My Most Shitty Investment Challenge: The Stock Market

I am accepting this challenge from @katerinaramm to share the worst investment I ever made.

Now I'm not going to lie; STEEM was dollars and cents a pretty bad investment, in that after a couple years posting I have less dollar value than I originally invested. I however would not classify it as a shitty investment, because I've enjoyed the experience here (now on HIVE) and relationships I've built. If I look at the payback as more than just fiat exchange value, it has been well worth it.

I've had a lot of good investments over the years, but the consistent loser for me is always the US stock market.

I like to tell people that if they want to make a fortune in the stock market they should just ask for my advice then do the opposite.

I'm really that consistent!

I started buying stocks just a couple months before the crash of 2000. I invested heavily into funds from a company called Janus. Anyone remember them? They were later found out to be the biggest risk takers, and therefore the biggest losers in the crash.

I did have one good fund that proceeded to do well in the coming years, but after Janus crashed I decided to sell that one too, so I wasn't there for the rise.

The next time I decided to buy stocks was around 2012. The market was depressed and I simply bought a balanced fund, 60% total stock market and 40% total bond market. Had I just left it at that I would have done fine. Instead I kept trading between different funds and missed most of the increase. Then in early 2017 I cashed out completely. If you've paid any attention you know that between late 2017 and early 2020 there was quite a run-up in the market. I of course missed it.

But honestly my worst stock investments have been the ones I didn't make! The tips I didn't follow.

I was told about Dell back in 1990. It was a stunning investment. But I didn't buy it.

I started trying to mine Bitcoin in December 2009. Not only did I give up once I learned I needed to get a desktop computer to do it successfully, but I then paid no attention to the space for many years, even though I should have just asked one of the folks in the message room I was in getting help setting it up to simply sell some to me!

I like to think I've turned a corner on my bad inner compass when it comes to investing. I've utterly crossed the stock market off my list of things to be involved with, but I've done well in other investments. I anticipate crypto also being a very good place to focus my financial intentions.

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Thanks for visiting!

Did you have a shitty investment you would like to share with us?

Check out the very first post by @trumpman :)

These are the rules you need to keep in mind

You have to share at least one shitty investment you have made in your life. One per post. There is no limit, share as many as you like. The more you share, the more we will laugh at your expense. WIN - WIN.
An investment can be anything. Yeah, usually we think of stocks or crypto or financial products when thinking of investments. But we make investments, small or big, almost everyday. For example, it can be something like an expensive gym equipment you bought to get fit but never used ;)

Since this is a financial related challenge, please use https://leofinance.io to publish your post(s). Remember, this will help you get more HIVE and LEO votes. Who doesn't want more free money?

Nominate up to 3 people to participate in every of your posts
If you are a social outcast with no friends to invite you, just join the fun without an invitation

Use the tag "#shittyinvestments" as one of your tags for easy exposure!

Optional: Share your posts on twitter and the leofinance subreddit to help leo, and consequently HIVE grow!

I nominate @newageinv @josediccus and @stellabelle.

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