Young people have plenty of reasons to be in a bad mood about their finances. Buying a house is prohibitively expensive, but so is renting. Robots and chatbots are proving themselves to be increasingly competent at an increasing number of our jobs. Married people are better off financially than single people, and marriage rates are at an all-time low. Pondering your finances as an aging member of Generation X, part of the first cohort to hold a McJob, is no picnic either. Most Americans your age will never be able to afford to retire, if retirement means living off a combination of Social Security income, personal savings, and retirement pensions. The new reality is to work for as long as your body can drag itself to work and then, when your health no longer enables you to work, to let Social Security fund your meager existence until you enter a nursing home as a Medicaid beneficiary. It is not pretty, and you are not wealthy enough to choose your own vision of retirement, but perhaps you can make a few strategic financial choices that will let you have a retirement that is not constantly plagued by financial worries. To find out whether filing for bankruptcy now will enable you to avoid financial catastrophe later, contact an Oakland chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyer.

A Bankrupt Retiree is Better Than a Destitute Retiree

There are no age limits on filing for bankruptcy. You can file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy as many times in your life as you choose, as long as at least eight years have passed since your most recent Chapter 7 filing. Chapter 7 enables applicants to discharge their debts quickly, less than a year after the court receives the filing, but the court has the right to liquidate the applicant’s non-exempt assets to settle his or her debts. Most people who file under Chapter 7 can discharge their eligible debts without liquidating any assets. Not all debts are eligible for discharge in bankruptcy, but discharging your eligible debts can free up funds to pay for your non-eligible ones. A major reason that people consider bankruptcy a last resort is that it damages your creditworthiness, but the older you are, the less you will need to borrow in the future.

Which Debts Should You Prioritize Repaying Before You Retire?

With or without filing for bankruptcy, you must decide which debts to prioritize for repayment. Young people have the luxury of choosing the debt snowball method, where they start with the debt with the lowest outstanding balance, or the debt avalanche, where they start with the debt with the highest interest rate. At your age, you should prioritize the debts that most need to be gone by the time you retire, namely your home mortgage and your car loan.

Contact the Law Office of Melanie Tavare About Discharging Your Debts Before You Retire

A debt relief lawyer can help you get a financial reset by filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in time to prepare for retirement. Contact the Law Office of Melanie Tavare in Oakland, California, or call (510)255-4646 for a case evaluation.