How Long Does It Take To Recover From Bankruptcy

How long does it take to recover from bankruptcy?

I started to answer the client’s question before I realized that the question was all backward.

Recover FROM bankruptcy? No…. It should be: recover THROUGH bankruptcy!

Bankruptcy is the tool for recovering from impossible financial situations.

The ailment is debt: bills in excess of what you can pay off in a reasonable time and meet the rest of your family’s needs.

Bankruptcy is the medicine that starts your recovery.

The side effects of bankruptcy

Bankruptcy may seem like a bitter pill, but lots of that is in your head.

What’s bitter is not the remedy but the need to admit to yourself and the world that you haven’t done as well as you’d like.

Haven’t we all fallen short of our goals at some point? Why does a financial set back take on moral qualities that your inability to play par golf or sing professionally don’t?

Recognize that the people who want you to keep paying on your debts are among the loudest voices opposing bankruptcy. They do it by invoking shame or fear. They tell you that bankruptcy is horrible.

Actually, it’s mostly horrible for them. Perhaps a life saver for you.

Now, like some vaccines, you may get a slight reaction, a momentary set back caused by the medicine.

One element of your credit score drops; but another element, your debt-to-income measure gets stronger.

Adversion to debt remedies

Most people fool themselves into thinking that they are really OK carrying lots of debt.

They measure their financial health by some number the credit industry flaunts. They laud their ability to make the monthly minimum payments or the mortgage, so long as interest rates are low.

But those are superficial health indicators. I’d suggest looking at