Why People Get into Trouble with Debt More than 1.4 million individuals filed for bankruptcy in 2001, a significant increase from the 316,000 individuals who filed in 1981. That means lots of people are mired in debt. In some cases, they could not control the causes of their debt. However, in some instances they could have.

Many people get into serious debt because they:

Experienced financial stresses caused by unemployment, medical bills or divorce. Could not control spending, did not plan for the future and did not save money. Lacked knowledge of financial and credit matters.