Expert: John L - 7/13/2010

Question
My wife an i have made quite a few mistakes when it comes to money over the past few years and now we are in the process of filing for bankruptcy. we have  retained a lawyer and gotten everything started, just not complete yet to file a chapter 7. The air force recruiter i talked with said i had to wait a year until i could sign up. when i talked with a navy recruiter she said i would need to get a waiver.

so my question is how often do these waivers get approved? we haven't incurred any new debt in the past 2-3 years, tried to pay some of the bills but just couldn't keep up. will that help the waiver process? will a child on the way move my chances of the waiver getting approved up or down? just looking for some advice here on what could or will happen. i need to take care of my family and also would like to serve my country wish i would have done it right out of high school. with the economy down a lot of people are filing bankruptcy.

Answer
There is no clear cut answer.  Those with money issues are more likley to do things illegaly to get out of debt, which is why the AF doesn't even consider those with bad credit to enlist.  All other branches it really sepends on how bad it is and what you are doing to get out of debt.  Joining the military will not always help, as in the beginning, pay is low and it is hrd to support a family on low salary. Having a kid actually makes it worse to get a waiver, since more income goes to child care than paying off debt.

Yes, the economy is bad, more people are joinng the military, but the standards have been raised as well.