Ask Steve Show Topic – Jan. 28, 2017

Considering Bankruptcy but don’t know where to start? What it costs? What the impact could be to your credit and future financial health?

Join Attorney Stephen Foondos from the United Law Center this and every Saturday from 3-4:00 p.m. for the Ask Steve radio program on NewsRadio KFBK 1530AM when we discuss the pros and cons of filing Bankruptcy, what it can cost and how do you know if it makes sense. Make sure and check out Stephen’s new legal challenge series that runs every weekday morning at 7:30am on KQCA-MY58 TV. These weekly topics will extend into the radio show where we explore them in more depth. This week’s show will cover:

What is the most common cause of Bankruptcy filing? Per a report from the American Journal of Medicine last year, “As recently as 1981, only 8 percent of families filing for bankruptcy cited medical reasons. By 2010, when the Affordable Care Act was passed, medical bankruptcy was all-to-common. A 2009 study by Himmelstein et al, published in The American Journal of Medicine, revealed that 62.1% of all bankruptcies had a medical cause.” In a study by the Kaiser Foundation in 2015, “Workers’ share of health insurance premiums for their families rose 83 percent from 2005 to 2015, and the amount employees had to pay for deductibles for individual insurance increased 255 percent from 2006 to 2015. The increases are far higher than growth in workers’ wages,” especially in the first half of that period the country was in the worst Recession it had seen in decades. Continued healthcare reform is critical to helping stabilize the economy and help Americans weather medical storms in their lives without it devastating them financially.

What are the pros and cons of filing Bankruptcy? This article is a great resource and we will discuss it in more detail to give context to how it can work well in certain situations. If you are seriously considering Bankruptcy you want to also understand asset protection. Ideally you can start planning for asset protection now, before creditors begin to come after you. Check out this article to learn more about asset protection, including estate planning..

Join us each Saturday on 1530AM NewsTalk KFBK for the Ask Steve Show from 3:00-4:00 p.m. Past show podcasts are available here. Next week, we will discuss the legal impact of drunk driving ahead of the Superbowl. Did you know that the Superbowl is one of the highest days of the year for DUI arrests? Be smart and plan your ride before you celebrate!