The percentage of debtors with advanced degrees obtaining pre-bankruptcy financial counseling has increased from 4.9% in 2006 to 6.7% in 2010. Also, those earning over $50,000 had the greatest increase compared to those at other income levels. This according to a study by the Institute for Financial Literacy and reported by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. The question is, “Why?” The Institute’s executive director thinks that falling home values and white collar job losses are contributing factors. Information we have received also points to the fact that people with high incomes tend to live in areas with a high cost of living. As a result, when high income earners lose their jobs, their higher expenses cause finances to spin out of control more quickly than it might for lower income earners.