Financial Self-Help Books

There was an interesting program on NPR today that included a disabled woman in another state who is buried in bills. She doesn't have the $2,000 that a lawyer would charge her to file bankruptcy.

One guest on the program suggested that she just ignore creditors. Because she has no property or assets, she was judgement-proof. She was worried about her credit, but another guest said it had been trashed already, so why worry.

One of the speakers suggested the woman could file her own bankruptcy without a lawyer and mentioned a website with financial self-help books. You can check it out at www.nolo.com

Sometimes you can do forms yourself (even Wills, trust, business agreements). I highly recommend having a lawyer or legal service review what you put together. I was in the life insurance business for almost 20 years and worked with top-flight attorneys and trust officers in Denver. I wrote my own life insurance trust and then had my lawyer at Pre-Paid Legal Services review it for me.

I pay $17.00/month for my pre-paid legal services plan. A year's worth of monthly payments is less than one hour of legal time from a halfway decent lawyer. I can call as often as I want with questions. And I do call often. The first year they provided a Will for me, included in the rate I pay. Also, all the advance medical directives. It's a heck of a deal.

As a rep, I can provide information on the plans to you and help you sign up, if you are interested. It's sort of like a parachute. Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.