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When people are overwhelmed by debt but don’t want to file for bankruptcy, I typically recommend they make two appointments:

* One with a legitimate credit counselor, preferably affiliated with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.

* Another with a bankruptcy attorney.

Should you consider bankruptcy?
I make the second suggestion for a number of reasons.

One is that credit counselors and their debt-management plans, which are designed to pay off credit card debt over five years or so, are geared to steer people away from bankruptcy. Consulting with a bankruptcy attorney can help ensure that those struggling with debt know all their options.

The other, even more important reason: I know that even if you desperately want credit counseling to work, it often won’t. Here are the statistics, straight from the NFCC. Of the 3.2 million people who contacted NFCC agencies for help last year:

• About one-third were able to handle their finances on their own after a counseling session.
• Another third were either too far gone for debt management plans to help, with too little income or too much debt, or had problems credit counseling couldn’t help and were referred to social services agencies because of issues such as a gambling problem, alcoholism or other addiction.
• The final third enrolled in debt-management programs (DMPs), but the dropout rate averages at least 45%.

NFCC spokeswoman Gail Cunningham said 55% of those in DMPs either complete their payments or contact their agency at some point to say they’re able to resume payments on their own. Cunningham said she couldn’t give me a breakdown of that 55%, so we don’t know precisely how many people actually follow through in paying off their bills.

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