It's not just big players like K-Mart and U.S. Airways that are declaring bankruptcy these days. The number of small to medium-sized businesses filing the dreaded Chapters 11 and 7, 13 and 12 are on the rise as well.
Business bankruptcies rose to 39,201 -- up 5.6 percent from a year earlier -- according to the American Bankruptcy Institute. Why? It might be because the small investor and the Main Street spender have been suffering a similar fate. The temptations of zero percent interest car deals, low hotel and air fares were just too much for 1.47 million of us. That's the total of individual filings since June 30.
Mom and pop businesses are feeling the pain of the average spender, whose pockets are running out of steam.
The American Bankruptcy Institute says both individuals and public companies are working through the difficult fallout from the debt binge of the 1990s and there's no early end in sight.
Also according to the administrative office of the U.S. Courts, new bankruptcies filed during the second quarter of 2002 and for the past 12 months set all-time records.
Remember though, that for the small business or small investor sometimes bankruptcy can be their best bet to getting back on financial track.
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