Question:
Dear Steve,
I am in huge debt as a result of my taking loans to pay some of my husband’s debts after he suffers business losses and as a result of my few debts.
We have a hiring equipment business but now we packed the equipment in the garage as we cannot afford to rent a place neither we can afford to build a place so we can operate from there. This business was funded by a bank and we need to repay back the loan otherwise they will sell our property which we gave as collateral for that business.
In that property, we are operating a guesthouse. Because our incomes are more than our expenses we are using the money generated by that guesthouse to pay our utility bills and children school fees. Now beddings and furniture in the guesthouse are getting old and need to be replaced yet we are sacrificing it over our debts. My fear is if we lose this property we will sink into more debts.
I worked for more than 20 years in a good organization and my pension payout is good now I want to resign to save our businesses and restart again as I am only 38 years just to concentrate on the businesses full time as debts have a negative effect on my health. I am depressed and now on medication.
Equally, it is on two occasions my children are suspended from schools due to unpaid school fees and this last term they did not get their certificates because we owed the schools.
Can I resign from my work in order to pay off the debts and save our businesses or we should fill for bankruptcy? As debts have stolen joys in my family and brought health challenges.
Karolina
Answer:
Dear Karolina,
Ultimately this is just a math problem but the impact from it is significant to your mental health and family health.
You could try to be crafty and sell all your old equipment to another rental company and use some of the money for the guesthouse refurbishment and pay down your debts.
But sometimes you just have to realize that it is better to deal with your debt, close the door on the past, and try to build a better future.
It might be time to find a good local bankruptcy attorney and have a free discussion about what bankruptcy would mean for you. Bankruptcy is the fastest way to get a fresh start for the least amount of money.
Maybe this is the moment that you turn things around instead of chasing a losing business down a deeper hole.
With your house pledged as collateral against the bank loan, it is very possible you could wind up losing your house. I’d rather see you in a position of steering your future by making tough choices now than being run over by your creditors and living in depression and regret.
Here are three posts to read:
- Those That File Bankruptcy Do Better Than Those That Don’t
- How to Know if You Should File Bankruptcy
- So You Are Going to File Bankruptcy. That’s Great News. Congratulations.
As it stands now it seems you are trying to survive the depression overwhelming debt can cause, the kids are suffering, and your husband might be in income-earning limbo.
You either need to take swift and decisive action to turn this situation around or continue to live in the same sinking ship.
It is quite possibly the biggest mistake to drain your pension to pour into this situation. The odds are stacked against you that you would ever be able to get yourself back into the same financial position to hit the amount of retirement you would have had if you had left the pension alone.
I’d rather see you struggle through dealing with this tough situation now than retiring broke when you will be too old to work or too ill to earn money.
Leave the pension alone.
You are not alone. I'm here to help. There is no need to suffer in silence. We can get through this. Tomorrow can be better than today. Don't give up.
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Asked question to try and turn things around.
Answered.