real scared

[getout]

I live in new york city. I am current on my chase mortgage and have a steady job .I have a wife,5 yr old son and take care of wife mother.
She is from Russia and came here 5 yr ago on tourist visa,and quickly became ill. I had to take out loans,and live off credit cards to pay the doctors and such until she became a resident and got medicaid.Once she had the benefits they found 3 tumors in her columm. The operation saved her life. My plan that backed fired was to retire from my city job with a 25yr full pension get a new job to increase my income and use some of my 401 k to pay off debts. problem is now there are no new jobs available to be had anywhere. My plan fell apart. I owe about 90,000 in unsecured credit card debt. in order 35K from BOA, 25K from cap1,20k from amex with another 10k from chase overdraft and cards cards .I have an appointment with a layler on friday. she told me on the phone that I will not lose my house or car. I am scared to death and can't stop shaking. Can anybody tell me what I am looking at.
desperate

[BNKRPTinNC]

First, welcome to the forum.

Second, take a deep breath as you are not alone. I had similar debt and am doing just fine, now. Kept car, house, even my RV so don't get yourself all worked up until you crunch the numbers with your atty. I, too, planned on retiring but having to file has put me in a holding pattern until the plan ends. The relief of not having to worry about all the bills over the life of the plan and then starting over has been a financial life saver for us.

[getout]

thanks

This is a new kind of hurt, I'm filled with terror and am afraid that I am going to give myself a heart attack with all of the shaking and obsessing. so are you finished?

[BNKRPTinNC]

Not quite

Sorry about the delay responding, don't get on here too often. I am going on 2 yrs in the plan (see sig.). So far, so good. Had a knowledgable atty and a reasonable trustee so plan that was set up has been livable. Am able to put aside for savings and the bills are paid, on time. The decision to file was the only way for us to get clear of the mounting debt, due to interest and fees, and a chance of starting over with pretty much a clean slate. It will take some time to accomplish but life is much less stressful when you don't have the phone calls, threats and letters arriving on a daily basis. Good luck.

[ByeByeCCs]

I am also a NYC retiree and I am not so sure you should postpone your retirement. I would make an appointment with your pension fund and run your numbers. Oftentimes, you take home the same or more money in retirement as you do while working (no more ss, state and local tax deductions). If you retired and six months pass (the look back time) and you cannot find new employment, you would be in a better position in terms of filing and may even qualify for a Chapter 7 as opposed to a 13. Anything can happen in five years and it would be sad to lose your pension and benefits because you had to stay with the city to meet your Chapter 13 obligations. It just seems to me that you would be better off retiring first and file later. Read on here, you will see that your creditors will not be banging on your door right away and a certain amount of planning is important in the BK process. Also, creditors can garnish your wages from the city but not your pension. So by retiring you would be make yourself judgment proof in terms of your unsecured creditors.

[angles]

Good point, as far as I know retirement money is exempt so you could be in a much better position then you think. Also, I don’t think anyone can garnish retirement pay; so depending on if you have assets to protect you may not even need to file for BK unless of course you want the calls to stop. But just relax, you will be fine. Read through all the threads and you will see.

[LadyInTheRed]

The OP says he has a house, so he probably doesn't want to leave that vulnerable to a judgement lien. But, retiring and filing 6 months later sounds like a good idea.

Getout, consult with a few BK lawyers and see what they advise.

Whatever you do, DON'T USE YOUR 401K TO PAY CREDITORS!!!!

Edited to add: I just noticed you were going to meet with an attorney today. Let us know how it went.