Don’t Let Your Golden Years be Spent in Debt
By: Darrell Castle
People 55 years and older account for 22% of all bankruptcy filings in the US. Why is this?
Basically, people aren’t retiring well.
Dennis Miller’s “Money Weekly” this week highlights “monetary collateral damage among seniors,” in which he sums this up, and he uses the following stats to help him:
- 37% of 65-74 year olds still had a mortgage or home equity line of credit in 2010, up from 21% in 1989. This number jumped from 2% to 21% during the same time frame for those 75 and older
- people ages 65 and older are carrying the most debt than any other age group with an average balance of $9,300
Climbing out of a $9,300 hole doesn’t seem impossible until you look at the national average credit card APR of 15% – which at least makes it fairly difficult. And if you have bad credit, the rate jumps to 22.73%.
Miller uses lessons from Zen Buddhism as a way to change the norm – spend less or make more.
It’s obvious, but it’s true.
We live in a society in which people want to live the “American Dream” and keep up with the Joneses, but living that life is expensive and never enough. People chasing that lifestyle always want more which leads to more spending and more debt.
“Instead of overspending for show, make like a Buddhist and let go of your attachment to things and your ego about owning them,” Miller says.
Would you rather have a lot of nice things and spend the rest of your life enslaved by debt, or live a simple life and enjoy your retirement not worrying about the stresses of owing money?
I’d choose the latter.
Some people may feel it’s too late. You may already be in deep debt and staring a stressful retirement in the face. Lucky for you, here in America we get a second chance to relieve ourselves of our debts and have a fresh start, and that’s through a bankruptcy.
By filing for bankruptcy, you can either discharge your debts through a Chapter 7 or lump them all into an affordable 3-5 year repayment plan through a Chapter 13. Then once the process is complete, you have a fresh financial start to re-establish and rebuild your credit the right way.
At Darrell Castle & Associates, we not only want to help you through the bankruptcy process, but we want to lead you on your way to a better financial life. We do this by offering you access to a great 14-week program called “7 Steps to a 720,” which will teach you the secrets the banks don’t want you to know in regards to rebuilding your credit. This program is free for our clients.
And please come and talk to us before liquidating any of your retirement accounts to help pay your debt. By filing for bankruptcy, we can help you keep that retirement money.
The decision to file for bankruptcy may be tough, but the process is certainly easy.
If you’re considering filing for bankruptcy, or if you have any questions, you can speak to an experienced Memphis bankruptcy attorney, free of charge, by filling out the “Get in Touch” form below, or by calling us at (901) 327-2100.