Dear Steve,
I finished high school, starting college by 20 and still unsure about my career. I'm planning to get married by 24 to a woman who can already support us financially and planning to have plentiful amount of children.
Is it worth to file bankruptcy then get married but not legally and get all loans, leases, and credit cards through the wife but pay more taxes as single or just pay the loan?
Barry
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Dear Barry,
Well that's a new one for me after all these decades of helping people. Just goes to prove how every situation is unique and different.
So if I've got this right, you are a relatively young person who is headed off for college but unsure what you really want to do, expect have loads of kids. And, oh yes, file some sort of bankruptcy to eliminate current obligations.
This seems to be more of a classic example of how money problems are not about the money but caused by the underlying issues. In nearly every situation the debt is the symptom and not the root of the problem.
So let's start with the obvious. If you are unsure what career you want to follow then why head off to college just yet? Why not take this great opportunity to explore what is out there and maybe pursue some internships in some different fields to see what your passion is? This is the one time in your life you'll have that opportunity to do something like that.
Nearly three out of four people who owe student loans never finish college. The big pay back from the college debt comes once you complete your degree and have that diploma. But today many are finding the cost of college just doesn't make sense for some fields. For example, the recent reader who spent $165,000 in student loans to enter a field that paid about $35,000. That's not good. The last thing you need to do is "just" go to college because you feel you have to.
And while your future wife might be able to support you and the babies financially now, times change, accidents happen, jobs are lost, and income gets cut.
We can't get you to your destination without a map but first we need to figure out what your goals are so we know where to head. Is your primary goal to have babies, get married, just go to college, or what? Maybe you could post an update with some clarity in the comments for me.
Without more information about your debt the best I can offer at this point is for you to to concentrate first on what your life goal is, decide what field you are passionate about, evaluate how much college will cost to complete a degree relevant to the field you want to pursue, and only then can we even begin to deal with the current debt. Until then continue to pay your bills while you gather this information and then get back to me.
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