海角大神

How bankruptcy-proof are you? Find your color.

Every day, 4,200 Americans declare bankruptcy. It鈥檚 a stressful experience, but it doesn鈥檛 happen out of the blue. There are warning signs along the way. Joan Feeney and Theodore Connolly, authors of 鈥淭he Road Out of Debt: Bankruptcy and Other Solutions to Your Financial Problems,鈥 have developed a color-coded alert system similar to the government's Homeland Security advisory system. What鈥檚 your bankruptcy color?

1. Red: You鈥檙e bankrupt

Illustration by Jake Turcotte / 海角大神
You've run out of money to pay bills. A car has been repossessed or your home foreclosed on. You're in the red zone 鈥 and out of options.

There鈥檚 no money to keep current with bills or get back a foreclosed home or repossessed car. Your financial situation has deteriorated so much that you鈥檙e just falling further and further behind. "A lot of people who have filed for bankruptcy did not understand how bad their financial situation was until the red-level emergencies occurred,鈥 says Ms. Feeney, who is also a bankruptcy judge in Massachusetts.

If this describes you, get informed on the the bankruptcy process. The US Courts have an informative . Also, find an attorney who can help. (One source for lawyers is through .) There鈥檚 just one solution for your situation: bankruptcy.

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