consider what it would take to pay off their debt...which is possible for many people to do, but bankruptcy is just "easier" to wipe the slate "clean". I am glad they are changing some of the legislation surrounding it, I just hope that it does not make the option harder for people who really WOULD need the option to file, but unfortunately things often tend to error to one extreme or the next.

Many people just have hard breaks in life, whether related to employment, health, difficult family events and bankruptcy is a "good" tool for them to recover. The best option IMHO and how I recommend my clients operate is to take responsibility and plan ahead as best is possible so that bankruptcy can be a absolute last resort due to the consequences that come into play once someone files.

The best option IMHO and how I recommend my clients operate is to take responsibility and plan ahead as best is possible so that bankruptcy can be a absolute last resort due to the consequences that come into play once someone files.

thats exactly the type of advice i've been getting and having to go thru bankruptcy has really taught me the value of credit and how to take responsibilty for my financial actions...helped me grow up A LOT so in that respect this has been a far more positive experience for me than a negative one.

thats exactly the type of advice i've been getting and having to go thru bankruptcy has really taught me the value of credit and how to take responsibilty for my financial actions...helped me grow up A LOT so in that respect this has been a far more positive experience for me than a negative one.

That is really good to hear. You are among the few who probably really learn much from bankruptcy, for too many it is just a wipe a slate clean so they can continue in bad spending habits. Keep up the progress.

On an related, but unrelated note, the majority of all successful entrepreneurs have filed bankruptcy at least once in their lives. In fact one entrepreneurial mentor that I follow that most people would know of "recommends" going bankrupt prior to age 30. There is a lot more to his statement than just that, but I think it is just an indicator that bankruptcy is not the absolute end for people if they can learn from it and not feel crippled because of having to file.

On an related, but unrelated note, the majority of all successful entrepreneurs have filed bankruptcy at least once in their lives. In fact one entrepreneurial mentor that I follow that most people would know of "recommends" going bankrupt prior to age 30. There is a lot more to his statement than just that, but I think it is just an indicator that bankruptcy is not the absolute end for people if they can learn from it and not feel crippled because of having to file.
The key word there is entrepreneur. Yes, there should be a "safety net" for people who have invested in companies gone bad. But we should NOT be rescuing people who bought cars and homes that were out of their affordability range. If they thought they could afford it when they bought it, then they should be able to devise a reasonable repayment plan.

Clearly, one would have to be either ignorant or malicious to deny that the entrepeneur often faces hard work, stresses and lack of personal freedom and security far beyond the expectations or tolerance of most other people - in return for a possibility of temporary success.

All the more so, and to the point of wickedness, if the distinction were to be blurred between the entrepeneur who faces hardship due to events outside his control, and the conman who deliberately cheats people.

That is really good to hear. You are among the few who probably really learn much from bankruptcy, for too many it is just a wipe a slate clean so they can continue in bad spending habits. Keep up the progress.

you yourself have offered up a lot of good advice to me, so a personal thank you from me to you my friend :tu:

also, bravo to posters in this thread, Lemon had a point about this being a politically/socially charged issue, nice to see we can still behave ourselves nonetheless. :tu:

I'm an IT coordinator at a law school, part of which is a pro bono law clinic, and one of my employees is also a student who assists in such cases, he says its mostly been his experience of people filing and forgetting, just doing it to get a clean slate but not realizing what kind of opportunity they have to learn and to grow, and they go right back to screwing up again, being irresponsible cuz they think they got a free ride...sucks people have to abuse the system like that, giving an already difficult situation an even worse social stigma.

It is a very politically/socially charged issue. But because so many people take advantage of the system. I know I would like to go out and carelessly spend money I don't have and never pay it back. The new law is a step in the right direction, but I would almost like to see the debtor's prison make a comeback.

Guava - I agree whole-heartedly. Being an entrepreneur myself I am glad that there is a last resort for situations where one takes a risk to create or grow a company/idea/organization that would likely bolster the economy through whatever service/product/employment they would be offering. It also places a great responsibility in the laps of entrepreneurs and business owners to be smart and discerning and not be frivolous in what they decide to throw money into, but to take calculated risk in their decisions. Otherwise it becomes just like the person who is frivolous and makes large purchases of items they do not need or cannot support payments of, only on a much larger coporate/business scale.

ShadowPenguin - Thank you for the kind words, I love my work. I am always glad to help. I am a teacher, not a salesperson at heart and I believe that is why so many of my clients do well, because first they understand and once they understand they can apply the knowledge. That way they share with me the joy of their success and progress and have real ownership of their financial success. :claplow: