Career/Workplace question

[leftyf]

At the risk of sounding like a pompous arse, I am in a professional position (CPA, no chuckling) and I am worried about how I will deal with my fellow workers when/if they find out I have filed bankruptcy? Anyone else out there in this position? I'm pretty sure I won't be fired, but I may not be looked on favorably...unfortunately, I believe it to be my only option at this point.

I don't think it will affect my professional license, it just hurts my pride to have to admit that I haven't been able to properly manage my personal finances. I've had no job loss, no medical issues...just a bad real estate deal really and a lack of self-control on the spending. We did have a few more kids and the wife quit her job...did not cut-back, in fact, increased spending.
2 higher car payments, gas prices, ya-da, ya-da...

Any advice appreciated,
Lefty

[lrprn]

I am worried about how I will deal with my fellow workers when/if they find out I have filed bankruptcy?

Although a lot is made of bankruptcy filings being public and able to be seen by anyone, frankly the chances of any of your co-workers, family members, or friends ever finding out that you filed unless you tell them yourself are almost zero. I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about this. Personally I have run into very little judgment and lots of compassion among the few co-workers and family I chose to tell that we filed Ch 13 last year.

[poorme]

Believe this: The people who like you will continue to like you. The rest don't matter.

If the truth came out, you'd probably be amazed to find how many others where you work have already gone thru bk before you. With the right attitude, you'll be a better person after this is done. Good Luck!

[wrinkleigh]

I also work in the "financial" field. We had a couple of people who let it be known that they were filing, and it was looked upon very negatively.

So when I filed, I told absolutely no one. I am not afraid that I would be fired, but I know that I would be "looked" at in a different way around here, which could hurt my chances of a promotion I am working towards.

My bosses still make comments about those two that they know of, and I just keep my mouth shut.

[Runnin on empty]

I'm not a CPA leftyf, but I too am scared out of my wits to have my family/friends/work find out about it. It won't affect my employment either, but I surely don't wish anyone to know. Of my immediate co-workers, only one of them probably wouldn't feel compassion, but she's leaving soon. All the rest of my co-workers live paycheck to paycheck just like everyone else.

Fact is, excessive consumer debt is real plague facing many households. I can vividly remember hearing a commercial on the radio about 7-10 years ago that said the average household in the US carried some $7,000 in CC debt. In doing some research the past few days, one of the links from this site took me to another showing me that now that number has risen from $7K to over $25K.

So even though your fellow CPAs may not have filed BK, I sure am willing to bet that they know the sting of consumer debt just like the rest of us.

I can't begin to convey how ashamed I am of myself for letting the wife and I get ourselves in this situation. But what has been done is done. Now all that is left is to file and learn how to budget money so that this never happens again, and most importantly, to teach this to our two children so that they don't repeat the cycle. When my wife and I sat down and cut up each and every CC we own this past weekend, I cannot begin to tell you the feeling of freedom that came over me. Sure, the debt is still there and we're going to have to file to get relief, but man, it felt as though the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders. We'll be living on a cash-only basis for the first time in probably 6-7 years, and boy does it feel so d@mn good...

Best of luck to you leftyf. I know the road ahead is going to be tough (I'll be traversing it too), but in the end, there is a ray of sunshine.

[tofargone]

I'm in the same position, My boss is the CFO of the company. My plan was to keep it quite so that she wouldn't know, until my trustee sent a letter to have my payments taken through payroll. I heard about the letter 1 day before it arrived through my lawyer in a by chance conversation. So I did the only thing I could. I went and talked to my boss, told her what was happenening, blamed it on a failed business venture ( somewhat true ) and hoped for the best. Luckily she was very understanding and has not held it against me ( just promoted last month )

We had a long conversation about it since I had to skip my own meeting for the 341 meeting, she told me that there were a few others that were in the same boat ( all of us at the Manager level ).

It was embarassing and humbleing, I am just thankfull my boss was easy going about it.

[chpxiii]

I worked for a law firm that handled bankruptcy cases for creditors against us debtors who file. My name and information was in our database! It was only when I quit that I finally told 1 coworker to "look up this particular account number." All he did was giggle at the irony of me working for lawyers who represented my creditors. My life is amusing that way. *grin*

Like lrprn said, even though all court filings are public record, it's actually closer to ZERO that your coworkers will find out about your bankruptcy. Generally, your financial affairs are your alone.

The average Joe Blow off the street - which, believe it or not, that's what your coworkers are - are not going to be searching court filings on people they know. Generally speaking, people are far more concerned about their own personal affairs and what is going on in their own lives to be looking up court cases. You'll have the nosey weirdos, but no doubt your coworkers aren't some of them.