Always alert for news about the job market that can affect my Indiana bankruptcy clients, I learned recently that the Charles Schwab discount brokerage investment company is closing its customer service center in Fishers, a move that will eliminate some 800 jobs over the next couple of years. There’s a big silver lining in this cloud, though; Schwab is moving the center to Woodfield Crossing on the north side of Indianapolis, and expanding its workforce at the new center to 1,100 jobs!
The availability of jobs is a key factor for my clients as they rebuild their lives after bankruptcy. In my earlier blog A New Job Might Mean A New Kind of Job In Indiana, I explained that Chapter 7 bankruptcy clients who’ve had some or most of their debts discharged by the court need to keep their bills paid and regain control of their finances, while Chapter 13 bankruptcy clients must keep up with their three-to-five year debt repayment plans.
While reading about the firm Charles Schwab (whose namesake retired a number of years ago), I couldn’t help recalling the story of another man named Charles Schwab, founder of Bethlehem Steel, one of the wealthiest men of his generation. That Charles Schwab ended up filing bankruptcy and having the mortgage on his mansion foreclosed on by Chase Bank. When that earlier Charles Schwab died in 1939, the once multi-millionaire’s debts amounted to $300,000 more than his assets.
Why do I collect historical trivia like the story of the first Charles Schwab? First of all, my work in drafting the bankruptcy exemption laws in our state had me delving into case histories of various bankruptcy court rulings. More important, though, I find it often helps clients who are facing their own bankruptcy situations to know that plenty of folks – good folks, hard-working folks, successful folks – have been down that road as well.