in my early 20’s, am i too young to declare bankruptcy??
I’m asking bc my bf is thinking about declaring bankruptcy. He is 24 now, waiting for financial aid to hit his bank account so he has money, currently has nothing.
He went through a tough time during his freshman year of college- he maxed out all his credit cards buying random things after a breakup.
After that, it was just one bad choice after another mixed with terrible luck. As much as I don’t believe in “bad luck” i definitely started to think about it after i met him LOL. Idk how better to explain it other than what could’ve gone wrong did go wrong.
Luckily after him and I met, i helped him with his spending habits a little but im also not the best with finances or spending or savings or anything but i’m still mindful of those things or at least i try to be as much as possible.
OKAY ANYWAYS, HERE’S HIS CURRENT SITUATION:
He doesn’t have a job bc he’s trying to focus on his college classes so he can finally graduate and get his degree. He only has a few courses left to take. Despite him wanting to focus solely on school, he’s been applying to jobs for MONTHS now and still nothing. He always does really well and makes it to the final interviews then either gets ghosted by the hiring managers or they just take someone else. (SIDE NOTE- Why are hiring managers ghosting candidates though? That’s so unprofessional in my opinion but I digress LOL)
Point being: no job right now.
His dad (not the best financial advisor IMO but it’s what he has) recommended him to make a plan with the National Debt Relief program about 3 years ago bc he didn’t have the money to pay any of his debt and some credit card companies were starting to sue him.
SO- He currently owes about $4k to the national debt relief program. Trying to stall them until he gets his financial aid money which will be about $6k.
His dad told him to file for bankruptcy so that instead of paying the ~$4k he owes, he’ll only have to pay ~$1k for a lawyer or something like that. He said the only drawback is having to rebuild his credit for the next 2-3 years but his debt will be wiped clean and that’s a consequence he’s willing to accept bc he’s “only 24yo”.
I don’t feel confident that that’s the best decision, i feel like there has to be better options out there but I don’t know how to advise him bc i don’t know anything about this!!!
SO, i just want to know from anyone who’s experienced something similar or has a lot of knowledge with personal finances; IS HE MAKING THE BEST/ RIGHT DECISION?? If you’ve ever filed for bankruptcy, is there anything you wish you’d done differently in retrospect?? Please help.
Thank you in advance to anyone who reads this and/or has any experience/knowledge to share with me regarding this situation!! I really truly appreciate it.