One of the biggest mistakes I see from debtors that meet with me is that they have liquidated their retirement accounts to pay down their debts. For those people that end up in my office that have liquidated their retirement and still need to file bankruptcy, it is difficult to pass along that they could have protected the majority (and most times all) of their retirement funds from creditors.
For those of you considering bankruptcy, I recommend speaking with an attorney before touching your retirement account. If you liquidate your retirement account, it won’t be there for you when you retire. We keep hearing that social security won’t be enough to retire on so it’s important to put money aside to supplement that income (even if you have outstanding bills).
At the law offices of Andersen, Ellis & Shephard, we have represented thousands of individuals in consumer bankruptcy filings.