<prompt> Human: Hi everyone,First, I learned a very expensive lesson in never lending money to friends if it ends up that way. Also, this is my first time posting on reddit, so apologies in advance if the way I wrote this or the subreddit is wrong! Let me provide some of the details:I lent a friend money under the assumption that he was starting a new job and he needed some personal liquidity in order to get him through. In order to keep track of the money, I added him as an authorized user on a card with a limit up to a certain limit. However, I realized quite late that more and more of these charges were being used for miscellaneous expenses bars, restaurants, unnecessary expenses and soon cut off his limit. He was making threats of trying to get more credit or else he would not pay anything, and in one of these chances, I entered into a written contract with him in which he acknowledged that the responsibility of the authorized user on the charge card was now his and that he was responsible for the balance plus some penalty the latter of which I understand is rarely enforceable. I told him I could not lend him any more money because I didnt feel secure financially at the time given the lost money and told him I was cutting down on food to save but nothing really got through to him and kept on demanding more money. I have given him multiple options paying a little bit over time which he did for one month but he seemed non-responsive despite attempts at communicating with him in a civil and respectable manner. He has made repeated promises to pay, but none have actually come through. It has been about 4 months since the payment has been made, so I decided to take legal action. Unfortunately, this limit exceeds the amount that the state accepts for small claims court, but the amount above is negligible and would not really care about the difference. I gave a two week notice and encouraged him to source this money I believe his parents would be able to help out. before I officially start the process, but in the meantime, I was wondering if you guys could offer any additional advice in the meantime in terms of practicality and next steps. Part of me is just chalking it up to be a very expensive lesson, but at the same time, it has been preventing me from helping out my mom financially. I know I have been really fortunate to be where I am now and the reason why I want to try and help others when I can. But when the money isnt used for the right purpose, then it really stings. A unexpected lesson I learned after the last seven months of dealing with this is to really appreciate what my mom has done for me. She started with very little but never gave up on raising me. Shes still struggling and has been going through a lot working multiple days without sleeping, but I know that if I can ever get this money back, it would all go to my mom since she really deserves it. Ive felt really unsafe financially since this occurrence since Ive only been starting out my career and wanted to gather up some savings before being ready to help my mom out, but now with what I believe to be a decent savings in case anything happens, this event has helped me become more conscious of what I have and can appreciate. It is Mothers Day, and maybe Im realizing that life is way more than money- its about caring for the people you love and cherishing those whove helped and who youve been able to help. This is a stream of consciousness, but even writing this has made me feel less frustrated and disappointed. Any thoughts, suggestions, questions, and comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!Assistant: Thats an unfortunate lesson to learn but I think you are taking the right action. Speaking from experience with small claims court, winning the judgment will be the easy part, collecting the judgemen will be the real challenge. Does your former friend have any assets from which you can actually collect? Human: Thanks, I think this is the most reasonable route. I believe he should have sufficient assets but might be held in retirement accounts. Do you have any suggestions on how to collect the judgement if I can have his wages garnished, etc..  <response>: You should be able to have his wage garnished by the court. I do not think you can touch his retirement accounts because they are protected. 401ks are protected on a federal level and IRAs are protected up to 1 million in the even he declares bankruptcy. State laws will vary with IRAs. 