ACCUMULATING debt is the easiest thing you can do in America. Even your dog can get credit cards with a fake social security number.
If you are an immigrant and have just arrived, you will have no history of credit here. Chances are that in your country of origin, you probably had no credit card debt, or if you did, maybe you had an insignificant amount.
In other countries, most people are on a “cash” basis. In other words, you buy everything in cash, not credit. If you buy a house abroad, you either paid cash for it, or you put a substantial cash down payment and have a small mortgage on it. Outside of the U.S., the objective in life is to accumulate cash and assets but have no debt.
But here in America, MasterCard, Visa and other credit card companies, sell you the American lifestyle, which is to bury yourself in debt to get all the things you want. Want a brand new 80-inch flat and thin high definition TV, the one that curves on both ends of the screen to let you watch it clearly from almost any angle? It’s only $3,000. Don’t have the $3,000? No problem. Just charge the $3,000 on your credit card. Bring the TV home today for your whole family to enjoy! You don’t have to pay $3,000 upfront. Next month, just set aside $90 to make a minimum monthly payment on the $3,000. Instant gratification! This is the American way.
Want to bring the family to Hawaii for Christmas? Let’s see. It’s $1,500 for a week’s stay at one of the five-star resorts in Waikiki, including the round-trip plane fare and hotel per head. Since you are a family of four, that would be a grand total of $6,000 for a one-week Christmas and New Year vacation in paradise. LA gets cold in winter even if it doesn’t snow but the climate in Hawaii is a comfortable and breezy 80 degrees. “Mele Kalikimaka” — that’s how they say “Merry Christmas” in Hawaii as you probably know. And the food, the luaus are terrific. The scenery is spectacular. Plan on riding a helicopter to look at the Big Island Volcano, which only adds another $1,000 to your vacation budget for your family of four. So, the one-week Christmas vacation will cost about $8,000, all expenses accounted for, with first-class accommodations. There’s only one problem. You didn’t have $3,000 for the big screen TV that looks so good in your family room, so where will you get the $8,000 for your Christmas vacation?
No problem. In America, the credit cards keep on giving and giving. They are perennial Santa Clauses. The wife wants to go. The kids want to go. You want to go. So go. I mean, former President Obama spent a lot of his vacations in Oahu where he was born, so why can’t you bring your family to paradise this Christmas? By all means, go and give the family a great time this Christmas.
With the brand new TV at $3,000 and the Hawaii Christmas vacation at $8,000, you will owe $11,000 at the end of this year. So what? You got the TV and you’ll still have your Hawaii tan for a couple of weeks when you get back right after the New Year. Your co-workers will envy you when you say you just got back from paradise and you feel totally relaxed and ready to face the challenges of 2018 head-on. Yes, that’s right, everything is still status quo but then, at the end of January 2018, you will have to take $330 out of your take-home pay and pay the minimum for the TV and Hawaii trip. At the end of 2018, you will have paid your credit card masters $4,000, but you would still owe them the same $11,000.
But the reality of life here in America is that you will buy a lot more good stuff on credit. Maybe two brand new computers for the kids? A brand new leather sofa set? Maybe you need a new fridge? Or, even a new roof because the roof leaks. There is a high probability that in 2018, you will add another $10,000 of credit cards because you don’t really feel the pain when you buy stuff on credit, isn’t this true? It’s not like you have $10,000 of cash in the bank and you have to take $8,000 from it to pay for Hawaii, right? That would be painful. On the other hand, charging $8,000 on credit cards is practically painless. You just have to take the card out of your wallet and swipe it. It’s so easy to spend money that you don’t have here in America. One can easily get addicted to credit cards the same way that a person can get addicted to drugs. Just like cocaine and LSD, using credit cards gives the user a “high”. Just like drugs, it’s addicting.
In a couple of short years, starting from a $3,000 for your TV, and $8,000 for your Hawaii Christmas vacation in 2017, you will owe $30,000! You would have added a trip to Europe, a trip to China, Japan, Thailand and Bali for the family. These trips do not even include the family trip back to your country of origin which requires a lot more money because as everyone knows, family back home expect to get a lot of expensive gifts from their now “rich” American relatives, not to mention paying the tab for all the restaurant food that you and your family back home will be enjoying.
If all of these scenarios took place 10 years ago, mark my words: you would now owe maybe $30,000 in credit card debt. These now cost you $1,000 a month of minimum payments. For the next 12 months, you will pay $12,000 of minimum payments, but at the end of the 12 months, you will still owe $30,000. In 24 months, you will pay $24,000 of minimum payments, but you will still owe $30,000. Then, if you are objective enough to see you own financial situation, you will know that you are now in what is called “financial bondage.” You are now a debt slave. What’s worse than being a debt slave? Being a senior debt slave is the worse. Let’s say that you are now 62 and you owe $30,000 in credit cards. Social security and retirement are just around the corner. You’re looking at $1,800 of social security, which is not too bad. But you’re also on the hook for $1,000 of minimum monthly credit card payments. This is more than half of your social security benefits. Imagine the hardship caused by having to fork over more than half of your social security to pay $1,000 to your credit card masters every month for the rest of your life during your golden years. It sucks! But as you have now learned, after paying your credit card masters $120,000 in the last 10 years, you still owe your masters the same $30,000 of credit card debt!
Just like “Django Unchained,” it’s time to break free of credit card debt!
What you need now is the full legal power of a Chapter 7 petition to give you a fresh start without the $30,000 in credit card debt. Break free from your credit card masters and live with freedom and joy and be productive again and start fresh again without accumulated debt. Turn you back on the $30,000 and nuke them with a bankruptcy discharge. You won’t regret it. It’s the right thing to do. Even Pres. Trump has said that Puerto Rico’s $70-billion debt must be discharged. Well, he should know, the Trump companies filed for bankruptcy four times, discharging hundreds of millions of debt. Even Walt Disney filed for Chapter 7 twice before he became successful. Milton Hershey of Hershey chocolates, now a global multi-billion dollar business, filed for Chapter 7 before he became successful. M.C. Hammer, Francis Ford Coppola, Kim Basinger and Mickey Rooney — these celebrities all filed for Chapter 7 to get a fresh start in life.
It’s easy to get into debt in America. But it’s really hard to get out of debt in America. That’s why you need the full legal power of Chapter 7 to get out of debt and get a fresh start. It’s a federal right given by law to the debtor who needs relief from accumulated debt. Why be embarrassed to exercise a right given by law?
Life after bankruptcy is great, you still keep everything you own as long as you qualify for applicable exemptions. You will be able to save money again every month. Anyway, the cards have enabled you to bring your family around the world already and you still have the big screen TV in your family room. Have your cake and eat it too and get a fresh start with no debt. Only in America! Get back on solid financial footing, get rid of your accumulated debt with Chapter 7, and face your retirement years with peace of mind!
If you need debt relief, set an appointment to see me. I will analyze your case personally.
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Lawrence Bautista Yang specializes in Bankruptcy, Business, Real Estate and Civil Litigation and has successfully represented more than 5,000 clients in California. Please call Angie, Barbara or Jess at (626) 284-1142 for an appointment at 20274 Carrey Road, Walnut, CA 91789 or 1000 S. Fremont Ave., Mailstop 58, Building A-10 South Suite 10042, Alhambra, CA 9180