Category Archives: Debt
Is Debt Buying The World’s Ickiest Profession?
It is normal to be indignant when a creditor calls you and pesters you about money that you owe them but have been unable to buy. There is a reason that movie audiences cheered during an early scene in the movie The 40-Year-Old Virgin where Catherine Keener’s character cusses out the caller who she… Read More »
What To Do Instead Of Paying A Collection Agency
Dealing with collection agencies is a truly unpleasant experience, but just how did your debt become the collection agency’s business in the first place? Most of the time, a creditor (such as a hospital credit card company, or any other entity from which you have consented to receive services in exchange for payment) sends… Read More »
Freeing Yourself From Parent PLUS Loans Is A Challenge, But It Can Be Done
Many parents dream of amassing a college fund for their children, one that will enable them to graduate from college debt-free, but this is much harder than it sounds. As wages stagnate while the price of tuition, dorms, and textbooks rises sky high, parents are less and less able to afford college, while employers… Read More »
Yikes! Now Facebook Can Buy Your Debt Before It Is Even Past Due
Opinions differ about the exact date that the Internet stopped being fun, but most people would pinpoint it as the first time Facebook reminded them that they were broke. Since the early 2000s, Facebook has launched an increasing number of features designed to rub it in people’s faces that they have less money than… Read More »
No More Surprise Medical Bills: The New Billing System Is Complicated, But As A Patient, It Isn’t Your Problem
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic started, the cost of healthcare in the United States was financially ruinous for most Americans. Having health insurance coverage could usually protect you from having to pay hundreds of dollars for a routine doctor’s office visit, but the burden was on patients to find doctors that accepted their insurance. … Read More »
Surprise Medical Bills Are About To Become Less Surprising
Sometimes the most painful part of an injury is the cascade of bills you receive in the weeks and months following an emergency room visit. You think you know how much to expect, because your health insurance charges a flat fee for emergency room visits, so the bill from the ER itself isn’t so… Read More »
Debtors’ Examinations: Make Sure Your Lawyer Is Present
Even people who are financially secure are usually uncomfortable talking about their finances; there is a reason for the etiquette rule saying that you should not talk about religion, sex, politics, or money except with people you know very well. If you received an allowance as a child, your early memories about money probably… Read More »
To Stay In College Or To Drop Out: A Debt Lawyer’s Perspective
When you were in high school, your guidance counselors and representatives from expensive test prep companies promised you that going to college would be a fun-filled road to riches, but now that you are still a junior after eight semesters, their megawatt smiles have long since faded from memory. It’s easy for the Internet… Read More »
The Only Three Situations Where You Can Be Responsible For A Family Member’s Credit Card Debt
Click on any advice column about family relationships, and you will find a lot of questions about relationships that have become strained because of money. Family members shame each other about financial decisions of which they disapprove, and less wealthy relatives resent wealthier ones for not being more generous with them. Most of the… Read More »
Parent PLUS Loans Are A Recipe For Generational Financial Hardship
Every parent wants to help their children succeed. Starting a college savings fund when your child is born is an admirable goal, but it simply is not feasible for most parents who belong to a generation where more than half of Americans cannot afford a $400 emergency expense. To make matters worse, the price… Read More »