This 39-year-old moved to Paris after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in America — now he spends $8,939/month, lives rent-free, and is ‘really’ happy with life. Here’s how

“I realized maybe I should stop being so proud and I should do what my friends have been telling me to do and declare bankruptcy back in the United States,” he told CNBC Make It.

These days, he earns around $96,000 as a content creator and is happier than ever.

So, how did this now 39-year-old Pullman, Washington native go from dead broke to earning almost six figures abroad within seven years?

Getting into debt

Growing up, Swanson had a healthy work ethic but he quickly spent the money he made. He also recalls growing up learning that getting into debt was fine, even if you didn’t necessarily have a plan to pay it back.

“Before I was even 16 or 17, my parents allowed me to take out a line of credit to do the bodywork on that muscle car, which was $16,000,” he said.

Swanson also loved France and wanted to move there ever since he was young. So, in 2017, he did. As of November 2023, it’s estimated that 5.5 million Americans live abroad.

However, he wasn’t in the best financial shape. According to Swanson, he was in “dire straits.”

He was part of a tech startup with some friends and working on some other projects, but because the business incurred a lot of costs, his debt started piling up. Eventually, he was trying to juggle $85,000 worth of debt.

“To make the minimum payments on $85,000 in debt was about $2,100 a month,” Swanson said. At the time, he was earning around $2,300 a month.

“It was not a joke to say that as a tour guide, when I was first here for the summer, I was only eating whatever I got tipped. And it was a very hungry summer," he said.

It was then that he realized declaring bankruptcy was his best option, even though he was afraid it would mean he couldn’t stay in Paris on the visa he wanted.

How Swanson bounced back

Thankfully, the French government didn’t know of his financial situation, but there was still a long road ahead for Swanson.

“I'm grateful I declared bankruptcy when I did because it completely changed my life,” he said.

Filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy meant that he was not required to pay back a certain amount of debt (he had a bunch of credit card debt) because he didn't have enough to reasonably pay back what he owed.

However, filing for bankruptcy does show up on your credit report and stays there for around seven years. As such, it could hinder your ability to access credit in the U.S.