Are Your Family Finances Sustainable?

Are Your Family Finances Sustainable?

Corporate Knights, a Canada-based sustainability-focused media firm, publishes a unique list every year that predicts the world's most sustainable large corporations. Started in 2005, the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World is a list of publicly traded companies that, based on research and analysis, are best equipped to manage the environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities they face. The idea is to look at the company today and predict the company's future ability to thrive.

Predicting the financial future of a company is tricky business. Of the original 100 announced in 2005, ten companies on that list are now inactive. Another good example is Eastman Kodak, which appeared on the Global 100 list in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. Kodak is synonymous with photography, and has a long and proud history. Kodak practically invented the amateur photography market back in 1888. Kodak is also responsible for the first digital camera in 1975 and developed cell phone photo technology. Unfortunately, in recent years Kodak has not changed fast enough to keep up with the changing marketplace. Kodak's shares once soared to an all-time high of $95 in 1997 and was a mainstay member of the Dow Jones industrial average for 74 years. In September 2011 its stock plummeted to close at $.69 a share.

Eastman Kodak is a lesson of how quickly the financial outlook of a company can change. Individuals, like companies, sometimes make bad decisions that can lead to financial trouble. Other times, circumstances happen that simply cannot be predicted. Fortunately, what looks bleak today can be better tomorrow. That is a hope that bankruptcy offers to individuals who are struggling with overwhelming debt. Bankruptcy offers the individual the "do over" opportunity to discharge or restructure debts.

If you need help reshaping your financial future, consult with an experienced attorney and discuss how the federal bankruptcy laws can help. Your attorney can offer you options for eliminating debt and making your finances sustainable for years to come.