Every day, I speak with clients and potential clients who are considering a bankruptcy filing, who seek my advice as an Orlando bankruptcy lawyer. One of the first things that I am told is that they have an “A++” credit score or “850 Beacon Score”, before we even talk about the amount of debt the person owes or how filing for bankruptcy may help him or her.
“That’s nice”, I might say, and then ask them to “tell me about the money you have saved up for retirement, tell me about the discretionary income you have each month, and tell me how nice it is to not have to make 8 different minimum monthly payments each month to credit cards”.
Dead silence.
According to a recent blog post by Connecticut consumer and bankruptcy lawyer, Gene Melchionne, a person’s credit score tells you two things, “how you handle the debt you already have and how will you likely handle any new debt.” You see, a credit score, and the banking industry that promotes and relies on a person’s credit score, are dependent on people constantly feeling they have to pay off debt and then get new debt.
Think it over. Would you really care about your credit score if you didn’t need to borrow money? If you could become debt free, and get off of that debt hamster wheel, you would no longer be a slave to your credit score! Even so, some clients are still worried about what filing bankruptcy will do to their credit score. As their bankruptcy lawyer, I simply tell them about experiences of past clients. Many, within months of receiving their bankruptcy Discharge, have financed the purchase of car. What is more surprising to those not familiar with the bankruptcy process, is that many of my clients received credit card offers in the mail on the same day their bankruptcy Discharge came.
Someone’s credit score will generally boomerang a couple of years after they receive a bankruptcy Discharge, in most cases.
A surprisingly large number of people have become a slave to some computer generated credit score number and have forgotten about the more important financial questions like, “Will I have enough saved for a comfortable retirement?”
An A++ credit score isn’t really going to augment your social security check each month in retirement.
Want to find out more about credit scores and bankruptcy? Then visit K. Hunter Goff’s site on how to choose the best bankruptcy lawyer for your needs.
