cc debt default and ss benefits

[evafla]

Please if you know tell me , I stopped paying cc debt 4 years ago (about 60k), I lost everything and was not able even to think about bk ,
now I am in the age I can apply for social security benefits ( part of ex benefits, divorced after very long marriage), will my debt prevent payment of soc sec , can soc sec money be taken by creditors .
Is it a risk involved in applying now ? Would be more save for me to wait till full retirement age and 7 years after default ?


thanks e

[LadyInTheRed]

Creditors cannot get social security benefits. But, you need to be careful that you don't co-mingle benefits with other cash. The best way to protect your benefits is to receive your benefit via a SS debit card. The creditors can't get at that.

On a note that has nothing to do with your debt: If you can support yourself without SS and without incurring more debt, look closely at the difference in benefits if you wait until full retirement age. It can be pretty significant.

[tobee43]

i agree with lady on this point. we didn't have our ss distributed on the card, but we opened another bank account solely for auto deposit. we only use it for that and another exempt income a police pension which is also exempt from creditors. this way the bank if they ever did receive anything to try and nab the funds it is clear where they came from. we also informed the bank. after these two monthly payments get deposited we removed them as promptly as possible.

i know i'm not going to even collect when it comes time because if i hold out and something God forbid happens to my mate, i would be collecting from that fund and it would be just about to double of what i would get if just began to draw at 62. so i'm not there yet, but that's our plan.

sometimes tho, one cannot wait, and that's understandable. i just got my statement in late week or so, from ss, and if i wait until the age of 70 it's almost 500 dollars more, and i believe that's what lady is pointing out.

best of luck to you!

[catleg]

social security is exempt money and when properly documented cannot be touched by creditors, including the bankruptcy court. once it's a general asset of yours its fair game, granted most people actually spend this money to live on instead of banking it. but i would hate to fight a local county court judge and judgment creditor to get back my money after it was executed against.