How old are you all!!

[AreSoonParted]

Getting old , but it beats the alternative

I'm 47 and wife is 45. We have 5 kids. Our problems started with buying the "20 year house" then having to relocate 1 year later due to health reasons..... selling a 190K house for 127K will trash you financially!!!! Add to that an autistic son and lots of uncovered medical bills... and here I am, hanging around the bk forum.

It could be a lot worse, watch the evening news some night and you will see a lot of folks who would gladly trade places with us.

But still, it is kindof a drag, but the sun still comes up every day so we'll get through it.

Interesting question though.

[jane taylor]

I am 42 and my husband is 45. We have been in our plan almost a year now. Ours is a 60 month plan with 0% to unsecured creditors. Our children are 17 and 14 and it has been kind of hard on them. The worst part is not being able for our son to have his own transportation. Granted, he doesn't need a new Lexus, but it would be nice for him to have a "beater" to get back and forth to school, rehearsals, and work. Our house also needs some attention.

We got into a bad financial situation early on with a complicated pregnancy and serious medical issues afterwards. We also made some very poor choices like everyone else in the world does. It was just a bad combination.

For the most part, I do sleep better and now my hair is not falling out due to stress.

[fslady]

I have to agree with the poster who said that they sleep better at night. Once I had the first meeting with the Bk attorney it was like a weight off my shoulders and mind! No more waking up at 3 AM wondering about how to pay the bills and how many NSF checks I'll have this month.
I'll be 63 when Ch 13 is finished - older but wiser.

[$$only4ever]

We filed Chapter 13 in 2005; Hubby was 57 and I was 52. It is a 5 year plan which will make us 62 and 57 respectively when completed and discharged. Trustee left our 401k contributions alone. When our plan was confirmed I asked the attorney about contributing more to our 401k plan. He said that it was our money we go do what we wanted as long as the trustee payment was made. We have increased our percentages every year since we filed.

[coma]

We're 27 and 30 when we started. We realized that we couldn't keep juggling, so we filed now, while the kids are young, so that we could start over and be cleaned up by the time he retires from the army. I haven't been able to keep a job over the past few yers, because of several moves and a lot of deployments, then spending money (that isn't reimbursed) when we had to move to fill in the gaps, and it snowballed from there.

[kags1969]

I filed about a week before my 36th birthday and will have my 36th payment in the month of my 39th birthday, which is 18 months away. I have a 41 month plan, but hope to save my (soon to be paid off) car payment and pay the trustee off at the 37th month....

I raided my 401(k) after my divorce to try and keep things floating (making two house/apt payments for a year is brutal) , so I ended up carrying a nice size tax liability into my 13.

[cchater]

I'm 39 and my husband is 45. We filed in July 2006 so we are just starting on our 60 month road. The only part that I feel bad about is my husband had no knowledge of the financial problem we were in until it was way too late. The decision to file bankruptcy - well, I have no regrets whatsoever. I finally have peace. I can finally sleep at night. Yes, my husband was very shocked but has been a trooper and now there are no secrets. Yes, five years making payments to the trustee will be long but I'm sure it will be nothing compared to the credit card company prision I existed in the last 5 years with no end in sight. NOW, there will be an end. One thing I can tell you and I mean this - I will never be at the mercy of a credit card company again.

[wrinkleigh]

I am 30 DH is 31. We have two small children. A failed business pushed us over the edge.

Glad we are getting it over with now -- and we can move on with our lives.

[CATCHMEIFYOUCAN]

Almost 39

I'll be 39 the date after "the last day for creditors to object day - Jan 8th," I'm looking for a nice birthday gift THATS for sure! Hmmm, I've got a 401k plan w/about $13,000 in it .. thank goodness for exemptions! I deduct about 8% of my pay and my employer matches about a quarter on the dollar. I just started an savings account with Emigrant. Honestly I just don't know how to save let alone budget w/o a 401k plan. So we'll see how it all goes! I'm trying!

Catchmeifyoucan

[treehugger1]

I'm 50, both daughters raised, and have a reasonable pot of money in retirement plans. I will now file in 6 - 7 months, survive the plan, and then dump a great deal of money into tax-deferred acounts until 62. I hope to never find myself in this situation again. But, just preparing for a bakruptcy has really taught me about the power of cash non-credit finances. Cheers to all.

By the way, I believe that the amount of BK's will increase during the next few years. While the US "economy" is healthy at the top-end of trade/exchange (stocks, bonds, etc), I do nto believe the economy is healthy at the individual level. JMHO

[dac67]

I agree, these boards are great and there is alot of information! Our plan will be payed off in 2009! I just pray we make it to then!
Good Luck to EVERYBODY and BEST WISHES for 2007!!

[fslady]

I'm late 50s, single mom with a daughter in college. I have a pretty good retirement account from my employer but "pretty good" will probably not be enough with everything going up. I'm filing Ch 13 later this month and will have a 60 month payback - so I'll be finished about the time I should hopefully retire! But the credit cards will be paid off - without Ch 13 it would take decades. My daughter has encouraged me to file - she's seen my problems with the plastic and is very determined not to make the same mistake. She also has a friend who is already making $700/month cc payments (playstation, DVDs, etc.) - while still in college.
I'm just grateful to have found these boards - the advice and personal experiences are excellent and it's nice to have nonjudgemental support.

[Jenn]

My husband and I filed when I was 33 and he was 31- we are now 34 adn 32- Im looking forward to 2008 when this is all over.

[aveda6]

Hello, my wife and I are 34 with an 8 year old son. We'll be filing around the first of April after waiting the 90 days from last using our credit card. We've been spending the last year sinking in debt due to purchasing a home beyond our means and then having to dump even more into repairs (along with poor financial decisions outside of the house).

[cso5@]

41!

41, divorced, mom to two teenage daughters, ages 17 and 15.

And they know all about it. Are probably sick of hearing about it.

But they know -- now -- when there is no money, there really is no money. Not, well, I'll put it on a credit card and pay later. Nope. It's not possible right now. Maybe at the end of the month.

I will say things to them like, hmmm, a new pair of jeans, or gas for the car for the rest of the two weeks until I get paid again, you decide.......

It's hard. And I fret about rebuilding, too, and being "so old". Actually, I have a lot of free-floating anxiety, and that's just one issue it gloms around.

Fortunately, my employer makes a 10% of my salary contribution to a retirement plan for me, and the retirement $$ wasn't figured into the bankruptcy -- exempt or whatever. It's not a ton, but it's something! And it's not like a 401K so I can't take a loan or otherwise manage to mess around with it and fritter it away to nothing.

I keep hoping it will get better --

cat