He's was quoting me and referring to here in Norway, not US - where it is very much a one-time deal. Over here, we can't really just "declare bankruptcy", it's

He's was quoting me and referring to here in Norway, not US - where it is very much a one-time deal. Over here, we can't really just "declare bankruptcy", it's a very lengthy process - which takes years. It's more like a court ordered program where the debtor and creditor agrees that the debtor is going to pay as much as possible towards the debt owed, for the next N years, and after that - all debt is erased. You're allowed to keep just enough of your salary to cover the most basic living expenses, everything else goes to the creditor. This also means not being credit worthy, which in turn could mean no cellphone plan, no insurance, no mortgage, no auto loans, no consumer loans, etc. Everything you buy, you have to buy with cash up-front. From start to finish, all that could take 5-10 years. And before you even sign a contract where you and the creditor agrees upon such a plan, the debt collection agencies are probably hounding you down on a daily basis, making whatever debt you had to begin with N times more expensive. The good news is that when you've held up your end of the agreement, it's gone. But you only get once chance. If you - for whatever reason, any reason at all - end up in the same situation, you're practically a debt slave. Which could mean wage/welfare garnishments for the rest of your life. This is especially true if you have multiple debt collection agencies bogging down individual debts with added and compounding fees. But to be fair, this is not normal. Very few end up being two-time losers - but sadly it could be entrepreneurs and small business owners, if they haven't structured their companies the right way.