Many people wait too long to get the debt help they need.
For most people experiencing money problems, the thought of filing personal bankruptcy or making a consumer proposal is a last resort. Their first instinct is often to sell assets.
The problem with this strategy is that people are rarely able to get enough money from the sale of their assets to pay off all of their debts. So even after they sell their assets they continue to experience problems. At best they have bought themselves some time, but since the problem remains unresolved they’re forced to take action.
This is particularly unfortunate since most of the assets people commonly sell are RRSPs, pensions and vehicles that are exempt from seizure by creditors. This means that had they filed personal bankruptcy, these assets would have been protected and they would have been able to keep them.
The moral of the story is that if you are experiencing personal debt issues, before you cash in RRSPs, or unlock locked-in pension monies talk to an expert. Many of your assets are exempt from seizure by creditors.
