As creditors prepare to vote on a plan to end Detroits $18 billion bankruptcy, the city still needs help from state lawmakers to pay its obligations while avoiding a fire sale of its fine art collection.

Premature withdrawals from retirement accounts have become Americas new piggy bank, cracked open in record amounts during lean times by people like Cindy Cromie, who needed the money to rent a U-Haul and start a new life.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes approved the citys disclosure statement and a plain language explanation of how pension and retiree health benefits for current and former city employees would change under the plan to shrink the citys $18 billion in debt.

While more than 40 states have enacted some type of pension reform since 2011, some are still in dire straits, bringing the net pension liability into the trillions.