Let me preface this post with my age for those who may relate. I am 33 years old. I make $75k/yr and live in a HCOL city. If a mods deem this post not to be worthy I shall take it down. I want to be a cautionary tale for those who are in a similiar situation.
I have been a user here for almost a decade. I got caught up looking at the crazy gains some people make here through pure luck and I gambled the same hoping to reach the same level of success. Initially, I was doing well. I had initially deposited $50k (half of my life savings 5 years ago) and was able to bring the account up to $120k. I thought I could day trade full time with my success. I saw a post several years ago of a guy who turned $10k into $96k within 2 hours on 0DTE SPY options. That's when it started to go downhill. I thought I could do the same and the next week, I thought I saw an opportunity and put in $5k into 0DTE SPY. It turned out okay. I was about to turn that $5k into $11k and was stoked. I felt like I was on the top of the world and the sky was the limit.
Since then I started to become more greedy and reckless with my trade orders. Needless to say, and to make this part of the story short, I had ended up losing everything. I felt depressed and felt like a failure. I revenge traded whenever I had. $132k within a day became $100k then I'd go all in hoping for a 30% 0DTE SPY gain. It didn't work out so I bought weeklies because someone on here mentioned that 0DTE are too risky and that weeklies gave the buyer time to break even if the trade goes the wrong way. Boy was this poor advice. I ended up losing it all within a week, holding and not cutting losses, hoping for a turn around. I wasn't familiar with theta decay back then.
I felt frustrated and felt that it was just bad luck. Fundamentals were good but the markets just didn't align – scam markets, right? I literally YOLOd the last $50k I had saved up and of course ended up losing that too within a month. I told myself I would quit trading SPY options for good. I deleted my Robinhood app and didn't trade for three years. I had $110 dollars remaining in my bank account.
Two years ago, I thought I had enough saved up again to try to trade. I had saved up $100k during the three years and decided to try again. This time I told myself I wouldn't gamble on 0DTE SPY options, or any options for that matter, just shared. Things were going okay again and I was about to grow the account to $125k in a year. Then one day I saw a post of someone posting a gain of nearly $500k from a $100k investment on options. I got jealous and tempted. I thought I was a better trader now that I had "studied" the market for 5-6 years. Initially, it worked out well. I was about to turn the $125k to $220k within four months and felt the same euphoria as I did five years ago.
Earlier this Summer, I went YOLO with the $220k hoping to reach $1mm via options. It didn't work out. I ended up losing every penny within a month.
Now here I am completely broke as a 33 yr old man. I started talking to a girl that I really vibe with earlier this year and was hoping to have a serious relationship with thoughts of possibly marrying her one day. That is no longer in the cards for me. My ego has been struck down and I feel like a total loser. I became depressed and lost most of my friends. I became a hermit and had to move back into my parents as a 33yr old man. I was also laid off from my job a few months ago to add insult to injury.
I don't know what to do at this point. I feel like I am at an age where I will never be able to hit financial success or get any gains back. I don't have a nest egg to grow. I feel hopeless. I know I am a failure and there is no way for me to come back from this. I am unable to sleep at nights. I wake up every few hours and just think, and think, about my losses. I grit my teeth in frustration and sometimes yell into my pillow. I am down to my last $1000 with unemployment benefits ending next month. Can anyone offer advice on how I can continue to survive? Is it possible to bounce back from this at 33? A relationship or marriage is something that I yearned for and now my chances seem gone. I had to break up with the girl I truly loved as I didn't want to become a burden to her financially. Any support or words of wisdom would be appreciated.
I need help and advice. Also a cautionary tale for others.
byu/Fantastic24mamba inwallstreetbets
Posted by Fantastic24mamba
35 Comments
Overthinking it, continue working and climbing the ladder and invest in stocks as opposed to options. You forsure fucked up but welcome to WS bets lol.
Most people don’t have the gust to save anything so I’d say if you did it once you can do it again!
Sir this is a Wendy’s inside a casino
Maybe try your luck at monthlies, see ya in two years hoss.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
When you fucked up the first time and decided not to do it again then why did you went again for options. And second instead of turning large account into small one, why not just start smaller and grow the account along with experience. Honestly 33 years old is not old at all. You can still start over. I have seen people way way older than you starting from $0 and have become millionaires. I want to add that you failed but you failed big than be a failure in life. Get over the regret and start over
Kernel Sanders didn’t start KFC until he was 66, now look at it. He went to countless places trying to sell his chicken recipe and everyone said “kick rocks” and then he said fuck it and opened his own chicken spot and boom, financial freedom and great riches.
It’s never too late to get back, just save like you’ve been doing and come up with some rules to follow for strict guidelines on trading.
Use small portions of your account on the trades so if it goes south you aren’t wiped out. And if it goes good you add to your cash.
Use some patience for entering positions, if you wait a few hours at the minimum or a few days if you’re looking to enter a position.
Try to stick to a strict stop loss to limit the losers and don’t let a green trade go red, profit is profit even if it’s 1%.
I too need to follow these lessens, I had a big win yesterday and lost it all today. I’ve been feeling pretty awful over it especially with it being like the 10th time I’ve blown the account.
I need to take a break after getting a big win and to let things sit. I went right into another trade and in less than 24 hours lost it all.
You’ll get through this, just keep pushing. There’s always more money to be made and treat the money lost as tuition paid to the markets
I am sorry man. Just keep working hard and stop traiding. If you were able to save that much money before, you sure can donit all over again. You are not too old. If you save enough again just put the money in an index and let it be, dont trade again. Best of lucks
Brother, you need to remember one simple thing moving forward: there is only a number of people on this planet who can trade successfully over a long period of time. On average, everyone is losing or breaking even at best. People here either get lucky or have some inside info. The number of losing trades in this sub by far exceeds those who post crazy gains. You get brainwashed into thinking that everyone is winning but it is not so.
Take it as a very expensive lesson and move on. I have been tempted so many times to throw my savings into something because people here are winning big but I resist the urge because I know what’s behind the curtains. Behind the curtains is a Wendy’s.
You’re addicted to gambling OP. Get help.
I’m impressed you saved 100k over 3 years in HCOL city with a 75k salary….damn.
lol. Motherfucker, you are 33, and presumably without kids. Shut the fuck up and get back on the horse, learn from what greed made you do, and if you decide to invest personally, throw that shit in SPY and live the boring, stable life.
I made a mil off 5k and proceeded to lose a good chunk of it, but I’d rather live and learn than stand by not trying to catch a little bit of the American dream.
Hey regard stop feeling sorry for urself. It happens U R 33 still a baby pull ur g string out ur crack stop working the Wendy’s dumpster for cheeseburgers and start investing, not yoloing. You just said you saved 100G in 3 years wtf you crying for. Do it again
You need separate investing and trading accounts. Trade with 10-20% of your bag and put your profits into your investing account. If you go broke in your trading account take a break and clear your head before you put more into trading.
This sounds totally prompted chat. If I’m wrong and you saved 100k in 3 years before you started again gave it away. Sorry for your loss. U know what to do.
I’m not reading all of that, double down!
Stop trading. Get a job. Cut on expenses. Save as much as possible. Stop trading. Get mental health support if possible. Stop trading. Look ahead and do things one step at a time. Try to recover your relationship being honest about the fact that you don’t have savings and will take you some time to get on your feet. You can demonstrate to be able to get a job and take care of yourself without being a burden. Stop trading
You belong here, goodluck. Also don’t be scared to go back to the stock maket mabey just avoid naked options.
You only hear stories of those who was on the right side and won. You rarely hear stories of the thousands who were like you that lost it all. There’s a reason this sub blew up in the beginning, it was the glorious loss porn. You’re still young, you have another 33 years of working. Keep your head up, that next option will be a winner.
Go to therapy. Nobody on Reddit can help you.
lol, I’m not reading all that shit. Perhaps you should be a novelist or something.
How did you save up 100k in 3 years?
Dude just admit to yourself that you have a gambling addiction and never do that shit again.
Welcome to the mentally fucked club.
I lost around $200k daytrading equities, not options
My bank account now has less than $50k, it’s fucking pathetic.
The first step to severe depression is thinking shoulda coulda woulda 24/7.
Should have stopped after losing X amount, but we didn’t.
Shouldn’t have chased losses, but we did.
Coulda invested in index funds, but we didn’t.
You have to just move on or you’re fucked mentally.
As you might be able to guess, I no longer day trade and came clean to my wife.
I am lucky she didn’t divorce me.
Anyway back to you and enough about me! Check out gamblers anonymous and /r/problemgambling
Stop losses.
Also don’t toss it all in on a single trade
https://preview.redd.it/s91mjj5idgrd1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=29637bf472cb573488ddfce4dda021a643f898ba
This post was right below yours in my feed
I started with 15k making 30k a year by saving up as much as I could. Wasn’t easy but I saved 15k in a year and doubled the 15k the following year
You make 75k a year and are crying about 100k? Get over yourself
You have a huge amount of disposable income to save
Go make 1/3 of what you make right now and see how much you can save. lol
I’m older than you but I make less than you salary wise. The moral of the story is just make more money, save as much as you can, and be less dumb next time.
Stop being pathetic. Get help with addiction. Start interviewing for jobs. Focus on that career. Get offline and get a non-risky hobby with friends. Get the girl back that you dumped in your self-flagellation. Never get on this sub again
You know what sucks more than all of this when you’re 33? Still being in that same place at 43. Which is the trajectory that you’re setting for yourself.
Get to work
Yeah at 33, I would suggest you never trade again. You have a gambling problem. Focus on getting a good job, and save/invest everything you have for the next 30 years and you should be fine to retire.
Money is a hoe my friend. It keeps jumping from here and there. Focus on the lesson and move on. Lot of life left.
This is just gambling addiction, you’re chasing that high and even when you get it, you’ll keep wanting more. The problem isn’t options trading, the problem is you betting everything you own on these options. Clearly you are smart enough to hold a job and earn an income because every time you lost money you ended up getting more eventually.
In the future why not gamble using only a subset of your money instead of all or nothing? Invest a larger portion of your paycheck into index funds (actually buy the stock and hold) so you are able to create a safety net for yourself.
Holy fuck are you me?
Don’t know what to do? As a grown man, you should take full responsibility for your actions and move on with your life. Get things sorted out and move forward!
Sorry if that sounded harsh, but no one forced you to do what you did.
Turn your negative into a positive, everyone falls down at some point in life, the important thing is to get back up and keep moving forward. If anything living with your parents can help you save back up again faster, get two jobs if you have to & aggressively invest/contribute to 401K & dividend growth stocks. Don’t compare your gains with others, comparison is the thief of joy, be grateful of what you have.
Dude, you’re 33. You have a lifetime left to learn and correct. I quit drinking at 38. Didn’t learn how to deal with sobriety until 40. Still working on my wrongs. In the last 6 years I’ve fixed relationships, trust, finances. Gambling on options is just a different form of vice. I wish you all the luck in the world and hope you understand that not only can you recover from this, you’re young enough that you’re going to make even more bad decisions and recover from those as well. Life is a fucking mountain with no top. You just keep navigating the terrain and putting one foot in front of the other.
Third times a charm
Love and money are independent. Or at least they should be. It sounds like you mix them up. Involving emotions in trading and involving money in love.
Simple fix. Do everything opposite. Buy and hold puts. Date section 8
Im joking a little but there’s a lot of truth to it too. You still have plenty of time to turn things around and have a normal life too. I wasn’t a believer until I was pushed into it, but therapy can change your life. I would highly suggest that before taking any big next steps. Keep your head up and stay positive. There are many of us in the same situation, so thanks for sharing your story.