Chicago Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog

I always thought of Grandma as the penny-pinching, coupon-clipping type. So I was more than a little surprised when, after she passed away, we learned that she'd left Grandpa with thousands of dollars in debt.

Sadly, it's becoming an even more common scenario in today's economy. Rising healthcare costs and medication prices coupled with dwindling retirement portfolios are leaving seniors with little choice but to put their everyday necessities on a credit card, ringing up debt that they may not live to pay off. And that's bad news for all of us, say Chicago bankruptcy lawyers.

Continue reading "Why More Elderly Americans Are Passing Debt On To Their Families" »

Once upon a time, having a million dollars when you retired meant you were rich. Nowadays, it merely means you're financially secure - if you manage your money responsibly.

But while a million bucks doesn't stretch quite as far - or buy as much luxury - as it did in our parents' day, the good news is that reaching the million-dollar milestone is more within our grasp than ever before, according to Chicago bankruptcy attorneys. That is, if we stop losing money due to growing debt and start earning it through growing our savings.

Continue reading "How Chicago Savers Can End Up With One Million Dollars in Retirement Savings" »

The savings rate in America has soared to an average of 4 percent - for every $100 we receive, four bucks are being tucked away for the future. Think $4 doesn't sound like much? Compared to the paltry 1 percent we were stashing just a couple years ago, we've quadrupled our savings.

We're starting to wake up and realize that we can't put savings on autopilot. I used to count my automatic 401K contribution as my monthly savings so I would have more of my paycheck to spend. I figured a retirement account was relatively safe. But I was forgetting the first lesson of investment 101: Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Continue reading "Illinois Bankruptcy Lawyers Urge Americans to Save More Money" »

When the stock market took a dive last year, so did most retirement funds. But it's not just Wall Street doing damage to our savings - it's our own impatience. Since the recession began, people have been pulling the plug on their retirement money, cashing out to pay for present-day expenses like bills and groceries.

Even I'm not immune to stealing from my own piggy bank. When I changed jobs a while back, I cashed out the earnings from my profit-sharing plan with the full intention of re-investing them. That didn't exactly happen. I learned a valuable lesson: if you have money in your primary account, you will spend it. Gas prices were going up and it was pretty convenient to have that extra cash cushion. But the problem is that, now, it's gone for good.

Continue reading "Chicago Bankruptcy Lawyers Help You Hold On To Savings" »