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I have always been a huge risk taker and it has always panned out well for me. I was single and I owned alot of real estate and several businesses. I was very successful. I met an awesome man who was exactly the same way and then we married and took some huge risks..... well they didn't pan out and now we are going to have to start over in our mid forties. Has anyone else been thru this before? I'm done stressing out over this but it would be nice to hear some one elses' stories. I think life is a journey and I'm on the roller coaster right now.
Well, I think you were more successful and skillful than I was, but my loss occured back with the stock market fiasco. I lost over $200K in stock option values when my options dove from $134 a share to $4 a share. I had thought that 'money' would pay off my house and give me financial freedom, instead it evaporated very quickly. I recovered from that and did well with real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area and then later in Las Vegas, but boy did that take the air out of my sails and cut me down to size when I least expected it.
We had a construction buisness, but do to the fact that we wouldnt hire illegals to do the work, we just couldnt keep up and lost jobs to contractors that would hire them and pay very little so they kept their costs down. We lost our business, house, cars, money in bank account, credit. That was 5 years ago and we are still recovering. But we are in our late 30's now so I guess it was better to happen early in life rather than later.
We had a construction buisness, but do to the fact that we wouldnt hire illegals to do the work, we just couldnt keep up and lost jobs to contractors that would hire them and pay very little so they kept their costs down. We lost our business, house, cars, money in bank account, credit. That was 5 years ago and we are still recovering. But we are in our late 30's now so I guess it was better to happen early in life rather than later.
Jeepers Nea1...that is a real hard slam to have taken I have trouble getting credit because I haven't used it in a few years. I paid off everything and cut up my credit cards now only using my debit for things I need, so it comes right out of my checking account. In America, even if you own everything free and clear, it's hard to get credit unless you carry existing revolving debt! Ironic isn't it? Even so, they can suck my middle finger. I refuse to ever be a debt slave again.
I never lost a large amount of money. Usually a few dollars here and there. Ive gotten ripped off on ebay a few times and once lost $100. I invest in coins and have lost several dollars when they sold too cheap.
I'm not a large stock investor and the few I do have (Chevron, Exxon-Mobil, Berkshire-Hathaway, and a few others) are doing well but my parents lost a good chunk of change when the GM stock they bought at $50/ share back in 1994 fell to $32/ share in 2000. They sold most of it off thinking it would fall more (which it did). Probably a $20,000-$30,000 hit which is pretty big in my book.
But they own an enormous amount of Chevron stock ($8/ share back in the late 70's) so the GM hit didn't hurt them much financially.
Almost lost a lot of money once to a **** but got out of it.
Lost money by leaving Whole Foods as a manager before the stock split several times and they started opening tons of other stores.
Lost a lot of money when my grandmother had several strokes and my grandfather talked me into putting the trust fund she had set up for me into his name "in trust" to me. After she passed away he got remarried and made a new will leaving everything to his horrible new wife. Sorry, feel bad telling that story but it hurt me a great deal and maybe someone out there will learn a lesson from my mistake, trust no one!
I lost 26,000 in under a minute.Entered a trade and was in the money,then I stepped away from the computer to use the restroom.Within that time I was in the restroom,the company who's stock I was trading issued a very negative press release and it tanked hard and fast!I sat down about a minute later to a loss of 26k.Such is trading.
I lost 26,000 in under a minute.Entered a trade and was in the money,then I stepped away from the computer to use the restroom.Within that time I was in the restroom,the company who's stock I was trading issued a very negative press release and it tanked hard and fast!I sat down about a minute later to a loss of 26k.Such is trading.
So is that were the term that it all went down the toilet came from?
Never lost huge amounts but we have never had to cash in our stocks. The investments we have are diversified and any money in the stock market is for the longhaul. I'm not a day trader or anything so I really don't care if it drops a bit as I'm not selling. If I've got 10 or more years to ride it out it usually corrects itself and goes back up. There are only a few stocks that never recover so that is why being diversified helps. I don't look at my home solely as an investment as far as the dollar amount is concerned. It is an investment into our family as we live in it and enjoy it. I think that is why so many people are hurting in the real estate area. Our society has become so transient that people are too willing to ride anything out or they are always hot on the trail of the next "hot" spot. When everyone that buys a house in these "hot" spots and expects to sell it for huge profit w/in 2-3 years after awhile it just can not keep going. Slow and steady growth is much better. Our biggest risk is our investment in our own company. We helped put the money and time into it to get it going and it has been worth it. We just have to be smart enough to know when to sell. Which I always say for the right price it is for sale. LOL!!!
Yes, I did. Lost everything. The accumulated assets of working two and three jobs at a time for 30 years, being smart, taking risks, reinvesting, and working like a dog.
A dozen properties and a couple of large businesses: rental properties, a custom home, two summer homes, a farm, a half dozen commercial buildings, and acerage (mostly all waterfront), plus two established businesses one of which brought in more than a million dollars a year, and some of which were free & clear.
The first hit was from the government. They closed down the street my business was on to all access for most of a year, no advance notification and no time frame. Entryways to several of my buildings were closed off entirely to necessary ingress or egress. Traffic was rerouted and the pavement was torn up. There was no way to shoulder the expense to move a large three building multifaceted enterprise to an alternative location. All of my business was reliant on people being able to get in to me.
The second, and smaller, hit was the divorce in which he used the results of his moral failings to claim ill health as a result of them and win all of the remainder of our assets; those that didn't get sold at cost or below due to 'divorce fire sale' or 'bank note repayments' involving the business. He walked with approx a quarter mil.
All in all I figure I lost a million excluding what he got. That's why I tell people you can plan all you want (god knows I did) and there are still times when things which you can't control (and believe me I pretty good at that) and which you can't fight no matter how hard you try even if you nearly kill yourself doing so.
Recovery is not an option at this point in my life, survival possibly.
Last edited by Sgoldie; 04-05-2007 at 07:19 PM..
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I have trouble getting credit because I haven't used it in a few years. I paid off everything and cut up my credit cards now only using my debit for things I need, so it comes right out of my checking account. In America, even if you own everything free and clear, it's hard to get credit unless you carry existing revolving debt! Ironic isn't it? Even so, they can suck my middle finger. I refuse to ever be a debt slave again.
