4. 50 Cent
The loss: Having $20 million doesn’t sound too shabby. Unless, that is, you have $36 million in debts. Such was the case for rapper 50 Cent when he filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2015. He ended up with a plan to pay his creditors $23 million of what he owed over five years, which he did — and early.
The lesson: Many people are terrified of bankruptcy, Bovee said. Instead, they burn through their savings or, even worse, their retirement funds to keep up their credit scores. While filing Chapter 11 or 13 bankruptcy is a different ball game, when it comes to Chapter 7, it’s not the end of the world, Bovee said. “It’s not a death to your credit just because it’s on [your report] for 10 years,” he said.
