<prompt> Human: So Im 21 and I have a mountain of debt. Almost 30,000 in credit cards. I already own a good car that I wont need to replace for a while and have 2 years left for my degree and have literally no assets to my name technically because the car is under my parents name from when they bought it for me in high school and I never bothered to switch it. I currently have no job and am living off the financial aid I get from school. Could I just say screw it to the debt and just not pay it? File for bankruptcy? I dont really know the process but the fact that I have no job and no assets means that they literally have nothing they can take from me and I would just end up with the bad credit mark from bankruptcy. I think that I wont be able to pay it anyway if I tried so my credit is screwed either way I might as well get bankruptcy over with and not pay a dime to the credit cards and just save my money since it wont make a difference anyway? Assistant: Youre only 21 with 30k in debt. Youre still young and you have the rest of your life to work on it. Bankruptcy will shut you out of a lot of opportunities: buying a house, getting a loan for anything, getting some jobs. There are people here on this sub with similar debt to yours, some with much greater debt. It may take 10 years, it may take 20. Eventually if you have a routine habit of contributing payments every month, youll be able to pay it off. The only thing that would hold you back is having the weight of the debt on your mind. Human: There are certain jobs you cant get if your bankrupt? Serious question I had no idea this was a thing Assistant: Youll be effectively disqualified from any job that runs a background andor credit check for about 10 years. That would be essentially any professional job.Human: What is the logic behind denying someone a job because they have debt? Wouldnt that be a good thing that person wants a job to pay off their debts?  <response>: Someone who has money troubles in the past is less likely to be responsible in the future and be more willing to accept bribesshady dealings. 