A single mother of two had her suicide planned.
Her marriage breakdown and spiraling debt had become too much.
Her goodbye note was written and a plan for her kids to be taken care of if she chose to end the pain from overwhelming debt distress. The debt had become all too consuming, and this mother struggled to see any other options, other than to take her own life.
With the end of Job Keeper on March 28, I’m concerned about the impact it’s going to have on individuals and families who are struggling with increasing personal debt and the lack of employment security.
The above story is a true story, from one of my clients. She is alive and well and now has a debt solution in place and her kids have their mother. Thank goodness!
Yet this story is heart wrenching and unfortunately all too familiar.
For many people, the pandemic period has been a time where they’ve been able to increase their savings but for others across the country, and in particular, in Victoria, we know people have lost the security of their employment and reliable income and I fear for these people who are at their wit’s end and who have no idea that there are available services and solutions for them as debt distress can be all-consuming and anxiety-inducing.
The latest statistics show that in December 2020, 1.54 million people were receiving Job Keeper and in Victoria alone, 626,000 people were relying on the government subsidy.
Coupled with that, a recent Finder survey of 446 Australian home loan customers found about 31 per cent of mortgages are behind on payments.
We fear that there will be a spike in people getting further into what we call “debt-distress” now that Job Keeper has ended.
Please Don’t worry….
People who are experiencing burdening debt have options and choices
You can negotiate with the banks to stop payments and freeze interest on certain debts and set up a plan to get back in control of debt instead of the debt controlling you.
Sadly, people are simply unaware of what their options are or that there are options apart from living in debt distress, selling your home or going bankrupt.
Jen Harwood is one such person. After leaving an abusive marriage she found herself in a spiraling debt totaling $63,000 in credit cards and with the help of our team, she was able to settle the credit card debt for $28,000 and save $11,000 in interest every year.
“If I have one piece of advice for anyone suffering and struggling with debt, which thanks to COVID is many of us, it would be to talk about it and work with people like Kitty and organisations like hers”, says Jen.
Labor’s Treasury spokesperson Jim Chalmers recently said that people were still hurting financially, “What looks like a recovery on paper will still feel like a recession for many Australians.”
Australians do not have to experience the heartache of debt distress, bankruptcy or losing their primary assets, including their homes to try and get back in control of their finances…
There are options, MANY OPTIONS but people simply don’t know about them and the banks aren’t in a hurry to share them either.
We are here to guide people through any financial crisis they face and to let them know what options are available, that will be of assistance to them in their hour of need especially now as Job Keeper ends and the true reality of people’s situations become apparent to them.
If you know someone who is experiencing financial challenges, please share this article with them and let them know they are not alone, there is help is at hand.
