[the_watcher]

> Try to default on your loan and see what happens to you. You'll be a slave of the bank for the rest of your life.

Bankruptcy exists almost entirely to offer protection against this exact scenario playing out.

[Johnny555]

As long as the debt in question is not a student loan, which usually survive the bankruptcy.

[pmiller2]

"Usually" is quite correct. You basically have to prove there would be no hope of being able to pay it back without severe financial hardship, and the bar for hardship is fairly high. Even when some student debt is discharged in bankruptcy, it's often a partial discharge.