Do you know anyone who lost it all in the Great Recession?
Just saw a relative who I knew was well off but never realized who he actually was. Apparently he was nearly a billionaire with a real estate empire (high 9-figures) but lost everything in 2009/2010. Still lives in a million dollar home in a gated gated community but it’s pretty modest for what he could have.
Idk how I would react if that ever happened to me. Crazy how you can be king and then lose the throne.
I know a few people that lost ~70%+ of their NW. One had a biotechnology company that couldn't raise a subsequent round of funding after successful phase II trials. By the time markets came back, most of their patents and IP had aged out and they couldn't really afford to reboot in the same way as they also lost some critical talent.
I have some relatives who were in their 60's and relatively wealthy but over-leveraged. They ended up going BK, lost the majority of their assets, and will likely have to work for the rest of their lives. Definitely a cautionary tale for why it's important to live within your means
Know a handful of back office/middle office BB employees who quit finance all together and went into medicine instead. The job market was absolutely brutal from 2008-2010 especially in finance.
In terms of generational wealth, heard of a rich family that stayed in their home until it got foreclosed (was heavily invested in gold/real estate, probably had $10M in assets including a private boat and a mansion with a small private beach). They were too prideful to sell it ASAP and eventually lost a ton of money.
Know a surgeon who lost about $500K in Florida real estate assets. I don't think it hurt him that much. May have postponed retirement a year or two.
I actually think I know more people who got hurt really bad by the 2001 crash (6-7 figure losses in the stock market or the shares they had within a VC-backed startup that was pre-IPO).
A professor from community college had his retirement delayed for a bit after the market crash.
Besides that, I worked in mortgages assisting people refinance post 2008 market crash. Many people treat their home real estate as an investment, a lot lost so much money.
Personally? This may feel off topic, but l feel people follow suit on social media when people promote investments on XYZ product/item.
Often times people ask me why I don’t invest and park my money because I’m losing against inflation. This has often been the theme of conversations with many “finance” professionals I’ve run into. I do plenty, it’s called the 401k, Roth IRA.
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