Anybody work in finance here and ever been in this situation?

[helpandadviceplease19]

I work at an investment firm doing admin. Have done so for over 2 years now.

I've gotten myself into quite a considerable amount of debt and I'm in way over my head. I'm absolutely terrified. It's gotten to the point where my wage isn't even covering what I need to pay out.

It's making me feel suicidal. I have nobody to turn to.

I wanted to enter a debt management plan but I'm worried I'm going to lose my job. I'm too ashamed to speak to my HR department or manager about it.

What options do I even have here?

Up until a few weeks ago I worked as a manager in a financial institution. Do have some insight.
Firstly as others have advised you need to speak to someone about how to tackle the debt - step change or similar.
Then you need to look at the relevant policies at work. We had a financial integrity policy that detailed what we needed to disclose and when. This was basically CCJs and defaults. This was ALlL staff and not just those in a regulated role. Failure to do so could result in disciplinary action. We were credit checked regularly about every 28 months and any issues flagged up to HE and the line manager to investigate. I had to carry out an investigation into a report of mine and it was very invasive, she also worked in a admin role. I had to assess the risk and put controls in place to mitigate the risk - she had access to lots of customer data so was potentially vulnerable to corruption.
If your outgoing are more than what’s coming in you may not have defaulted yet but it’s a real possibility. I personally would speak to HR about your issues. If you tell them the steps you’ve made to resolve it I would have thought they’ll try help. Do you have an employee assistance program at work that you could use or do they have a hardship fund?

Thanks everyone for your advice, it really means a lot. It's good to put it out there, as im too ashamed to tell anyone in my real life.

I'm still stuck between keeping it to myself and telling somebody at work. No matter how desperate how I was, I'd never steal at work. My life depends on getting a monthly wage, so it doesn't make sense to jeopardise that. I just need to keep on top of the debt but it is a vicious cycle that is becoming hard to break.

So sorry to hear this has become so overwhelming OP, the best advice here is firstly to remember this can absolutely be managed, even if it seems difficult. I think the first priority needs to be yourself, going to the GP, any friends of family you can confide in- and getting a debt repayment plan in place by contacting stepchange or similar, notify your bank if you are incurring overdraft charges or a loan is with them and they can potentially offer reduced or reverse charges. Check out the Money Advice Service also, for generalise specific advice and this:

www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/tools/debt-advice-locator

which can help you to locate a debt advice service that you can engage with in a format that you feel able to do so.

With regards to your employer that is difficult to know without the details but unless you are accredited/chartered (aca/icaew etc) i see no reason why you need to focus on alerting your employer. However what i will say is that DP used to work in finance ( big four) and although there were no personal finance issues, he sought help from HR for a mental health issue and they were very, very accommodating and offered some very generous support. I don't know if your employer has such a facility but just worth noting.

Things will improve OP, you sound like you are doing your best and have sought advice and that must have been hard,but there are always options.

Also do go over to Debt Free Wanabees on Money Saving Expert and get some ideas.

Hello OP,

We are really sorry to hear you are feeling this way.

We hope you don't mind, but when these threads are flagged up to us we usually add a link to our Mental Health resources. You can also go to the Samaritans website or email them on [email protected]. Support from other Mumsnetters is great and we really hope you will be able to take some comfort from your fellow posters, but as other MNers will tell you, it's really a good idea to seek RL help and support as well.

We also like to remind everyone that, although we're awed daily by the astonishing support our members give each other through life's trickier twists and turns, we'd always caution anyone never to give more of themselves to another poster, emotionally or financially, than they can afford to spare.

We are going to move this thread to the Mental Health section shortly.