In over my head and its my fault, Ch. 7 or Ch. 13?

[Anonymous]

If I stop contributing my retirement through work my monthly income goes to $5,300 which would be 63,600.  Looking on line the medium income for Virginia is 72,000. 

Am I looking at this incorrectly?  

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

If I stop contributing my retirement through work my monthly income goes to $5,300 which would be 63,600.  Looking on line the medium income for Virginia is 72,000. 

Am I looking at this incorrectly?  

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55% take home (excluding the retirement contributions) is closer to normal.

The $72k Median income is gross (before taxes). Your $63,600 is net of taxes and other deductions.

Did you have the same or similar salary last year? Did you receive a significant tax refund?

[Anonymous]

Similar salary within 3k and tax refunds are around 1k the past few years. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Similar salary within 3k and tax refunds are around 1k the past few years. 

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I was trying to figure out if you were withholding significantly more for taxes than necessary. That does not appear to be the case.

Can any of the credit card payments be reduced with hardship plans (close the card, payoff the balance under more favorable terms)? If anything else optional coming out of your paycheck? Any opportunity for additional income?

I can't comment on whether bankruptcy is right for you. I'm just trying to suggest things about which you might not have thought.

[Anonymous]

You could also dump FiOS and the $100 cell plan and get a flip phone. If you want to avoid a BK, it may take some hardship and bare-bones living for awhile. With your car insurance, are you paying for full coverage? Have you shopped rates lately? There may be savings there. Being that you're engaged, I assume your fiancée is aware of all this. If you're all in for marriage, is she in a position to take on some costs you normally handle to free up money that you could put toward bills? Do you have a way to get a side gig like Uber or something that would increase income?

There are possibilities out there . You do have a lot of debt and it may not be enough, but a couple years of scraping may do it. That said, you have to weigh the stress of it all against having a clean slate and no worries. Rebuilds happen all the time and you can do that too. You have to weigh the emotional costs as well as the financial ones and go with the option that gives the best balance.

[Lurker22]

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@Mjhall85 wrote:

Yeah taxes suck especially when single you get nailed pretty good.It's great you are saving for retirement early on but I would consult with an attorney  more than likely you will be in a chapter 13 may have to put retirement savings on hold to pay off some debt. I would contact a few different attorneys and go from there. From what you take home and to what needs to be paid out you are in the hole just over 1k a month and you'll continue to be in the red until something changes whether its salary increase a bonus etc to help lessen the burden. Bankruptcy is never an easy choice I debated about it for over a year but I just prolonged the inevitable but now I am near the end of my BK.

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FYI - retirement savings ARE allowed in Chapter 13, my lawyer and the trustee couldn't agree to what was reasonable so we had to have a hearing on the matter, in the end my savings haven't changed but the court must agree it's a "reasonable" amount going towards retirement savings

[GApeachy]

@Anonymous wrote:

My salary is 114k, but between taxes and retirement my monthly take home is $4500.

Monthly Income: $4500.00

Monthly Debt:    <$5800.00>

How long have you had these loans? Also, have you discussed this with a LO anywhere?

Could you consolidate your loan(s) at a lower interest rate? 

1. Both NFCU notes- consolidate

2. Both PenFed notes- consolidate

Perhaps adding those cc's to the notes as well.

[Anonymous]

My score is too low and have too my debt to limit.  I have been trying to get a consolidation loan the past few months.

[GApeachy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My score is too low and have too my debt to limit.  I have been trying to get a consolidation loan the past few months.

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Gotcha.  @FireMedic1  may chime in to answer some ?'s you have.  No matter what, peace of mind, health and happiness is what's most important and I wish you all the best.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I have been trying to keep up with payments even if they are a week or two late.  The stress of keeping up and trying to find money from A to pay for B so on and so on.  I am waiting to hear back from a lawyer I met with