Re the bankruptcy bit, I notice that the legislation changed last year in the US re who could g bankrupt.
Previous to last Oct, you could go bankrupt and debts were cleared and you couldn't get credit for 5 years (i think it was something like section 13).
Since last Oct the legislation is that if you declare bankruptcy you can only take the above option if you have earned less than the median salary for your state in the previous year (i think its only 1 year). If you are over the median they put you onto a different bankruptcy status (seomthing like 7), which is actually a 5 year repayment program, and no debts are wiped. Its like a managed credit repayment program. Apparently its creating a lot of concerns for debtors in the US, as many seem to have viewed bankruptcy as the 'get out of jail' card!
(Blame watching Suze orme finance programme while on vacation there a few months ago, the bankruptcy issue came up a couple of times).