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Second Best Reason To Contribute To Retirement Fund Even If You’re In Debt

By Cathy Moran

retirement savings in bankruptcy

We’re not used to applauding those who are second-best.  But I’m going to try. The second-best reason to make regular contributions to your IRA or 401(k) is that even if you file bankruptcy you can continue saving for retirement. Whooo hooo! Courts have struggled with whether payments into retirement plans are reasonable and necessary living […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights Tagged With: 2018

Surefire Ways To Tell Scammers From Private Tax Collectors

By Cathy Moran

tax collector

Private debt collectors are going back to work for the IRS.   You know those debt collectors:  the ones that generated the most complaints to the FTC this year? The ones that get a cut of what they collect?  The ones that aren’t subject to the same discipline as IRS employee? Those collectors. They’ll be […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights Tagged With: 2016

Spot Credit Report Errors After Your Bankruptcy & Fix Them

By Mike Cardoza

credit report

Your debts have been discharged in Bankruptcy. Congratulations! But if those debts still appear on your credit report, you haven’t gotten all the debt relief you are entitled to. Your credit report is the public face of your finances. It’s the thing that lenders, landlords, and life insurance companies look at to figure out whether […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights Tagged With: 2018

Why Bankruptcy Cases Go Down The Drain

By Cathy Moran

failed bankruptcy

  I  watched dozens of Chapter 13 cases get dismissed in a single afternoon in court recently. Dismissed. Tossed out. Ended. The usual reason was that the debtor had not taken seriously the requirement that all their tax returns be filed within 45 days of the commencement of the case. Regardless of the debtor’s need […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights

Asset Protection For Free

By Cathy Moran

Before you sign up with the guy in the ad, explore free asset protection, courtesy of Uncle Sam. Everyone would like to enjoy their money without worry about creditors taking it from you. That describes asset protection. A substantial industry run by expensive professionals will scatter your money between interlocking partnerships and off-shore corporations to keep […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Managing Money

When Bankruptcy Lawyers Get The Basics Wrong

By Cathy Moran

bankruptcy law online

I cringe when a client says that they’ve researched bankruptcy on the internet before coming to see me. For every sound, balanced, nuanced article on consumers and their debts, there are bunches of sloppy, inaccurate sites, often trying to make bankruptcy so frightening that you’ll buy whatever they’re selling. But when a group of bankruptcy […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, You & your lawyer

Stay At Home Doesn’t Mean Get Left Behind At Retirement

By Cathy Moran

Just because you don’t work outside the home doesn’t mean you can live on nothing in your old age. If you are married and your spouse has qualifying income, you can contribute to a spousal IRA. And you should. The IRA rules for a nonworking spouse are essentially like the rules for an employed person: […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Managing Money

Your Business Partnership Needs A Prenup

By Cathy Moran

business divorce

Financial partnerships are at least as challenging as marriages.  And business deals don’t have love to smooth the rough spots in the relationship. The traditional marriage service ends with the charge that what God has joined together,  let no man put asunder. That’s great with love, but not so great with money. Something will likely asunder […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Small business

Don’t Get Fleeced At The Car Dealership: Tips On Buying A Car

By Cathy Moran

car buyers get fleeced

Getting fleeced at the car dealership is all too common. The ways to get taken, bamboozled, oversold, and generally ripped off are too numerous to count. But the good folks at NCLC have studied the car-buying extras and add-ons that pad the price of the car.  The mark up on add-ons can be huge. Add-ons, […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights Tagged With: 2017

Taxes: Building Block of Financial Literacy

By Cathy Moran

financial literacy building blocks

You’re a first time employee.  Congratulations. Welcome to the world of tax forms, withholding, and tax deadlines.   Taxes are the price we pay for civilization, according to Oliver Wendell Holmes. In fact, the first day on your new job you’ll be presented with an IRS form w-4. It’s like a rite of passage into adulthood. Even families […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Taxes Tagged With: 2016

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About The Soapbox

You’ve arrived at the Bankruptcy Soapbox, a resource of bankruptcy information and consumer law.

Soapbox is a companion site to Bankruptcy in Brief, where I try to be largely explanatory and even handed (Note I said “try”).

Here, I allow myself to tell stories and express strong opinions. We dig deeper into how to consider bankruptcy and navigate a bankruptcy case.

Moran Law Group
Bankruptcy specialists for individuals and small businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area

How Bankruptcy Works

Does My Bankruptcy Lawyer Need To Be From My City?

If you're inclined pull up a map application to find a bankruptcy lawyer, I gotta ask: is proximity really the most important factor? Not by a mile. You want an experienced, local lawyer, but "local" means active before the judges in the federal judicial district where you live. It doesn't mean having an … Read more

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