Financial Train Wreck! :(

[Ryan Jay]

Hi everyone out there!

I haven't posted here in a while, so I figured I would check in. I'm doing really well the second anniversary of my diagnosis approaches. My blood counts are better than they have ever been and my Ferritin is flirting with dropping below 1,000.

That's the good news....

Now the not so good. I am really finding myself in tough financial times of late. I am back at my job and clicking along at 100%, but MAN...am I getting slammed by creditors.

This disease caught me at the worst possible time (is there ever a good time?)

My house that was once worth $400,000 in 2005 (remember the good ol' days) tanked to a value of $230ish....and I owed $270 on the mortgage. For a bunch of complicated reasons, I had to walk away from it and let it go into foreclosure.

I had also just inked a divorce 2 weeks before my diagnosis. My ex has been very kind and supportive, but still....there are financial ramifications even if you are on good terms.

And I was in the middle of an MA/doctoral program (with student loan debt) when the ton of bricks fell.

In an ideal world, my salary and savings would have been enough to manage all of this...but then, Wham!

So, I'm really trying to dig myself out of this hole, but some of my creditors have been less than flexible and the "B-word" doesn't seem so out of the question. I would only qualify for Chapter-13.

My Friday afternoons are spent wheeling and dealing with banks and insurance companies, and it's getting very OLD!

Anyway, I hate to sound all complainy, but I was wondering if any of you out there had any advice or insight.

Thanks

[Chirley]

Ryan while it might not seem any consolation right now, at least you are only 37.

You have time to re evaluate and re acquire. I suggest you talk to a financial advisor (independent of any of your creditors or investings) and work on a solution even if it's not palatable in the short term.

One of my friends was married to a man for over thirty years. He would disappear for a year at a time with some business venture or other and he would only contact her when he needed money to support whatever current business was failing. In the meantime she worked full time, saved a deposit for a home, secured a mortgage, paid the mortgage and raised two children without any emotional or financial support.

When his last business failed the creditors took everything including her savings and the house that only she had contributed to.

Here she was 60 years old with no home, no savings and still responsible for his debts. She could have gone bankrupt and started anew. She decided to divorce her husband, pay off his debts and start saving for her future.

She has paid all creditors, is debt free and is accumulating her retirement nest egg. She has done it tough and at a lot later stage of life.

She figures she will have enough savings to stop work when she's 70 even though she will have to rent.

Ryan where there is life there is opportunity.

Regards

Ps. My friends ex husband found a woman from the Phillipines to be his partner. My friend feels very sorry for her. She will be the one working and supporting this man.

[DanL]

Ryan,

The tough times do come to an end. I am sorry that all of this has happened, but know that you can work your way through.

If you have an income and lay out the plan, most creditors will work with you. There are some that you may have to let fall through the cracks and then negotiate through debt settlement which kills the credit, but also reduces the amount owed.

If you are getting calls, you can send a cease and desist letter, but from what I hear in the industry, that can cause them to jump straight to getting a judgment against you and then into garnishment.

I would start by finding out who is the most reasonable creditor and work on settling one or two items per month as appropriate, and depending on your ability to pay. You definitely want to give them your story and let them know that it is out of your sense of obligation that you called them first to negotiate. Most creditors and collection agencies will work with you through the problems, and may even settle some accounts for as low as 20-40% of your debt. Others will insist on the full amount right now, but you may want to let them wait a while so that you can get a grip on the situation with the easiest ones first.

There is a lot of online advice out there. There is credit consolidation and debt settlement that will charge you a lot to do what you can do yourself. The challenge is staying firm on what you can afford right now, and you will need to create lump-sums that approach that 40% mark to be effective.

I hope this helps a little.