Pull from IRA or Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
Short version of a long story. Me and my wife have over $80K in credit card debt. We live in a HCOL area. My income varies from 13K to 20K per month.
If we file chapter13 we are expecting to have to pay back the full amount of debt and most likely limiting or preventing me from contributing to my 401k which my company matches @ 1.17% on up to 7% of my income. We will still have a $1500+ debt payment that we may or may not be able to make and wreck our credit. Not to mention if we are late on a payment we default on our bankruptcy.
Alternatively, we pull roughly 140k from my Traditional IRA, Pay Off Debt and increase 401k contributions to make up for the withdraw. On paper this looks like the best option financially and saves our credit scores. This scenario would cost roughly $900 per month vs the $1500/mo for bankruptcy. (140K is for taxes and penalty).
What am I missing. The math is in favor of pulling from retirement, but everything I know says not too. I calculated for 10% penalty, 10% state tax and 15% for federal tax. I figured an 8% return if left invested. About every 6 months I have a very high-income month that skews the math towards a much higher income.
I think what makes for pulling from the IRA the winner is my company match and potentially losing 12K+/yr contributions. What am I missing? Financially/mathematically am I just wrong? Are there options that can consolidate and not destroy our credit? There should be more readily accessible information for this!
Take home income is roughly is currently ~$6,200/mo. I think we can maybe cut $100/mo to $300/mo from our living costs. We have already thinned everything else down. The only things left to change is our Cell Service and a couple subscriptions. Cell service is $250/mo for 2 phones, watch and tablet. Removing any of these I believe would require device pay-off and the watch is an almost necessity for me to receive text's and calls in the field. The tablet is not necessary. Other than that, trimming down subscriptions some more, mot many left.
Sorry for the word vomit, but it is decision time. We are less than 1 week from the first 30-day late ding. Any help and in-sight are greatly appreciated, and I can provide hard numbers when I am home tonight.
Posted Jul 7, 2025, 9:35 PM UTC