The Hindus note that you could end up getting bumped DOWN the ladder and end up as an insect. Buddhist beliefs are a tad more sophisticated, but they have the same idea of advancing through various Hells and Heavens until finally you achieve "release".
I think you want a hard and fast answer, and if so, check out any guru. He'll tell you what you want to hear.
Christian belief says that a "Man dies but once" ~ and there's a Resurrection (or maybe 2)". This creates the dilemma for a life devoted to sin, and then God's loving grace, and then sin again, and maybe back to God, then back to sin, and so forth. Just how do you deal with this if you have to wait for the Final Judgment?
The Scriptures suggest the "dead in Christ" simply wait, rising up every now and then asking "How much longer Lord". And that vision suggests that there may be many more "little short term resurrections" for all those dead folk rising up to ask questions.
Once you've pursued every possible avenue through all the major world religions to assist yourself in arriving at an answer to the question, I would suggest that no one knows (except Jesus).
So, there you have your answer ~ Be patient.