Recently, it was reported that the average American has $16,000 in credit card debt. While $16,000 doesn’t sound like a lot of money, this number was only $4000 in 2008 and you still have to consider the income of the average American himself. Four years ago the average was $40,000 a year and now it has dropped to $35,000 a year. When you look at the amount of debt, add interest and living expenses, you have the makings for financial disaster. Most of these people are only making minimum payments as they are filing for bankruptcy. As of the end of January 2014, it was reported that consumer debt had exceeded $11.36 trillion. Add to that that student loan debt across the country is now a whopping $1.049 trillion. The media keep reporting that things are looking up, but when you look at the reduced debt ratios and income, I see a different picture. The US government is no different than consumers, the debt ceiling has been raised continuously to make you wonder why they have a ceiling. The federal government now owes over $17 trillion and can’t really even pay the interest payments, but it is allowed to print money. The biggest buyer of US debt is now the Federal Reserve. It’s all very well to borrow real money and be able to print fake dollars to pay back the money you’re borrowing. If you ask me, it’s complete madness. If the US government declared bankruptcy and got out of all its debt, it probably would. But instead they have hung the debt over the heads of American taxpayers by making our grandchildren’s grandchildren liable for this overspending.

The smart money will take a look at the big picture and, if necessary, file for bankruptcy to cut their losses, just like all corporations do. People buried under a mountain of debt should consider speaking with a bankruptcy attorney to see if filing is possible for their situation. In most cases, the bankruptcy attorney will offer some type of resolution that is feasible. When a person should look to see if he should consider filing bankruptcy is to add up all his debts and figure out how long it would take to pay them off if he stopped collecting today. If it takes more than five years, they should seriously think about filing for bankruptcy. Although that sounds simple, creditors would like consumers to believe that it is much more complicated than that. They have spent billions of dollars on Madison Avenue to convey their opinion that changes the entire dynamic of the American consumer. They want Americans to feel bad about themselves if they go bankrupt. Using the media, they have made the American consumer feel like a complete failure when facing financial problems. What they don’t tell you is that corporate America uses bankruptcy as a way to make a company financially stronger. In today’s markets, it’s all too common for a corporation to file for bankruptcy to get rid of the bad labor contract they’ve gotten into with a union. If the unions don’t bargain, they will first threaten them with bankruptcy and, if necessary, will come forward to force the unions back to the bargaining table. Also, when a lot of bad investments are made, they could use this to clean the books and start anew. When they use bankruptcy, it’s smart business, but when you or I do it, we were dishonest and we failed. That is why we must always remember who makes the rules. When the market virtually crashed in 2008, many people who never thought they would, faced bankruptcy. This helped remove much of the stigma it had in the past. People should do what is best for their families and not worry about what creditors say or think about them.