Student loan bankruptcy may seem like a financial lifeline. But it comes with its complexities. Bankruptcy can offer relief for various types of debts. But student loans are often the exception. There are circumstances, especially showing “undue hardship”. Individuals might seek relief through bankruptcy. We can guide you through the bankruptcy process and help present your case for discharge.
Find more details at https://nwdrlf.com/should-i-file-bankruptcy-for-student-loans/

I recently filed bankruptcy and my debts were discharged 2 months ago, around the same time my car was taken, I reached out to the loan company and I was told they took it because they received notification that it was charged off under the bankruptcy but they told my lawyer it was due to a late payment of 18 days which is true, regardless this car loan is still showing as "active" on my credit report and 2 weeks ago I was hit with a 30 day late payment even though I no longer have the car and haven't in 2 months, my question is what can I or what should I do about this? Thanks

Investing in the Medical Bill Acquisition Industry can provide a significant financial advantage due to its projected 500% growth.
The growth of the Medical Bill Acquisition Industry is a significant development in addressing the healthcare affordability crisis in the United States. As more Americans struggle to afford medical care and face the prospect of bankruptcy due to medical debt, the role of these companies in helping patients pay their bills and ensuring providers receive payment is crucial. This news highlights the impact of this industry on addressing a pressing societal issue.
Read More https://newsramp.com/curated-news/medical-bill-acquisition-industry-poised-for-over-500-growth-in-coming-yeab2c7abaaca1ea152121cec654cdb82e9

Last week I (38m) finalized my divorce. I got $20k and had to pay my lawyer $14k (custody issues) leaving me with $6k.
Yesterday my truck was stolen with my girlfriend’s $2k bike and my $1k bike + $600 in other personal items and a $1600 camper shell on it. The thieves took everything to Mexico (I live near the border in the US) Insurance only pays $200 for personal items, and it may be likely I will not recover the fair market value for the truck.
I have $19k in credit card debt and $5k in personal loan debt from the failed marriage and a failed business I closed during COVID quarantine. Both have gone to collections, I’m getting letters and endless calls from the collection company.
My current gig is no longer steady pay, I am lucky to get 5-10 hours a week at $20 under the table.
My girlfriend’s minimum wage job cut her hours by two thirds. She is getting scheduled only 10-16 hours each week. She loves her work but used to make $80 an hour plus overtime and she has a graduate degree but doesn’t want to work in either of those fields as it was a huge cause of depression and anxiety.
We live in a van in one of the 3 most expensive cities in America.
I have custody of my kids every weekend, we stay at my parent’s home while we are together.
The job market where I live is a mixed bag and is very competitive. It’s not to say I can’t find a new job, I have plenty of skills I can use, no actual degree though. Unfortunately I find it very difficult to be employed rather than work for myself.
It may be the divorce and my truck being stolen in the same week but I feel completely hopeless now. The only savings I have is the $6k left from the divorce. Vanlife is wearing on my partner and I and the only reason we haven’t moved to somewhere more affordable is my kids.
What steps can I take to start to attain financial freedom? Is bankruptcy an option without any stable income? Could I invest my $6k to somehow better my situation in the long term? Should I use it to lessen my debts? Honestly any ideas or direction would be helpful as I’m feeling pretty hopeless in the moment. Thank you.

I am just overwhelmed at this point. I have about 18,000 in debt. 3cc and one personal loan. Wells Fargo - 8,600 Discover - 4,500 Nebraska furniture Mart - 2,000 Personal loan - 3,800
It started as a Wells Fargo card with 12,000 about 3 years ago. I got divorced. Had emergency gallbladder removal. And this year my mom had emergency brain surgery and I had to be home with her for about 2months. Now we are here. The discover and personal loan are from my attempts to debt consolidated on my own..... Clearly I am stupid for that. The other two are from my failed marriage and much of that was caused by my ex. He spent money behind my back constantly and lied about it. I can't keep up with payments or the interest rates or late fees anymore I am overwhelmed emotionally and financially. National debt relief seems better than bankruptcy. My credit score is already shit. But I hear horror stories and then happy endings and don't know what to think. I tried calling the creditors to work out an arrangement and it didn't work. They said I could settle if I could pay within 90 days. So absurd it's laughable. I'm so broke and failing at digging my way out.

First, Red Lobster got screwed by private equity. Then, it got screwed by its own managers.
Back in 2014, the Darden restaurant group spun off Red Lobster to a private equity firm.

 To finance the deal, that PE firm sold off most of Red Lobster’s property assets and then leased them back to the restaurants. But, as we learned in the bankruptcy filing, the vast majority of those restaurants were being charged rent at above market rates. 

Red Lobster was hit with “financial and operational challenges” — namely, the one-two punch of the pandemic and the price inflation it set off, followed by

 the bone-headed strategic blunders that left the restaurant with $1 billion in debt and less than $30 million in cash on hand. The all-you-can-eat shrimp deal alone didn’t doom Red Lobster, 

The promotion had historically been a limited time thing, and it was a huge hit. Twenty bucks, for all the shrimp? Sign me up! Of course, that’s how every other crustacean-consuming American responded. Because in this country, “all you can eat” is as much a dare as it is a deal. And the lingering hangover of inflation left everyone hungry for a $20 meal that could conceivably provide a week’s worth of sustenance in a single sitting.
It cost Red Lobster $11 million over three months.
What happened to the Red Lobster of the ’80s and ‘90s? Like so many beloved brands,

 it got caught in the net of private equity before being reeled in and gutted. 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/20/investing/red-lobster-restaurants-bankruptcy/index.html?
But recent mismanagement, competition, inflation and other factors brought down Red Lobster, analysts and former Red Lobster employees say.

 “Years of underinvestment in Red Lobster’s marketing, food quality, service and restaurant upgrades hurt the chain’s ability to compete with growing fast-casual and quick-service chains.” 

Aka....The quickie paper profits that far right extremists libertarians bros call ‘free market ‘ ....🤔 Dismantling America economy system.

I have a pending Chap 7 moving right along. Should be discharged next month. I have a small private student loan. It’s not something that can be discharged.
Are debt collectors that were sent the bankruptcy filing but are not going to be discharged, allowed to send collection notices during the stay? I wasn’t behind on this loan prior to filing, lost access to my account, so sent money through BillPay. Debited from my account each month. They sent me a letter over the weekend saying , since I am no longer receiving monthly statements, my account is defaulted and collection activity will begin unless I contact them, to set up a payment arrangement.

I have a one maned sole proprietorship in Maryland. My gross income for last month was $1500. I'm brand new (two months in) and I have two debt collectors attempting to sue me for two debts that happened long before. Will declaring bankruptcy (if possible), affect my sole proprietorship in anyway? Would I have to give it up? I don't have any business only own equipment or property. Not even bank account at the moment.

Long time lurker, first time poster; I've gotten myself into a situation where I - through Covid and a series of poor decisions - am now in a fair bit of debt and I need some advice on how I can chip away at it without having to apply for a DRO/bankruptcy.
I used to work in a mid/high salary job, but was recently made redundant and have had to move to a much lower paid role in a different industry, and I feel like I'm only just able to keep my head above water.

• 34.5% credit card (£5500 debt)
• 24.3% cc (£8900)
• 39.9% overdraft (£2000 under)

I now only earn around £2500 a month (pre tax) and after paying rent, basic utilities and no frills food shopping, I'm spending 95% of what I have left on servicing my debts, often ending right back the bottom of my overdraft each month, a fortnight after being paid.
How can I get myself out of this hole without losing my mind? I've looked into the possibility of applying for a DRO but have no idea if it's the right decision for me, as it'll stay on my credit report for 6 years and I'd be publicly named on the gov.uk register for having a DRO (wild, to me personally).
Any advice would be really gratefully received
Thanks a lot

Hey Guys
I'm going through a dilemma with my father. He's been in the nursing home for over 2 months and was recently approved for Medicaid. As a result, all of his income (pension and social security) goes to the nursing home. My father had a lot of credit card debt, and I'm confused about what to do to address his debt. I can't pay the nursing home and his credit card debt. So should I help him file for bankruptcy or just let the credit cards go into delinquent status? If I contact the credit company, what should I say. I'm so lost.

Credit score needed to buy a house

Mortgage lending is risky, and lenders want a way to quantify that risk. They use your three-digit credit score to gauge the risk of loaning you money since your credit score helps predict your likelihood of paying back a loan on time. Lenders also consider other data, such as your income, employment, debts and assets to decide whether to offer you a loan.
Different lenders and loan types have different borrower requirements, loan terms and minimum credit scores. Here are the requirements for some of the most common types of mortgages.

Conventional loan

Minimum credit score: 620
A conventional loan is a mortgage that isn’t backed by a federal agency. Most mortgage lenders offer conventional loans, and many lenders sell these loans to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac — two government-sponsored enterprises. Conventional loans can have either fixed or adjustable rates, and terms ranging from 10 to 30 years.
You can get a conventional loan with a down payment as low as 3% of the home’s purchase price, so this type of loan makes sense if you don’t have enough for a traditional down payment. However, if your down payment is less than 20%, you’re required to pay for private mortgage insurance (PMI), which is an insurance policy designed to protect the lender if you stop making payments. You can ask your servicer to cancel PMI once the principal balance of your mortgage falls below 80% of the original value of your home.

FHA loan

Minimum credit score (10% down): 500
Minimum credit score (3.5% down): 580
FHA loans are backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), a part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The FHA incentivizes lenders to make mortgage loans available to borrowers who might not otherwise qualify by guaranteeing the federal government will repay the mortgage if the borrower stops making payments. This makes an FHA loan a good option if you have a lower credit score.
FHA loans come in 15- or 30-year terms with fixed interest rates. Unlike conventional mortgages, which only require PMI for borrowers with less than 20% down, all FHA borrowers must pay an up-front mortgage insurance premium (MIP) and an annual MIP, as long as the loan is outstanding.

VA loan

Minimum credit score: N/A
VA loans are mortgages backed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The VA guarantees loans made by VA-approved lenders to qualifying veterans or service members of the U.S. armed forces, or their spouses. This type of loan is a great option for veterans and their spouses, especially if they don’t have the best credit and don’t have enough for a down payment.
VA loans are fixed-rate mortgages with 10-, 15-, 20- or 30-year terms.
Most VA loans don’t require a down payment or monthly mortgage insurance premiums. However, they do require a one-time VA funding fee, that ranges from 1.4% to 3.6% of the loan amount.

USDA loan

Minimum credit score: N/A
The U.S. Department of Agriculture guarantees loans for borrowers interested in buying homes in certain rural areas. USDA loans don’t require a minimum down payment, but you have to meet the USDA’s income eligibility limits, which vary by location.
All USDA mortgages have fixed interest rates and 30-year repayment terms.
USDA-approved lenders must pay an up-front guarantee fee of up to 3.5% of the purchase price to the USDA. That fee can be passed on to borrowers and financed into the home loan. If the home you want to buy is within an eligible rural area (defined by the USDA) and you meet the other requirements, this could be a great loan option for you.

What else do mortgage lenders consider?

Your credit score isn’t the only factor lenders consider when reviewing your loan application. Here are some of the other factors lenders use when deciding whether to give you a mortgage.

• Debt-to-income ratio — Your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio is the amount of debt payments you make each month (including your mortgage payments) relative to your gross monthly income. For example, if your mortgage payments, car loan and credit card payments add up to $1,800 per month and you have a $6,000 monthly income, your debt-to-income ratio would be $1,800/$6,000, or 30%. Most conventional mortgages require a DTI ratio no greater than 36%. However, you may be approved with a DTI up to 45% if you meet other requirements.
• Employment history — When you apply for a mortgage, lenders will ask for proof of employment — typically two years’ worth of W-2s and tax returns, as well as your two most recent pay stubs. Lenders prefer to work with people who have stable employment and consistent income.
• Down payment — Putting money down to buy a home gives you immediate equity in the home and helps to ensure the lender recoups their loss if you stop making payments and they need to foreclose on the home. Most loans — other than VA and USDA loans — require a down payment of at least 3%, although a higher down payment could help you qualify for a lower interest rate or make up for other less-than-ideal aspects of your mortgage application.
• The home’s value and condition — Lenders want to ensure the home collateralizing the loan is in good condition and worth what you’re paying for it. Typically, they’ll require an appraisal to determine the home’s value and may also require a home inspection to ensure there aren’t any unknown issues with the property.

How is your credit score calculated?

Most talk of credit scores makes it sound as if you have only one score. In fact, you have several credit scores, and they may be used by different lenders and for different purposes.
The three national credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion — collect information from banks, credit unions, lenders and public records to formulate your credit score. The most common and well-known scoring model is the FICO Score, which is based on the following five factors:

• Payment history (35%) — A history of late payments will drag your score down, as will negative information from bankruptcies, foreclosures, repossessions or accounts referred to collections.
• How much you owe (30%) — Your credit utilization ratio is the amount of revolving credit you’re using compared to your total available credit. For example, if you have one credit card with a $2,000 balance and a $4,000 credit limit, your credit utilization ratio is 50%. Credit scoring models view using a larger percentage of your available credit as risky behavior, so high balances and maxed-out credit cards will negatively impact your score.
• Length of credit history (15%) — This factor considers the age of your oldest account, newest account and the average age of all your credit accounts. In general, the longer you’ve been using credit responsibly, the higher your score will be.
• Types of accounts (10%) — Credit scoring models favor people who use a mix of credit cards, installment loans, mortgages and other types of credit.
• Recent credit history (10%) — Lenders view applying for and opening several new credit accounts within a short period as a sign of financial trouble and it’ll negatively impact your score.

Ready to shop around for a mortgage?If you want a personalized answer for your unique situation call, text, or email me or visit my website below:

I had a job I loved for about 3 years, and got fired back in October. Struggled to find work until January, but only lasted at that job until March, at which point I resigned because I wasn't meeting the company's quota under their new upper brass changes, injured on the job (manual labor), and had a family friend go missing... I didn't expect to be unable to find work after that. Especially since I was told I was basically guaranteed a job at in career position before I resigned, only for the boss to drag his feet for months on end. Supposedly they're going to reach out to me after someone who's hardly ever there retires, but said employee doesn't seem to actually want to retire.
And so, I've pissed away my credit. After a failed attempt on my own life, I let myself get scammed a few times (take care of your mental health, especially when you're financially challenged, folks!), and my credit has dropped from 768 at the time of my resignation to the 530 range as of this week. Most of my credit is locked because I've been living off of it whilst unemployed, causing me to rack up even more debt with no consistent means of paying it off. The odd-jobs I used to manage to find usually ended up paying for food, not for credit debt.
I burnt the last of my cash paying off my parents' own pawn loans after finding the receipts in a coat my dad and I both wear, thinking I'd have a job by now. I was told that I had another job a week prior, only for that small business to cease operations to focus on other matters.
It's infuriating--I've applied for 70+ jobs and secured interviews with less than 5, only to be turned down by them. The worst feeling was when I tried to get some of the "bad" jobs and was turned down for being "overqualified"--like thanks, but I needed the freaking job. The ones that didn't turn me down were pyramid schemes that I fortunately recognized before getting roped in. I even ended up stuck in a payment plan contract I can't even afford, for a service that can't even be rendered thanks to me pissing away my credit. I'm stumped as to what I should do there.
I purchased a new vehicle last year months before I was fired, and got destroyed with dealership nonsense. $24k car with a $2k down and $3k trade in ended up costing me nearly $40k after interest. It's about to get repossessed, and honestly... Good riddance. I let myself get screwed over, and was just dealing with it before I lost my job. Too bad I'll still have to pay off the stupid amount of negative equity, plus a deficiency claim. Plus, the bank that I had the car with kept misreporting my balances as being higher than they are, resulting in me trying to pay off cards with money I didn't have. I'm trying to break away from them now, since its happened a bit too many times for my liking.
I'm fully willing to give up almost all of my assets that are worth anything--I've already been selling things off where I can online; but it's all going too slowly. I don't have a yard I can host a yard sale in, and our local flea market popups are all booked up. I've honestly been trying to just pay off and close my cards too, since I had two I wasn't even using until I hit this dilemma. Fortunately, I FINALLY landed another job after searching for nearly three months now.
Should I just file for bankruptcy at this point so I can manage this mess easier? I won't have my first payday until next month, and my credit score is already destroyed. I'm willing to bury it further for the chance at a new start, and to quickly offload the assets that either aren't budging, or I haven't gotten around to listing online yet. I'm confident in my ability to rebuild my score from zero after finally securing a job--but working my way out of more debt than I used to make annually feels impossible. The only thing that makes me hesitant really is just the bankruptcy mark getting left on my credit score, even after I rebuild it, and legal headaches.

I went through something really interesting this weekend. I received my check from work and it was WAY bigger than usual, I called up my co workers and they all got a increase also and for some reason idk why we all thought it was a raise. (7 dollar an hour raise I really should’ve thought something was up but hindsight is 20/20) I was extremely emotional talking to my friends / bf about how my whole life was going to change I was going to be able to get out of debt, fix my car, save money and just generally have a brighter future. Then I got a call from a co worker she found out it was just a bonus. I was heart broken of course I shed a few tears. Yet this has really opened my eyes to the fact that no one’s gonna save me and I need to pull myself up by my boot straps and find a way out of my situation. I’m going to enroll in college again in August I think I want to get my paralegal certification. I want to start budgeting better maybe consolidate my debt. I want to take better care of my body and mental health so I can be strong for the uphill battle I’m about to fight. I think this was a blessing is disguise. I’m dead set on success and I’m ready to struggle my way to it. No ones gonna captian save a ho’ me and that’s a-okay.

The last two years my marriage ended and my career has been shaky. Last year I decided to file chapter 13 and have been making my monthly payments. Due to getting divorced and being in debt we’re selling the house. My house is under contract and I failed to go through the bankrupt lawyer and trustee. I have NO idea why I did not think of this. My mental health hasn’t been great and I’ve not been myself. I called my bankruptcy lawyer today to let them know it’s in contract and wanted to ask about paying off my debt In full. The paralegal was horrified and told me I didn’t do this the right way. She is doing some research for me bc the lawyer can’t call me until tomorrow. I am in NJ, house was sold for $685k and owe a balance on house of $385k. My remaining chapter 13 debt is about $60k. Also my house is co owned with ex husband and NOT part of the bankruptcy. What are my courses of action? How screwed am I?

Hello! I am currently unemployed and having a hard time hearing back from any jobs at the moment, but thanks to covid and needing at the time to survive, I've racked up probably at this point due to fees and the like I'd wager over 18-20k in debt. I was going to wait until I had a stable job to attempt filing for bankruptcy but I got an attorney referral pending from Discover for around 2,600. I don't think I can wait any longer to file, and reached out to a lawyer today for a consultation.
Until I get that ball rolling, should I reach out to Discover and set a payment plan so I can at least have more time/breathing room while the bankruptcy gets the ball rolling? I have until the 31st of May (just got this letter today btw I've been given like NO time) before they start the suing process. Really just not sure what to do. I live in Illinois, if that helps anything.

Last year, my husband and I started a business and sought out a business loan with BHG financial…this loan was supposed to be under our business, but seems to be a personal loan instead. (The lawyer I spoke to said, make no mistake it is technically still a business loan, but they put it on under us not the business itself) my husband is listed as a co borrower on the documents but he never signed the loan documents…we also did not physically sign these documents it was all done over the phone, and then a quick docusign, but there is not hard copy document with my actual signature on it which the lawyer pointed out is also abnormal for funding like this.
The loan was for $20,000 we only received $18,900 after origination fees etc…and that should have honestly been the first red flag but we were newbies and quite niave to the process…we made regular monthly payments toward the loan for the first 7 months, and then I was in a car accident and discovered I was also pregnant at the same time…we were unable to continue with our business for the remainder of the year, as my health was severely impacted, I also wasn’t able to work my day job as often, so we became reliant on a single income. I attempted to work out some sort of hardship repayment plan initially, but their proposed repayment plan was going to end up increasing the debt to a point where we would never be able to pay it off and it would’ve trapped us in an endless cycle of repaying something that would never go away and only continue to grow. I declined signing the arrangement because it was clearly very scammy, and not a realistic repayment plan for somebody requesting hardship assistance.
I contacted a lawyer who told me it was a great move to not sign that which I agree with, however the rest of his advice I’m questioning and I’m just looking for a second opinion. This lawyer advised me to just ignore the debt collector, knowing that we can’t pay this debt. That many pop-up debt collection companies use aggressive and scam worthy tactics to try and squeeze as much money out of people as they can, but these companies pop up and fold within the first few years of existing, they can’t get anybody to repay on their terms. so this lawyers advice was to ignore the problem and wait and see what happens. He told me I am very unlikely to get sued, because it would cost them more money to bring a lawsuit to me in a different state, and if they did sue me, I have the option of filing for bankruptcy, contesting it or accepting a default judgment, which would still leave me owing less than the debt collector is asking for to settle which would not benefit them. He said most of these debt collectors threaten to take people to court, but don’t always do so when the cost of doing so is not worth what they’ll actually get. He told me if I do get sued to give him a call back and we can go from there, but that he does not believe I will get sued.
My question is was the advice I was given good advice? This has been hanging over my head for months and I’ve spent months trying to come up with a settlement that will work However, this company has not sent me any documentation in letter form. It’s all been through email which this lawyer also said is a red flag on the collector… they also are not reporting this debt or any of the payments to any of the credit bureaus which is also very strange to me…they have used high stakes, high-pressure tactics to continue to stress me out when I’m clearly trying to negotiate with them. Is it realistic to just cease contact and hope it goes away? To me that seemed like really odd advice to receive from an attorney who specializes in handling cases like this… BHG financial apparently only has jurisdiction in two states. The state that I live in is not one of them, and the debt collection company they are using seems to be associated to them, though I don’t know what their jurisdiction is. They would still have to serve me out of state, and I still believe I have a strong argument if it did go to court to say that I have been trying to negotiate this all year so that gives me some hope that I can avoid a harsh default, but I find it hard to believe if I just ignore the problem it’ll go away. All I know is I feel like I’m in over my head on this.

Suspects post below does a great job of summarizing every Hoge update we covered this week… here is the other half. The Weekly Wrap Up Report covers news and information from the entire crypto world. Below is word for word, apologize for the typos and run on sentences. I don’t proof read this but the info is worth hearing. Tune into the Wrap Up to get fully updated each week!
What is going on everyone!!! Where the heck do I start this week. What an insane week of news in the crypto world. Year one of industry adoption is in full force! Before get into crypto… Roaring Kittys back! Haha what a legend. After three years of no posts on Monday he posts a picture of a guy in a gaming chair going from a relaxed sitlayed back sitting position to a forward facing intense gaming sitting position, to say let’s go it’s game time! If you’ve ever been a gamer u know when ur sitting forward your intensely focused on winning the game your in. If you live under a rock maybe you don’t know who Roaring kitty is but he is the Reddit legend that sent game stop to hundred of dollars, he started the retail traders vs hedge fund crazy run that happened in 2020. Truly one of the most exciting things to be a part of as you watched how hedge funds really work behind the curtain. It’s sickening how they are able to loot companies and force bankruptcy’s to fill their pockets and ruin so many lives in the future. Roaring kitty followed up that post with a serious of great movie and show clips that rallied the retail traders. And in one day it went from $18 to $68 costing hedge funds billions of dollars in the process. I’m not gonna lie I paid my mortgage over night scooping some GameStop in after hours on Monday. Fight the power baby! You gotta love when someone stands up to the corrupt rules, us regular people don’t get to play by. Game stop trading was halted 32 times on Tuesday as they tried to control the crazy price movement. Let’s see where it goes from here but he’s back and that was exciting to see!
But to the real news of the week… we just found out which companies are holding Bitcoin! On May 15th companies had to disclose their Q1 13f reports to the SEC. A 13F is a quarterly report that institutional investment managers must file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to disclose their equity holdings. The form is required for managers with more than $100 million in assets under management.
Guess how many 100m asset companies disclosed that they hold the Bitcoin ETFs? … did you guess do you have a number in mind? Looney go ahead take a guess
1,028 of these high value firms disclosed they hold Bitcoin worth a whopping 10.9 billion dollars in total! And this is only Q1 of this year. Before January 11th of this year that number was under 25. We are so early and this is year one of industry adoption of the strongest form of property ever invented. A brand new asset class has been legitimized and it’s called scarce digital property. It isn’t just companies like Microstrategy, square, and Tesla holding Bitcoin, it’s banks like Wells Fargo and Susquehanna, it’s massive hedge funds and small hedge funds. Probably the most exciting part is pensions now hold Bitcoin! The State of Wisconsin Investment Board discloses it holds almost $100 million of BlackRock's spot #Bitcoin ETF. This is the 9th largest pension fund in the US and a top 50 pension fund in the world. 35 trillion dollars is the sum of all pension funds in the world. Sadly most pensions will not be there when someone wants to retire in ten years from now. But now that Bitcoin introduces hard money to the world, these pension funds can possibly be saved for its current employees looking to retire in the future, the same goes with social security and our insane debt issue we are facing. Bitcoin solves the money printer issue. This is just the first quarter after the ETFs launched…. And Guess what the Bitcoin ETFs aren’t going anywhere and have just started opening the door to trillions of dollars of funds looking for the best alpha to store their value. The game theory is about to get insane. El Salvador the first country to adapt Bitcoin as its countries currency has mined 474 Bitcoin worth $29 million using volcano-fueled geothermal power in the last three years. They turned the free energy coming off their volcano into 29 million dollars. And that’s at today’s price. If Bitcoin goes to 200k next year like most predict that’s almost 100 million dollars their volcano gave back to the country. Every country can do this with the free energy they have.
Bitcoin is so scarce, besides TIME, it is the only other probably scarce thing in this world. As of 2023 there are 626,619 Ultra High Net Worth Individuals in the world. An Ultra High Net Worth Individual is someone who has investeable assests of at least 30 million dollars. And there are only 21 million Bitcoin forever, which is only 18 btc per UHNW in the world. And as you now over 4 million are lost for ever, one million coins are in the satoshi wallet, and thousands of holders already hold more then 18 Bitcoin…. What happens when they want to accumulate.
Scary Fact of the Day: this ones really scary I apologize…. But If your salary was $500,000 per day, every day (weekends/holidays included) since The Great Pyramid in Egypt was built. Which was 2600 BC so 4,624 years ago. and you spent nothing… you'd still have LESS money today than the U.S Government borrowed in March to operate through Sep of 2024... This is why we need Bitcoin.
Luckily some of our elected officials are realizing this can’t be sustained. This week US Congressman Thomas Massie introduced a bill to abolish the Federal Reserve. Stating they hurt the American citizens every time they print new money. The federal reserve is not ran by elected officials and they do not have to answer to the president or congress. They get to push the magic money printer money whenever they want to.
Once someone understands bitcoin they don’t go back.
I’m having alot of fun in my new craftsman program at work. I have a great group of guys going through it with me, and we will all be together for the next 10 weeks. My boss is the man and gave me ten minutes to explain Bitcoin to everyone during lunch and boy did they have some questions! I also let them know I will only bring it up if someone asks about it, so they don’t have to avoid me. Haha Explaining Bitcoin to someone for the first time might be my favorite thing to do on earth. To see the gears turn as they started to understand how Bitcoin actually works and what issues they thought were there actually weren’t. Like many people a few of the guys blended crypto as a whole with Bitcoin. And it’s important to understand they are not the same. Bitcoin is its own fundamental new element in the world.
We all face our own issues in life, if you’re lucky enough to be healthy then most issues revolve around finances. And sadly we don’t all have the rich uncle that will randomly say hey Sam I know the worlds tough and things are more expensive here’s 10 thousand dollars to make your life easier. Haha we all wish that would happen but we all know it never will. So without a random act of kindness out of no where people find themselves trapped financially making just enough to get by or just enough to feel comfortable. If your not investing your not keeping up with inflation and if your not keeping up with inflation your money will be drained. That is a fact, as food and good prices continue to go up. Bitcoin is that life raft that reprices your time and increases your moneys value. If you’re able to get one more person off of 0 because they actually understand what Bitcoin is now you may have changed their life forever. It’s no one’s fault that they don’t understand how money works. This stuff isn’t taught, you need to go out and learn it on your own. And who the heck has time or even wants to do that. The problem is that so much that worked for our parents generation will not work for us. I know I say it every week but this is the . Com era of money and property and it’s just getting started.
I know that was a lot there was just so much important stuff to cover this week.
Solana went on a nice run this week. Going from $137 to $164. Robinhood Europe announced they now offer Solana staking. In the 24 hours after this staking went live the total value locked in Solana jumped by 5%. So that may of had something to do with the price jump. I live in New Jersey where it’s still illegal to stake my tokens for a yield. Thats some bums. You want to hear an absolutely insane stat. On Monday May 13th this week, 23,110 tokens were created on Solana. Yesss take a second to grasp that ridiculous number. 23,110 new tokens launched in one day on Solana. The previous record was 16,000 tokens Degens are getting out of control, many were made to try and ride the GameStop roaring kitty news. But the best part is Solana handled it well with no interruptions. This is by bar the consensus chain so far this bull run and when FireDancer launches at the end of this year it could cement them as the future of micropayments.
The only other token I see giving them a run for their money is you guessed it Internet Computer Protocol, ICP. While they do not have the hype or the volume Solana does, frankly absolutely no chain expect Etherium can say they have the volume Solana does. They have built an entirely unique form of blockchain that is evolving quickly. They call it the only third generation blockchain. If you tune in here then you understand the reverse gas fee model they have introduced. Canisters are filled by the developers and users can interact with the dapps and platforms without needing to hold ICP to use it. These canisters are also tamper proof and unhackable. No need fire firewalls or security teams protecting your data. That waste of money and threat is gone forever with this technology. DFINITY announced this week that half a million canister smart contracts are now deployed on #ICP. In a span of just 72 days, the number of canister smart contracts deployed on #ICP surged from 400k to 500k.
Yesterday DFINITY launched their Year 4 roadmap and key milestones for ICP. How crypto YouTubers aren’t all talking about this I really don’t understand. I feel like crypto is already confusing enough that when you try and grasp what ICP has actually built it’s hard to take it all in. I’m not going to deep dive this for you. But if you follow DFINITY here on X go give it a read it’s worth it! The future is going to be insane, with much of today’s waste gone from the system.
Last thing before I get to the Hoge updates, the stock of stocks Micro Strategy our generations Berkshire Hathaway will be added to the MSCI World Index fund, effective May 31. It stands for the Morgan Stanley Capital International and includes a stock index designed to track broad global equity-market performance. This index comprises the stocks of nearly 3,000 companies from 23 developed countries and 24 emerging markets. This is the first of constant buy pressure as we all await for micro strategy to be included into the S&P 500. If your going to get it make sure your in before that news!

Hi all- trying to keep this short but obviously can answer whatever is asked.
I live in VT with my boyfriend and our 18 month old son (as well as my two older kids 50% of the time, boyfriend has a teen who is here one weekend a month).
Boyfriend is about 20,000-25,000 in consumer debt and about 250,000 in student loans. He gets notices from the IRS that he owes them 15,000 but says he shouldn’t because that is tax from his QDRO which he shouldn’t be accountable for- but regardless, he hasn’t sorted that out with them.
He went to court a year ago after being found behind in child support in Massachusetts (significantly- I forget exactly but more than 20,000). He was ordered to pay 5000 (and did) and the rest was split and included in current payments. Since then, in the past year, he has missed one or two payments (he pays 1326 twice a month).
He has one car with a high car payment in his name, and is on my car as well. Both cars are current. I bought our house by myself, and am current on mortgage, my few credit cards and student loans.
On Saturday he was served with papers from Capital One for a card he stopped paying (around 7500). He has thirty days to respond. He doesn’t really want any input from me about how to move forward, and never has.
My question is: what do I need to do to protect myself? Should I refinance my car myself? I did ensure his name is not on my bank accounts at all. I cannot file for child support because we live together, but if I don’t, his checks are going to be all gone to other commitments and I won’t be able to everything myself (mortgage, car, insurance, daycare, utilities, food, etc). Do I kick him out and file? I don’t want to harm him, but clearly need to protect myself and my children here. He mentioned bankruptcy but I think we make too much for chapter 7, and chapter 13 goes by household income, I think?
Any ideas are welcome for me- he is beyond helping, and doesn’t want it anyway!

Downside signals in Q1:

• S&P forecasts credit quality deterioration for the rest of the year, specifically noted trends in lower-rated credits and sectors with exposure to declining consumer spending.
• Payment default rate, by issuer count, stood at 1.9% in March 2024, higher than its 10-year average of 1.6%.
• Distressed cohort of performing index loans, which are trading below 80% of par, rose to 3.5% in March 2024, up from 3.3% in February.
• The downgrades to upgrades ratio, which has been increasing steadily in 2024, reaching 1.9x in March.
• Bankruptcy filings are expected to rise in 2024 due to increased cost of funds, reduced consumer discretionary spending, higher housing costs, and continued drawdown of excess savings.

Positive signal: The leveraged loan default rate dropped to a 13-month low of 1.14% in March 2024.
More at: https://reidsnellenbarger.substack.com/p/deterioration-and-bankruptcies-q1