2023-11-12 05:00:00
Young Quebecers are increasingly represented in insolvency proceedings in Quebec. Our Bureau of Investigation and the show JE met several young people who went bankrupt before even turning 25.
TOTAL DEBT: $14,668
NOM : Stéphanie (fictitious name)
AGE : 23 ans
VILLE : Rawdon
BANKRUPTCY : October 2020
CAUSE : poor financial planning
In her early twenties, Stephanie gave the impression to her friends that she was very successful with her lovingly decorated apartment and brand new Chevrolet Spark. Unfortunately, this image of prosperity and independence relied heavily on credit and hid great financial fragility.
When Stéphanie separated, she had to start paying the cost of rent on her own. She also realized that buying a new car came with a lot of costs that she hadn’t imagined. Unpaid bills quickly piled up.
“It was a lot of cell phone accounts [que je ne payais pas au début]. I kept telling myself it doesn’t matter,” she explains.
And credit cards. When you’re young, it’s easy to pile on that. This is the option: I have money there that I can take, it’s quite easy.”
Around the same time, Stéphanie also had a car accident. But she was only insured “on one side”, and this was because she wanted to pay less for her monthly payments.
“I crash the car and it’s not covered. I have higher amounts to pay, I was already late with invoices. […] I was able to handle this before. But the [j’étais] rendered in [milliers de dollars de dettes]me at 20 years old, I might not [envisager] that,” she confides.
“I felt suffocated. I mightn’t see the end,” she continues.
At the age of 20, the young Rawdon resident declared bankruptcy for debts totaling more than $14,000.
Ironically, she herself then worked for a financial institution offering credit.
Shame
In the interview, the young woman did not hide the fact that it had not been easy to confess everything to those close to her.
She revealed to her mother that she was not rolling in gold, even if she did not want at first “for it to be known, for it to come out”. She ended up moving back in with the latter to cut costs.
Even if entering into a process of restoring her finances brought her immense relief, the bankruptcy she experienced does not solve everything, she judges. She had to pay an amount per month to her creditors for three years.
“The fact remains that bankruptcy follows you. It’s not all good because the debts are settled,” she says. She talks regarding the shame that still haunts her for not having known how to manage her affairs well.
Today, Stéphanie is gradually trying to take control of herself. Although she is told that having a credit card can help improve her credit score, she is still hesitant regarding getting one once more. She fears falling back into the same debt spiral.
She works in a daycare center and says she cannot afford to return to school.
The young woman pleads for more financial education in secondary school.
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