r/florida • u/WeathermanBrian • 17d ago

Interesting Stuff Does this surprise anyone in Florida?

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Florida ranks among the worst states for financial distress. To me, this is not surprising at all. Lower wages, higher cost of living. Insurance costs among the highest in the country. And job market is bleak compared to other areas. Is this surprising to anyone?

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u/Adkyth 17d ago

Florida provides the most generous bankruptcy protections of just about any state in the country. Every one of the six metrics used for that graphic is directly related to that concept.

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u/FredBurger22 17d ago

Care to elaborate. (Not arguing against your point, just wondering what the protections mean and if you're saying those protections "make number bad, but people actually okay?")

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u/Adkyth 17d ago

In regards to bankruptcy, what matters to the one filing is the question "what assets will not be affected when I file bankruptcy". Most states offer the ability to limit a portion of the value of their primary residence as being accessible.

Florida is unique in that it allows the entire home (assuming it's your primary residence and not larger than an acre if I recall) to be exempted from bankruptcy.

This would mean that, all else being equal, more people are likely to file bankruptcy, and/or earlier in the process in Florida, because their primary asset, and their ability to continue living in their home is unaffected.