Where to start???????????

Yes you should consider every avenue to settle the accounts before it gets worse. If you take the money out of the retirement account you will pay the taxes plus a 10% penalty, but even if you settled at 50% (a lot of people have done better than that), you would only need to take out about $15,000 for the settlements and maybe $4000 for the taxes and penalties so about $19,000 and you are done with about $30k of debt. Still a savings of about $10k.

It will hurt your credit score for a while because you will need to go delinquent for quite a while before they will talk settlement. But you are a prime candidate for it since you have lost your job.

To answer your other question. Yes they will give it to you in writing and you should never give them any money until you have the letter in your hand that states this is payment will "settle" the debt. Once you have that letter and your payments have cleared they will not be able to come after you for the difference.

Read through this forum. I settled my debts using the advise on this forum and saved myself from bk. You can too.

Hi,

You can also search for my posts as I have settled 3 of 4 for 25-30% and also I cashed in my IRA for 60 days only, gambling on selling my secondary home before then to put it back otherwise heavy penalty.
I would not cash in your IRA or 401k unless you are doing the 60 day loophole thing like me cause the penalty is very high---need an accountant to tell you exact but it is like 30%. There are 2 things that I know of that creditors cannot touch and that is your primary residence and 401k.
If I am wrong Debt Free or King Jabba will correct me!
Kaylee

Hello and welcome,
I stumbled in here about 3 months ago after my husband's business went under. Anyway, I settled his debt and paid off mine. Settling can be done....especially with BOA...they are the best ones that I dealt with. So I settled my husband's debt quite easily at 25-27% and I used the Senior Accounts phone # to deal with them....the number is posted on several threads here.....you are not there yet.....In order to settle, you must be late for at least 120 days to get a good settlement offer.

Another suggestion: I also made arrangements with them to pay my credit card debt of about $25,000 .....(I think that was the starting figure)...they were very helpful and set up a program where I pay $230 over 60 months at 3.5% interest! That does not show on my credit report that I am on a payment plan or anything....it just shows paid as agreed......but you must show that you have a hardship and go through the Senior Accounts....If you just call the BOA customer service...they don't know what they are doing.
However, if you chose to settle, change your phone # to a cell number in advance .....so that the calls are not coming into your home at all hours! Listen to the people above.....King Jabba and Bensworld too!! Shazzers too!!!

Come back and post....lots of people to help here!!!

With the 457 plan there will be no penalty for withdraw. We will have to pay the taxes but would had to have paid them eventually anyway. It is back up to where it was before the stockmarket dropped a month ago so we are ready to withdraw it. Our first bank of america credit card bill has arrived that I am not making a payment on. I could just throw up since this is the end of our good credit. I am considering calling them and telling them that we are at the end of the rope with finances and aren't yet deliquent but will be. Letting them know that all we have in the world is in the retirement plan and if they want their share now is the time to get some. Maybe they will offer us their best settlement deal before we are months behind. What do you all think about this strategy? If anything is left over when the debts are settled we can just put it into a CD since we aren't making but 2% in the 457 anyway.