Lately, you can’t turn on the television without watching a commercial for a bankruptcy law firm or some kind of debt settlement company. The funny thing is that half of these commercials appear during the news in which they report that unemployment rates have fallen to 6.7% and the economy has fully recovered. Last year, the Dow set all-time highs and the NASDAQ has almost risen to the height of the internet bubble. There are no fundamentals to drive this market. Many experts who have studied the market and are honest believe that quantitative easing has been the driving force behind record numbers in the stock market, not an economic recovery. One day there is a global currency crisis that triggers the sell off only to bounce back from news of better than expected earnings from a single company. I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t make sense to me.

It’s no secret that the most popular form of debt elimination is filing for bankruptcy. In the last few years since the economy went into recession, many alternatives to filing for bankruptcy have emerged. People need to be very careful, as things that sound too good to be true are probably too good to be true. Every time the economy has crashed, creative solutions enter the market, some of which are scams. Look back over the past 50 years and you will see different scams that have popped up during times of economic decline. We’ve seen everything from pyramids to multi-level marketing companies that promise financial security and wealth. Like I said before, if it sounds too good to be true, it is. The old adage that the only way to do it is through hard work applies in our culture today. People want it now and they don’t care what it costs to get it and we’re not talking about price. Like the housing crisis before the bubble burst in 2007, people were buying houses they couldn’t afford just because they believed they deserved it.

Before considering the alternatives, a person should definitely consult a bankruptcy attorney to see if they qualify to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. This will give them at least advance notice if the alternatives didn’t work, they still have an ace up their sleeve. . A bankruptcy attorney will be honest with the person considering filing. Filing for bankruptcy is not for everyone and lawyers know it. But the attorney also knows the disadvantages of debt settlement and consolidation. They should be able to shed light on the person’s personal financial situation and let them know if any of these other options are feasible.

An alternative to filing for bankruptcy is debt settlement. Recently, there have been many debt settlement companies that have emerged in the economic downturn. What happens in a debt settlement is that the company collects the money that would be paid as payments to creditors over a period of time to accumulate enough money to try to settle the debts. Most debt settlement companies will offer creditors 50% of the amount owed. For someone who has credit card debt of $ 10,000 or less, this could be a viable option. For someone who has a lot more, it really is not feasible and filing for bankruptcy is much more profitable. This option has become very popular in recent years, but interested persons should be careful, as there are many night operations. People should first seek references before attempting any type of debt settlement. One thing to remember, most debt settlement companies will not share the information that any individual can negotiate with their own creditors if they feel capable of doing so. The same negotiations will apply to a person trying to pay off his debt as much as the company would. Before doing anything, one should check all of his options.