Is bankruptcy worth it?
If you see filing bankruptcy to get a fresh start as painful or less than honorable, you might wonder what life is like, on the other side of bankruptcy.
What’s the return on taking the big step?
I got a report from the other side this week from a Chapter 7 client from 3 years ago. It knocked me off my chair.
When she filed bankruptcy
Single, well past middle age, a renter, and dead broke when she’d filed, she’d retired, moved, and bought a house!
Her email was entitled: “A Happy Ending”.
I had been confident that bankruptcy was right for her, but she had found the decision fraught and painful. So it was nice to hear it from the woman who was living the life that it worked out.
I just didn’t image how well it had worked out.
Home ownership? that soon, on her own, starting with nothing?
I didn’t see that coming.
Bankruptcy makes it possible
The downside of bankruptcy always seems to be at the forefront of the thinking of those struggling with the decision.
Debtors are bombarded with fear inducing visions of life after bankruptcy: no assets, no credit, no self respect.
Debtors image that lenders may ask about bankruptcy filings; others might find out. What if something catastrophic happens?
It’s easy to overlook the upside:
- no holdovers from your current financial life;
- no stress about promises to pay that you can’t keep;
- no financial barriers to life improving.
Our laws make a fresh start possible. Our economy wants us back as consumers.
Most of the barriers to a fresh start are internal. Usually, all we have to fear are the voices in our head.
This week’s voice from the past said there is a happy ending.
More about deciding to file bankruptcy
What the Motley Fool got wrong about filing bankruptcy
Filing bankruptcy is all about a better future
Tax trap in out of court debt settlement
It’s not about the credit score
Image courtesy of Grisel D’An and Flickr.
