Sally Herigstad, CPA

Is there a way to pull up a list of all of my debts off of the internet?

Kim

I am married and have an 11 month old daughter. I have spoke to a lawyer and we qualify for Chapter 7. We own a home, but it is a struggle to make the monthly payments. It is mortgaged for about $10K more than it's worth. We also owe $38,600 in unsecured debt, not including $20K in student loans (which I know can't be included in the bankruptcy). I am behind with all my creditors, some 120+ days. We have about $900 in medical debts. My husband brings home about $3000 per month - more than half goes to mortgage, quarterly real estate taxes, and homeowners insurance. I'm a stay-at-home mom, but I'm starting up my own business, plus my husband is trying to make add'l money on the side. We don't qualify for consumer credit counseling because our budget is short by about $1800 according to them. A debt negotiation company has said they can reduce our unsecured debt by negotiation to around $21K and we can have that paid off within 3 yrs with $600 per month pymnts, which is $271 dollars less a month than the credit counseling pymnt. If we don't claim bankruptcy, we will continue to experience financial hardship for several more years. Can you offer some advice? Thank You!

Lori

Response to 6 Reasons Not to Save for Kids' College http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/SavingForCollege/6ReasonsNotToSaveForKids.aspx

You might want to look back into your figures. College is far more expensive than that in the metro area of DC. Some community colleges cost about 12,000 a year and state colleges cost between 25-30k a year. Most kids cannot afford to pay off the loan since minimum wage is incredibly low compared to our current economic state and the interest is high.

Brian - DC Metro area

Hello Ms. Herigstad,

I randomly ran across your article about why it is advisable for parents to steer clear of paying the way for their child's college tuition.

It caught my eyes due to the fact that I had some troubling issues with my financial aid department at my old college. They told me if I didn't have so much money by a specific date I wasn't allowed to attend class, which resulted in me having to leave.

So I was up the creek without a paddle... Had to go home to my town of 1,800 people where there are no jobs and so there is no money... Thus 6 months rolled around and I had no money to pay back my college loans, so THAT has become an issue.

When I did live at home and was still in high school my parents never made me get a job before and there really wasn't anything there any ways, so that puts me in an awkward position where I go for a job and no one wants to hire a 19 year old who had to leave college and has no job experience. EVEN McDONALDS PASSED ME UP!!!

So when I read the article you mentioned it is possible to self educate one's self to become able to start and run a business. Do you have any tips or resources I could check out.

I heard there are loans and grants available to people who wish to start up their own business, but with my student loans defaulting, I think it would be difficult to do that. Any advice with that as well?

Also obviously I would have employees, would they take a 19 year old college failure seriously? I mean honestly, if your boss was someone who couldn't afford to even make it through college, how many quality people are going to want to give me a shot?

I hope I didn't bombard you with too many questions and issues, but I am genuinely interested in the idea of starting my own business due to the fact nothing else has seemed to work and I have always wanted to do my own business anyway.

Thank you for your time,
Kendra

My wife and I have a modest home and have never touched the equity in it. We currently have a large sum of $200,000 equity and plan on moving half of it into an education fund for our daughter when we move some day. She is currently 3yrs old, and I feel that with the right fund she can attend college without taking out a loan. Is this a good way to fund her college?

Dennis

My employer never had me fill out a W-4. How does he know how much money to take out of my check? Money has been witheld from my check each week for taxes, yet I was told last week that I would have to take care of my own taxes. Am I somehow gettting ripped off, and what should I do about it?

james

MY EX FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY BUT LISTED HIS OBLIGATION TO ME AS SOMETHING HE WANTS TO PAY BUT HASNT PAID ON PENNY. ISNT THAT LYING UNDER OATH OR SOMETHING? CAN I DO ANYTHING?
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME

Is there a limit to the additional amount an employee can ask to be withheld from their paycheck?

lweaver

I have tax lien back in 1992 and i would like to resolve this problem, can you help me?

Sam

Do the new bankruptcy laws mean I won't be able to have my debts erased?