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That's Certified Financial Planner, not certified financial advisor. And while their are stringent requirements for certification, there are also thousands of perfectly competent financial advisors who don't hold it simply because they don't want to expend the time required to complete the process.
Besides, this is really more of a relationship issue than a money issue. They need someone to help them get on the same page with their finances, not someone who can give a good recommendation as to whether they should invest in a bond fund vs. an equity fund vs. a REIT.
Does having the word "bankruptcy" on your credit report remain there forever?
Thanks for your input .
It remains 7 years from date of filing for a Ch 13... 10 years for a Ch 7.
I filed Ch 13 in April 2009. I was laid off and it was really the only option. I paid $250 a month for 4 years and was discharged May 2013.
My FICO scores at discharge were in the 630s.
Here we are almost a year later and I have $22k in new major CC's as well as a $20k 3.99% auto loan. My FICO scores are in the 680s and I expect 700s by the end of the year. I plan on buying a condo next year.
My total debt on those $22k worth of cards is about $400. One thing I learned in Ch 13 was to pay cash for everything. I maintain one card reporting a balance of less than 10% with the others reporting a $0 balance... That's the best way to maximize your FICO score.
My point is yes you most certainly can recover from bankruptcy. In April 2016 my bankruptcy falls off my credit report and I'll probably have an 800 score.
Establishing a Future with Someone with Bad Credit
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The thought freaks me out.
He's very nonchalant and told me a few days ago "I don't believe in credit anymore." What malarkey!: Since the world of finance revolves around credit and FICO scores. Although he may not believe, our future may be tremendously affected by it. I'm concerned and am not sure what to do next.
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Are you sure you want to establish a future, with someone who has such different opinions about money and finance than yourself?
I just found out last week, although my boyfriend told me he has "no debt," his credit is very poor. When we first started dating a year ago, he told me he was debt-free. Well, only after I asked him a few probing questions recently concerning his upcoming move and need to find a new apt, he told me that when he was younger, he owned a boat, lost it, and also as a result of other issues, filed for bankruptcy. He's right in that he has no current debt, but his past credit issues are worrisome. Sigh...
Me, on the other hand, am in a completely different situation. I have a tremendous amount of medical school loan debt, but am paying them off accordingly and aggressively. Additionally, things initially weren't great for me years ago, but now I have fixed my credit score over the past few years, always pay all of my bills on time, live well below my means, and as a result, have excellent/near perfect credit.
I'm frightened that if we were to marry, his bad debt history would follow us, and as a result, his debt would become mine, and we would either have a difficult time getting great loan interest rates, or get turned down for home loans, etc.
The thought freaks me out.
He's very nonchalant and told me a few days ago "I don't believe in credit anymore." What malarkey!: Since the world of finance revolves around credit and FICO scores. Although he may not believe, our future may be tremendously affected by it. I'm concerned and am not sure what to do next.
Have you ever been engaged to/married someone whose credit was bad? If you did marry, did you have joint accounts? Was that person's debt essentially becoming yours? How did you handle major purchases (homes? leasing a car?): was it placed in your name as the person with the better credit?
Does having the word "bankruptcy" onfiling i your credit report remain there forever?
Thanks for your input .
Our situation wasn't quite the same as yours, but when I met my DH ( we have been married 34 years), he had a significant amount of credit card debt, was always running to pay his bills on time, and sometimes he was late with some of them. He also hadn't filed his income taxes for three years, although he had a decent job, and the IRS actually owned HIM money- which he'd get back if he filed for it. He tended to max out his credit cards, pay enough off to use it for more "stuff", and pay a minimum amount on the other cards. I have no idea what his credit score was, but I figured it couldn't have been great.
In any case, I knew he was the guy I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and the only hesitation I had was our differing perspectives on handling money. I am a saver, pay off any debts ASAP, and I tend not to spend money on things I know we don't need. He thought I was nuts.
So, when we got married, I told DH that there would be no more not filing income taxes, and I asked him if he would like me to handle our finances. He hates doing that, so his response was a joyful, "WOULD you???" That was the beginning of our getting back in shape, financially. Took a while, but I paid off each of the credit cards-put as much as I could on one card each month, till it was paid off, then went to work on each one like that. I also hid some of those cards so DH wouldn't have access to them. I made sure we paid each bill on time. We both worked so that helped with the income, and as the years went by, we both put money into IRAs and other savings plans- deduction from our paychecks ( paying yourself first). I started those first, and then DH, not wanting me to outdo him, started IRAs too ( a win-win for both of us, I think ) We bought a house that we lived in for 28 years, raised our family, and sold for a nice profit.
The rest is history, over the years we worked, saved money and lived within our means- although I never felt I lacked for anything-I think our credit scores are now in the 800's.
So it is possible, IMO, to fix someone's credit and financial history, but both people involved have to work at it, be financially responsible going forward, and stay on top of those finances.
I just found out last week, although my boyfriend told me he has "no debt," his credit is very poor. When we first started dating a year ago, he told me he was debt-free. Well, only after I asked him a few probing questions recently concerning his upcoming move and need to find a new apt, he told me that when he was younger, he owned a boat, lost it, and also as a result of other issues, filed for bankruptcy. He's right in that he has no current debt, but his past credit issues are worrisome. Sigh...
Me, on the other hand, am in a completely different situation. I have a tremendous amount of medical school loan debt, but am paying them off accordingly and aggressively. Additionally, things initially weren't great for me years ago, but now I have fixed my credit score over the past few years, always pay all of my bills on time, live well below my means, and as a result, have excellent/near perfect credit.
I'm frightened that if we were to marry, his bad debt history would follow us, and as a result, his debt would become mine, and we would either have a difficult time getting great loan interest rates, or get turned down for home loans, etc.
The thought freaks me out.
He's very nonchalant and told me a few days ago "I don't believe in credit anymore." What malarkey!: Since the world of finance revolves around credit and FICO scores. Although he may not believe, our future may be tremendously affected by it. I'm concerned and am not sure what to do next.
Have you ever been engaged to/married someone whose credit was bad? If you did marry, did you have joint accounts? Was that person's debt essentially becoming yours? How did you handle major purchases (homes? leasing a car?): was it placed in your name as the person with the better credit?
Does having the word "bankruptcy" on your credit report remain there forever?
Thanks for your input .
Generally speaking historic debt (debt from before you become a joint legal entity) does not transfer to the other person.
But since you say he doesn't currently have any debt, I'm not sure why you're worried about that?
If he incurred new debt during your marriage, then it would depend on the situation. If he applies for a credit card and maxes it, but you are not on the card and never know about it - they can't just come after you because you're married. If you cosign the card - of course they can.
If you have joint bank accounts (which I like) - and a judgement was rendered against one of you, then your joint bank acct. could be garnished.
Frankly it sounds like he's recovered some what from his earlier misdeeds, and perhaps has developed a slightly less materialistic (i.e "who needs credit!?!) attitude.
Additionally - you paint a picture where your income seems to be substantially higher than his - as such likely yours will be the income needed for the mortgage / car payment / etc.. anyway - in which case you likely wouldn't need his credit.
Bankruptcy (as others have pointed out) should be removed after a period of years - the others have already told you the specific # of years (I forget myself).
I wouldn't hold this past against someone as they seem to have learned from it. But it appears you do have different philosophies (his - "who cares about credit? I'll use cash!" and yours - "my FICO is my legacy!) - so that might prove to be the biggest issue, and something you may wish to discuss and come to resolution about.
LOL, the reason he has no debt is because no one will lend him money!!
My experience is that people who have a history of bad spending habits will continue to have bad spending habits in the future. It's possible to break the cycle, but it's like getting someone to stop smoking. Are you willing to date a smoker with the hopes of making him quit later? That's the same thing.
People who get into serious financial trouble have poor budgeting skills and discipline. They didn't just make one bad decision. They made a string of bad decisions over many years, and it eventually caught up with them
??? I earned slightly above minimum wage and had a major health collapse with extended hospitalization and was unable to work for over a year. All open accounts were closed and charged off with two judgments. When I returned to work it was at minimum wage in a different job in a different city.
Debt scavengers buy and re-age ten-year-old charged-off accounts, keeping them on my credit report. I pay current bills timely, but on my income cannot resolve the old debt.
What bad spending habits do I have and what bad decisions am I making?
My H hadn't filed taxes for a couple years and owed the IRS money when we met. I was very young, 22, but I was smart enough to know that was a problem and that I shouldn't be the one to bail him out. I told him I couldn't marry him until that was fixed so he sucked it up and borrowed money from his parents. When we bought a house a few years later there were some old/unknown baddies on his credit report that MY parents helped us clean up (so we could close on the house). We paid both of them back of course.
I handled all the money, taxes, etc. from day 1. I'm not saying I was perfect with credit in my youth but everything got paid on time and eventually I did learn how to do it right. Unfortunately my H never did, and didn't want to talk about money EVER. To keep the peace I ended up being an enabler who always robbed Peter to pay Paul and juggled things around to keep us afloat but it caused a lot of strain in our marriage.
??? I earned slightly above minimum wage and had a major health collapse with extended hospitalization and was unable to work for over a year. All open accounts were closed and charged off with two judgments. When I returned to work it was at minimum wage in a different job in a different city.
Debt scavengers buy and re-age ten-year-old charged-off accounts, keeping them on my credit report. I pay current bills timely, but on my income cannot resolve the old debt.
What bad spending habits do I have and what bad decisions am I making?
My credit is around 800 and I'm engaged to someone who only opened her firs credit card less than 2 years ago (and had no credit history prior to that.) Our spending habits are similar so there's no issue.
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