Is there such a thing as “good” debt? Sure there is. Debt can get you a higher education and get you a profession. By higher education, I mean college and graduate school, including the professions. Let’s say you’re about to graduate from high school and you want to become a medical doctor, a physician. You have to hurdle two steps. First, get into college and get the minimum requirements to apply for med school. You need to get credits for several science subjects like chemistry, physics and biology, among other prerequisites. Get a respectable college GPA and science GPA. About 3.5 would do for both. Try to get a higher science GPA if you can, maybe 3.7. That helps a lot in getting into the US med schools. The problem of course is that lots of guys who get into college get a taste of freedom that they never had before. They don’t live in their parents’ house because they get to live either in a dorm or an apartment near the university. Every day there’s a party with lots of drinking and drugs. That’s just the way it is.

 

So amidst so much temptation it’s really not easy to get the GPA you want even if you have the brains for it. But if you want to get into med school here, you have to discipline yourself and focus. Sure you can have all the fun you want, but don’t neglect studying hard. You may not want to be a physician. You might want to be an engineer, or a CPA or an IT guy. You can’t just “wing it”, unless you’re a certified genius. There are actually geniuses around you know. I know our class valedictorian is a genius. I mean, he has a mutant brain. He got straight A’s in grade school, high school, and college (summa cum laude) in Physics. Then he went on to get a doctorate degree in a computer related field. His father lived to 105, and his mother is still going strong at 105 right now. I mean, he’s got great genes. There’s research that shows that in the year 2088, average height of people on earth will be six feet ten and people will have smaller mouths. How come? I don’t know. Maybe with smaller mouths people eat less so obesity will be a thing of the past. With small mouths, people will drink food with straws. Basketball players will have an average height of ten feet.

You can get student loans to pay for college and med school. By the time you graduate from med school, you will probably owe $250K to $300K of student loans. But once you are done with your specialization, you can easily pay the $300K in a year or two. But not all medical specializations are created equal. Surgeons make a lot more than GP’s or pediatricians, specially specialized surgeons like for example, neurosurgeons. Then, student loans are an example of “good” debt because they let you become productive and set you up for life on the right track. Don’t ever make the mistake of trying to get into med school if you don’t have the talent for it. You will end up with a lot of loans that you can’t pay back because you can’t pass the medical board exam. So assess your talents objectively. Getting a mortgage to buy a house is also “good” debt. It gives your family shelter and the value keeps going up.

So when I say how do you put a handle on too much debt, I’m talking about “bad” debt. Credit card debts are “bad” debts without question. Their interest rates are way high at over 20%. They don’t serve any purpose except to satisfy impulse satisfaction.

How do you handle $50K of credit card debt? You need $1500 a month to keep them current. One way is to make more money and pay them down significantly every month. If you make $2K more net a month, you can pay the principal down by $6K a year. So in 9.5 years, after paying about $200K of interest and principal, you will owe zero on year no. 10. Problem is it’s not that simple to make another $2K of income a month. Maybe you can drive Uber for six hours after work everyday to make $2K more a month. But maybe you’ll have to buy another car because your old car won’t keep up and we don’t know if your not that young body anymore can keep up either.

Or, you can file a Chapter 7 and just wipe out the $50K. Or, you can file Chapter 13 and pay a portion of the $50K over 3 to 5 years. They have differing eligibility qualifications.

2HOW TO PUT A HANDLE ON TOO MUCH DEBT Seriously, if you don’t put a handle on the $50K now, you will have a miserable future. If you can’t get more income, the $50K will grow at the rate of $20K a year of new debt if you just borrow from Peter to pay Paul. So by the end of 2022, you will owe $70K of credit cards, not $50K. For $70K, you will need $2100 a month of minimum interest payments to keep them current. Your credit cards will mutate into something harder to handle. Indeed it will become a money-eating virus that will be fatal to your financial stability. Not good at all for you and your family. If you have debt problems, set an appointment to see me but mask up and get the booster first. I got the booster and always double mask when I see clients. Court hearings have been done telephonically and by zoom since 2020. ,

It also helps to pray to our God, Jesus and the Blessed Mother Mary for divine protection against the virus, and financial problems, because we have a God who loves us and showers us with infinite mercy. All we have to do is humble ourselves and pray. What is the current proof that God and Jesus are divine and all powerful? I refer you to exhibit A, the incorruptible body of Carlo Acutis!

Look at the incorruptible body of the blessed Carlo Acutis who died at 15 in 2007. You can look at his body in Rome, Italy, now 14 years after his death. He looks like he’s just asleep in his jogging suit and rubber shoes! That is a perfect example of an ongoing sign on earth that the God of Joseph, our God, my God, is almighty and all-powerful that He even suspends the natural laws of biology and physics without any effort. He resurrected His one and only beloved son from death on the cross. Indeed, He has power over death. I have actually thought, “What would the other religions believe if they actually saw the incorruptible body of the blessed Carlo Acutis? I think even Buddha, if he were alive today, would truly believe that Yahweh is the one True God.” No need to think about reincarnation and nirvana because his incorruptible body is available for all to see in Rome, Italy. We won’t need any kind of explanation on the efficacy of modern day mummification. Come on, man, that’s all bull. The truth is in plain sight. Believe your own eyes, that the one true God is all-powerful and His name is Yahweh, “I am who am.”

Disclaimer: None of the foregoing is considered legal advise for anyone. There is absolutely no attorney

client relationship established by reading this article.

“DON’T WORRY ABOUT ANYTHING. INSTEAD, PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING.” PHILIPPIANS 4:6

Lawrence B. Yang is a graduate of Georgetown University with a Master’s Degree in Law and specializes in Bankruptcy, Business,

Real Estate and Civil Litigation. He speaks English, Mandarin and Fujian and has successfully represented thousands of clients in

California, including companies overseas. Please call Angie, Barbara or Jess at (626) 284-1142 for an appointment at 20274

Carrey Road, Walnut, CA 91789 or1000 S. Fremont Ave., Mailstop 58, Building A-10 South Suite 10042, Alhambra, CA 91803.