The North Carolina Bankruptcy Information Blog

In the “new economy,” full of novel financial realities, we often hear a lot about how cash-strapped kids are often coming home to live with and borrow from their better-positioned parents. And now a new report tells us why.

According to a report from the Associated Press, the wealth gap between younger and older Americans has stretched to the widest on record, “worsened by a prolonged economic downturn that has wiped out job opportunities for young adults and saddled them with housing and college debt.”

Based on analysis by the Pew Research Center, the AP says “The typical U.S. household headed by a person age 65 or older has a net worth 47 times greater than a household headed by someone under 35, according to an analysis of census data released Monday.…

Since the real estate reckoning of 2007 launched what would become a global economic meltdown, average Americans just like you have been taking advantage of the sure-fire safe havens of personal bankruptcy. But part of successfully joining the more than 1.5 million people who will file in 2011, is planning for life following the fruition of that bankruptcy.

In fact, with so many people facing income deficiencies due to underemployment or unemployment in 2011, it’s work revisiting the best advice for an effective bankruptcy. Here’s part two of a two-part series picking up where we left off with the TOP TEN tips for making a 2011 bankruptcy work for you:

(6) Calling All Lenders.…

Since the real estate reckoning of 2007 launched what would become a global economic meltdown, average Americans just like you have been taking advantage of the sure-fire safe havens of personal bankruptcy. But part of successfully joining the more than 1.5 million people who will file in 2011, is planning for life following the fruition of that bankruptcy.

In fact, with so many people facing income deficiencies due to underemployment or unemployment in 2011, it’s work revisiting the best advice for an effective bankruptcy. Here’s part one of a two-part series exploring the TOP TEN tips for making a 2011 bankruptcy work for you:

(1) Talking Through Your Bankruptcy Tale.…

Remember when Labor Day used to mark the last three-day weekend for waning summer fun and frivolity?

Well fast forward to September 2011 when Labor Day weekend arrives on the heels of disheartening fiscal news that the American economy added no jobs during the month of August (you read that correctly: none, zero, zilch), signifying to financial commentators and economic experts alike that the slow and steady economic recovery appears to be furiously losing steam.

Add to these facts that consumer confidence recently dropped almost 15 points to the lowest level since April 2009, and you might gather that these combined economic impacts would affect the way that average people plan to spend one of season’s best (and brightest) holiday weekends.…

Are you buying forecasts of an economic recovery? Don’t believe another global recession is possible? Just ask Michael Spence, professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business and winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in economics. Recently, Professor Spence told Bloomberg Television Wednesday that there’s “probably a 50 percent” chance of the global economy slipping into recession.

The notion of the United States reverting back into another recession has been on the minds of many economists throughout 2011. But Prof. Spence forecasts that any measurable economic downturn here at home would likely spread like wildfire throughout the rest of the world.…

At a time when a full-fledged recovery remains a distant prospect for many average Americans and their beleaguered budgets, the outlook is also pretty grim for the overall American economy itself.

As millions of men and women flood unemployment lines awaiting word of jobs that may never return, and with few signs that the federal government nor the nation’s central bank will make any further efforts to stimulate our flagging financial state, according to government estimates released Friday, the United States economy grew at a slower pace this spring than even previously thought.

A report on these estimates by The Huffington Post, says, “the news is grim for anyone looking for signs that the recovery has taken hold, and that hiring and expansion are on the way once more… The new figures arrive at a time when investors and analysts are increasingly weighing the possibility of a double-dip recession, following weeks of uncertainty in the stock market and anxiety over political gridlock in Washington.”

This grim report is coupled with more news reflecting high unemployment, dismal consumer confidence and a paltry housing market—all of which have been working in concert to stall the nation’s financial growth in the two years following the official end of the economic recession, and remain unchanged in recent months.…

Are you buying forecasts that we’re in a slow-but-steady economic recovery?

Well some believe the economic recovery never actually happened.

Just ask Nobel Prize winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. On the heels of the recent debt ceiling crisis, 600-point plunge in the Dow Jones industrial average and the drop in interest rates to near-record lows, Krugman warns that the United States economy was never truly ‘on the road to recovery.’

As Krugman writes in this week’s New York Times, “It’s not just that the threat of a double-dip recession has become very real. It’s now impossible to deny the obvious, which is that we are not now and have never been on the road to recovery.…

In the midst of an economic meltdown, it can be tough to track your finances and start saving for a rainy day. But in the years since the recent Great Recession ended, many people are indeed trying to get their budgets back on a positive track, staging a financial comeback after years of dire economic setbacks.

In fact, according to our friends at WalletPop, even if you “messed up your finances in your 20s, then made matters worse in your 30s,” and are now “ready to act your age, get serious about the business of fixing your credit and start writing your financial comeback story,” it’s possible to “bounce back and take control of your financial future.”

“How,” you may ask?…

In the two years since the end of America’s recent Great Recession, there have been plenty of ups and downs in economic forecasts, fiscal prognostications, and financial facts and figures. Polls have also been a big part of taking the country’s financial pulse, as average Americans are often asked, “how are you feeling now, post-recession?”

Some experts will tell you that as recently as last fall—with news that businesses were back to hiring, some saying the housing market was no longer in a tailspin, and the economy looking less bleak than before—men and women throughout the country were beginning to feel better about their personal financial prospects.…

If you’re currently in bankruptcy or considering the benefits a bankruptcy can provide, you might be wondering about budget-conscious ways to truly get-away this summer, without, that is, wearing a complete hole in your wallet. But with gas prices on the rise and high unemployment holding steady, the prospects of seasonal vacation may not seem possible.

Nevetheless, while expenditures on luxuries are not recommended for the bankruptcy-bound, there are some financially-friendly ways to take a trip without “breaking the bank,” including the best places to go, the best ways to get there, and the top ways to make the most of limited budgets.…

Are You Prepared for an American Recession Turned Great Depression?

Just as many Americans had begun to believe the worst of the economic downturn had passed, some experts are saying that the nation’s reemerging job woes are signs of something more sinister afoot: a potential Great Depression.

So what could cause America’s Recession to turn into a Great Depression?

One commentator for The New Republic, Dean Baker, also co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, says our biggest problem is now ideological: more focus around the Beltway on cutting deficits rather than spurring the labor market and housing markets.…

To commemorate the Federal Trade Commission’s annual National Consumer Protection Week (March 6 – 12, 2011), the FTC is providing a budget-load of handy-dandy information designed to protect your money, your credit, and your overall post-recessionary financial future. So whether you’re rebuilding your economic life post-bankruptcy, or simply trying to speed up your savings, the NCPW blog can yield a wealth of resources exactly at a time when average Americans need a financial infusion, including information about:

• Avoiding foreclosure rescue and other mortgage-related scams;
• Knowing how to spot employment opportunity scams;
• Making the most of your money in the early stages of your career;
• Building and maintaining a budget to improve financial stability;
• Avoiding time-share and credit-card scams offered via text messages; and
• Learning what steps to take to save your home from foreclosure.

…

Continuing unrest in major oil-producing pockets of the Middle East—including recent changes in Egypt’s leadership and the current chaos in Libya—is adding fuel to the rumors that rising gas prices could take us into another economic downturn.

Yes, you read that correctly.

According to a new report from The Huffington Post, “Yet another group of analysts have issued grim warnings about the recent run-up in oil prices. In a letter to clients, analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch have cut forecasts for global economic growth after continuing unrest in Libya led to rocketing oil prices. The economists cut global gross domestic product expectations for this year to 4.3 percent from 4.4 percent.…

As countless bankruptcy clients in this country have made clear, seeking the debt dissolution solutions of a personal bankruptcy can help free up finances that help with home mortgage payments—even amid the real estate reckoning of the recent recession—and, as such, aid many households in avoiding the perils of foreclosure.

But now the proof is in the reporting.

In a report released Tuesday, New York Federal Reserve researchers Donald P. Morgan, Benjamin Iverson and Matthew Botsch determined that there is a direct link between the October 2005 change in bankruptcy laws via bankruptcy abuse reforms (or BAR)—a change that made it more difficult for ordinary Americans to eliminate debts in bankruptcy—and approximately 116,000 additional subprime mortgage foreclosures in 2006.…

Amid the lingering national housing crisis, many renters may have felt that they had gotten away relatively unscathed in these tough economic times, avoiding underwater housing prices, high interest mortgage fluctuations, and the fear of foreclosure from lenders eager to toss unwary debtors from their humble (or not so humble) homes.

But in 2011, many renters should be aware of a new worry of their very own in the coming year: tenants who get behind on their housing payments will begin negatively impacting their own credit rating. That’s right. According to Lynnette Khalfani-Cox of WalletPop, Experian, one of a trio of primary credit bureaus, has recently started collecting consumer rental payment information for the purposes of including that very data in its credit reports.…

Well, it’s a new year. 2011. Time to put behind the hassles and headaches of what was and time to think about what will be. Especially in terms of your personal financial situation.

Despite what so many had predicted, 2010 wasn’t much of a recovery year for America. The stock market saw some gains for the second year in a row. However, the unemployment conditions didn’t respond accordingly, perhaps making the connection between Wall Street and Main Street a bit more obscure. A rising tide, as it were, might not raise all ships.

That being said, what kind of decisions are you going to make about your future?…

At the stroke of midnight on New Year’s, most people—people just like you—contemplated resolutions for a better, and in many cases, more financially sound, 2011.  And with millions of Americans facing foreclosure in a lingering housing crisis, extended unemployment or job insecurity, mounting medical debts, and/or other tenuous financial situations during this lingering economic malaise, making amends to be more fiscally savvy can be as tough as post-holiday fruit cake. So, if economic prosperity joins “a healthier you” on your list of goals in the New Year, take this timely advice to get yourself on the road to financial fitness in 2011.…

There was a time when a college diploma carried the promise of long, prosperous employment. Today, it’s as promising as a one of those silly motivational pictures of eagles and mountains.

As most people are coming to realize, it doesn’t matter how many initials are attached to the end of your name, you stand about as much chance as finding work today as the guy holding a sign at the intersection.

Earlier this week, President Obama stood in front the press corp and verbalized what everyone in America already knew: that far too many people are still out of work. As a result, foreclosures continue and personal bankruptcies are commonplace.…

So, like a very large number of Americans today, you think bankruptcy is your best route out of the financial doldrums.  After all the credit counselors, self-help books and Craigslist charlatans, it’s likely that you’ve grown tired of the debt cycle. We understand. That is what brings a lot of clients to our offices.

However, how do you go about filing bankruptcy? And furthermore, is an attorney really necessary? Well clearly, we believe our role in the process is essential to people getting the most benefit possible out of filing. But sure, that’s our job, and we do get paid for it.…

Have you heard from many experts and economists that the country’s headed for a double-dip recession—a second downturn that results from recent limits on economic stimulus? Well, take heart…we’re apparently only in a “one-and-a-half dip” recession.

That’s right.  According to Robert Reich, Former Secretary of Labor, we’re in a one-and-a-half dip recession, with the worst is yet to come and politicians and other people in power should take note. With retail spending on a downturn, home sales in the dumps, and the average work week in decline, Reich argues the only thing that’s actually piling up in this economic climate is unsold goods, fallow homes and default loans.…