Read the entire article to understand why.

For over 8 years, congressional backers, banks and credit card companies pushed to get bankruptcy reform on the books. Who has this really helped?

Last year the new law went into effect. The pushers of this law said it was needed to help curb the massive abuse of people who filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy as a way to simply walk away from their debt. Opponents said the changes would be especially hard on low-income working people, single mothers, minorities and the elderly and would remove a safety net for those who have lost their jobs or face mounting medical bills.

The law bars those with above-average income from Chapter 7 — where debts can be wiped out entirely — except under special circumstances. Those deemed by a new “means test” to have at least $100 a month left over after paying certain debts and expenses must file instead a 5-year repayment plan under the more restrictive Chapter 13.

In addition to this “means test”, an individual wishing to file for relief under Chapter 7 must first seek credit counseling services and receive a certificate of insolvency.

Basically, anyone seeking to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy has to go to a credit counseling service that interviews the individual and conducts an analysis of their overall financial situation to determine if they truly can’t afford to pay back their debts.

As you well know, the credit counseling industry is funded by the credit card companies. How convenient. Fortunately, …continue reading the article titled If you find that you are in financial trouble, look at debt settlement as your first option.

A recent study by lawyers.com showed that nearly half of all Americans do not have enough in savings to live for three months if faced with an unexpected job loss or medical emergency.

For those people earning 35k or less, 19% of them said that they had no liquid savings, compared to only 4 percent of those who earned more than the 35k a year.

In addition, those who actually have some savings are increasingly more likely to spend it on daily living expenses, instead of paying down or eliminating their debts.

Of those people with savings, about 27% reported that their last savings withdrawal of $100 or more was to cover normal living expenses, while only 16% used it to pay off debt.

The survey shows that any change in gas prices, for example, or in any other market (an increase in interest rates from their adjustable mortgage, the new minimum credit card payment requirements with most credit card companies) can devastate those consumers financially.

If you find yourself scrambling to make ends meet or just want to learn more about your financial options, log onto www.debtreliefoptions.com.

In February, Maine became the twelfth State to pass legislation that allows consumers to freeze their credit information. This program has been floating under the radar for quite some time and I think that if more consumers were aware of it, they would be flocking in droves to sign up.

I know that I wrote eight States and reference Maine becoming the twelfth. There is a reason for this. But first, let me explain about the program. OK fine. For those of you that are impatient, 8 States allow any consumer to participate in freezing their account. The other 4 States and potentially on a National level, you must be a victim of identity theft before you can protect yourself in the future.

California was the first State to pass this type of law back in 2003. The vast majority of Californians have not signed on because they don’t know about it.

Here is the reason behind the law and how it works:

Nearly 10 million Americans fall victim each year to identity theft. Current statistics show that a victim will spend an average of 330 hours resolving problems as a result of identity theft and paid between $851 and $1378 in out of pocket expenses (excluding a median of $4000 per victim in lost wages in 2004).

Identity theft also costs U.S. …continue reading the article titled Freeze your credit, well in eight States anyway…….