My colleague Brett Weiss echoes my experience with those in financial trouble: they wait far to long to see a bankruptcy attorney. Many have long since passed the point where they can hope to pay off their debt. They have invaded or neglected their retirement savings in a futile struggle to keep up with their debts. The minimum payments have only postponed facing financial reality.

Those lobbyists and legislators who argued that too many people took the easy way out of financial trouble via bankruptcy clearly never met real debtors who would rather be anywhere else than talking with me about admitting financial failure.

An amazing number of clients are willing to spend the last penny in the bank making payments before declaring bankruptcy.

Those that say that consumers take bankruptcy too lightly simply haven’t talked to anyone in financial distress.