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Sorry that this happened. You're not alone feeling this way. I have lost about 95% of my liquid net worth this year, due to hubris, basically. The first half

Sorry that this happened. You're not alone feeling this way. I have lost about 95% of my liquid net worth this year, due to hubris, basically. The first half of 2022 for me was waking up every morning and feeling like puking a little as I get more under water, closer to that margin call, plunging through my stops. After almost a year of this, I have found a perspective that is helpful for me and may be helpful for you. It is my firm belief that you are meant to learn certain things in life, and your subconscious very carefully and meticulously arranges your life circumstances to learn these things. This is why you often find yourself shaking your head and saying "I got myself into this". It may be different for you, but I have realized that the thing I needed to learn is that my net worth is not my self-worth. I realized that I've desperately been trying to make money my whole life so that people will like me and I can avoid the pain that I saw caused by poverty when I grew up. I have been blessed to have money and realize that neither one of those things are true, and then I guess I have been blessed to be tested on what I learned the first time around by losing it. I have also come to realize that I don't need all that much money to live a comfortable life. These are the things that I learned. They may not be what you are intended to learn. So, take it easy on yourself. What happened may have been completely out of your control, or it might have been something that you contributed to. Either way, it's done. Take some time to feel shitty, because you will, but consider changing perspectives and start looking at what you can learn from this and maybe even what opportunities have opened up because of it.

thehappypm 4y ago
What was your motivation to invest in such a way that 95% loss was even possible?
- actionablefiber 4y ago
  Probably to make money? GP mentions margin calls, which suggests they're investing with leverage.
  - thehappypm 4y ago
    Sounds a lot like gambling.
    - nurettin 4y ago
      When you step out of the door, that is gambling. If you choose to stay inside, that also is gambling. You are a gambler.
      - thehappypm 4y ago
        Bit of a stretch to equate every single risk assessment with gambling
        nurettin 4y ago
        You mean it is a gamble?
- User23 4y ago
  The everything bubble gave a lot of people the mistaken impression that they were genius tier investors. I know I personally spent a lot of emotional energy on checking my own ego.
  - jmathai 4y ago
    I’m involved in a few personal finance communities and this is very true. I especially see it in people who are in their 20s or 30s and started investing after the US subprime crash.
- jeremyt 4y ago
  To make money, why else? Look folks, this wasn't my retirement money, it was money I didn't particularly need and had no idea what to do with. It always worked for me before. My investing history is a long string of huge successes beginning in 2014. I've always invested in companies I believed in and that had solid fundamentals. It appears the market doesn't give a shit about company fundamentals right now. Most small growth companies are down ~80%. The two companies I lost everything in are currently priced below liquidation value. Yeah, I bought on margin, so that gave me 2x leverage, so if it goes down 50% you get margin called. Like I said. I have learned lots.
  - sillysaurusx 4y ago
    For what it’s worth, you can convert your losses into a few thousand upvotes on https://reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets https://reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets
    - jeremyt 4y ago
      I know you're joking, but as much as i've learned that my self worth doesn't come from making money, it doesn't come from bragging about losing it either :)
      - noloblo 4y ago
        It is my firm belief that you are meant to learn certain things in life, and your subconscious very carefully and meticulously arranges your life circumstances to learn these things. This is why you often find yourself shaking your head and saying "I got myself into this". @jeremyt care to elaborate on this thesis and wondering how you came to this conclusion, was it a self journey
        jeremyt 4y ago
        I was attempting to keep religion out of it, but this is the Buddhist worldview. I believe that my soul chose this life to learn what I'm learning. And whether I'm conscious of it or not, the "higher self" part of me hangs around in the background to ensure that I learn what I need to. This isn't typically what one would expect from what other religions would call a "guardian angel", but that's kind of how I see it. Like, sometimes I can't take losses. That's deep family karma from being afraid of being poor. However, being unable to take losses means that you make poor decisions. Not being able to make good financial decisions makes people poor, and just continues the intergenerational cycle of poverty. So, my unconscious "higher self" carefully arranges events such that I encounter maximum pain for going along with this karmic thing I'm supposed to transcend. The pain facilitates the learning, and thus the freedom from the karma. Ultimately, the point of existence is to experience everything that can be experienced in every lifetime and learn everything that can be learned, resulting in ultimate freedom from karma and liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Or, you can just meditate a lot, and I guess I'm working on that.
pavlov 4y ago
> “I have realized that the thing I needed to learn is that my net worth is not my self-worth.” This is a really important point. I’m not a native English speaker. When I first heard an American use the expression “he’s worth X dollars”, it felt extremely wrong. Someone’s worth should never be attached to a dollar value! I’ve got used to it by now, but I still wish Americans would come up with a more constructive way of talking about wealth than “personal worth.”
xvilka 4y ago
> I realized that I've desperately been trying to make money my whole life so that people will like me Money themselves have zero value and certainly shouldn't be viewed from that perspective. Their only value as a tool to get things done or buy something. Nothing more.
chatterhead 4y ago
This is insightful and self-reflecting. Thanks for sharing it.

thehappypm 4y ago

What was your motivation to invest in such a way that 95% loss was even possible?

actionablefiber 4y ago
Probably to make money? GP mentions margin calls, which suggests they're investing with leverage.
- thehappypm 4y ago
  Sounds a lot like gambling.
  - nurettin 4y ago
    When you step out of the door, that is gambling. If you choose to stay inside, that also is gambling. You are a gambler.
    - thehappypm 4y ago
      Bit of a stretch to equate every single risk assessment with gambling
      - nurettin 4y ago
        You mean it is a gamble?
User23 4y ago
The everything bubble gave a lot of people the mistaken impression that they were genius tier investors. I know I personally spent a lot of emotional energy on checking my own ego.
- jmathai 4y ago
  I’m involved in a few personal finance communities and this is very true. I especially see it in people who are in their 20s or 30s and started investing after the US subprime crash.
jeremyt 4y ago
To make money, why else? Look folks, this wasn't my retirement money, it was money I didn't particularly need and had no idea what to do with. It always worked for me before. My investing history is a long string of huge successes beginning in 2014. I've always invested in companies I believed in and that had solid fundamentals. It appears the market doesn't give a shit about company fundamentals right now. Most small growth companies are down ~80%. The two companies I lost everything in are currently priced below liquidation value. Yeah, I bought on margin, so that gave me 2x leverage, so if it goes down 50% you get margin called. Like I said. I have learned lots.
- sillysaurusx 4y ago
  For what it’s worth, you can convert your losses into a few thousand upvotes on https://reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets https://reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets
  - jeremyt 4y ago
    I know you're joking, but as much as i've learned that my self worth doesn't come from making money, it doesn't come from bragging about losing it either :)
    - noloblo 4y ago
      It is my firm belief that you are meant to learn certain things in life, and your subconscious very carefully and meticulously arranges your life circumstances to learn these things. This is why you often find yourself shaking your head and saying "I got myself into this". @jeremyt care to elaborate on this thesis and wondering how you came to this conclusion, was it a self journey
      - jeremyt 4y ago
        I was attempting to keep religion out of it, but this is the Buddhist worldview. I believe that my soul chose this life to learn what I'm learning. And whether I'm conscious of it or not, the "higher self" part of me hangs around in the background to ensure that I learn what I need to. This isn't typically what one would expect from what other religions would call a "guardian angel", but that's kind of how I see it. Like, sometimes I can't take losses. That's deep family karma from being afraid of being poor. However, being unable to take losses means that you make poor decisions. Not being able to make good financial decisions makes people poor, and just continues the intergenerational cycle of poverty. So, my unconscious "higher self" carefully arranges events such that I encounter maximum pain for going along with this karmic thing I'm supposed to transcend. The pain facilitates the learning, and thus the freedom from the karma. Ultimately, the point of existence is to experience everything that can be experienced in every lifetime and learn everything that can be learned, resulting in ultimate freedom from karma and liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Or, you can just meditate a lot, and I guess I'm working on that.

pavlov 4y ago

> “I have realized that the thing I needed to learn is that my net worth is not my self-worth.” This is a really important point. I’m not a native English speaker. When I first heard an American use the expression “he’s worth X dollars”, it felt extremely wrong. Someone’s worth should never be attached to a dollar value! I’ve got used to it by now, but I still wish Americans would come up with a more constructive way of talking about wealth than “personal worth.”

xvilka 4y ago

> I realized that I've desperately been trying to make money my whole life so that people will like me Money themselves have zero value and certainly shouldn't be viewed from that perspective. Their only value as a tool to get things done or buy something. Nothing more.

chatterhead 4y ago

This is insightful and self-reflecting. Thanks for sharing it.