There was a cerebral flash and then it was gone:  the buying power of a typical family has not risen since 1999, I read in  Newsweek,  while my husband marvels at the incredible credit card debt of my clients.

I wonder whether the explosion of consumer credit, fueling the illusion that everyman can enjoy a middle class lifestyle in an era of stagnant wages, has had any role in muffling protest about wage inequities?  What do you think?

My friend Gene Melchionne mourned a spate of recent suicides linked to financial problems and pointed out that bankruptcy can be a solution to debt issues.  And I thought of the all the folks trying to sell you  something, a book, a program, debt management program or debt settlement solutions in order to avoid bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy, in their parlance, has all the appeal of cancer.  They make bankruptcy a horror so you’ll buy whatever it is that they are selling, including you, Dave Ramsey.

Nonsense.  Bankruptcy is a tool to deal with a bad set of facts.  Regret the factual situation, but don’t spurn a legal and effective solution.

If you have a disease, the disease seldom goes away when you reject treatment.  Likewise, rejecting bankruptcy seldom results in financial health:  it just prolongs the stress, the reckless living without insurance or reserves, and the mindless I-can-do-this until there is a financial or physical train wreck….. or a suicide.

Those who paint bankruptcy as a sign of failure or a matter of shame to further their own economic interests ought themselves to be ashamed.

December 10th is the deadline for  California homeowners who are over 62 or disabled to apply for low interest loans from the state to pay property taxes.  When the interest rate on delinquent real estate taxes is now 18%, this program could make a significant difference to elders with financial challenges.

To qualify, you must have lived in the home since December 31, 2007; have 20% equity in the property; and have a household income of less than $35,000.

To apply, call 1 800 952-5661 or see the State Controller’s webpage on the program.

“Saving is for losers”, claims the radio ad for a Rich Dad seminar.  They couldn’t have picked a phrase more likely to make me see red than that.  The absence of savings as a cushion for the economic bumps in life scares the hell out of me.  And my clients nearing retirement with nothing saved break my heart.  All the while, those “wise men” trying to sell the ambitious a book, a program, a service slam savings.  Arghhh, as Charlie Brown used to say.

Funny, but it seems to me that my bankruptcy office is crowded with those devotees of one get-rich investment wizard or another.   The savers are presumably getting along.

I’ve frequently thought it would be instructive to see what the financial gurus were saying about get-rich-in-real- estate now that real estate has crashed.  Unfortunately, I’ve been too busy dealing with those who tried it and now need to file bankruptcy to do the leg work.  Apparently, facts don’t interfer with the sales pitch.

I’ve often lamented here and on Bankruptcy Law Network about the media voices urging spending while no one, but ING, touts savings.  Guess it all proves that there is no limit to the chuzpah of a salesman.

After I explained the time line for my client getting a discharge in Chapter 7, the client struggled with the concept that the bankruptcy trustee would succeed to a cause of action for a suit that hadn’t yet been filed. How could that be if I get the discharge in four months?, the client asked.

The answer is that the administration of assets in a bankruptcy case proceeds on a separate time line from the discharge. Congress wanted the debtor to know in short order whether he would get a discharge. There is no comparable policy reason to limit the time the trustee has to turn assets into cash for the benefit of creditors.

This client hoped that an asset that hadn’t resulted in a cash recovery before he got a discharge would default to him. No, I explained, the trustee could take his time, evaluate the suit, and settle the suit on terms that seemed appropriate to the trustee. Compromises or sales by trustees are subject to confirmation by the court; courts give the trustee wide latitude in the exercise of business judgment.

The prospect of the loss of control of this asset was a deciding factor in the client selecting Chapter 13, where he would stay in control on the asset.  One more reason to choose Chapter 13.