"I Invested 500 Million Won and Lost 450 Million"... Office Worker Loses Over 10 Kg

Repeatedly reinvested in leveraged products to recoup losses
Less than 50 million won remains of the roughly 500 million won invested
Affecting daily life... "Lost more than 10 kg"

A story has emerged of an office worker who lost most of the approximately 500 million won he had saved over a lifetime of work after investing in leveraged U.S. stock products. He held on through the losses, hoping stock prices would rebound, and eventually sold his shares. But he then reinvested in other leveraged products, further increasing his losses.

According to Blind, an anonymous community for office workers, a post titled "I lost most of the money I had saved while working" was uploaded on November 6. The author, identified as A, wrote, "I saved about 500 million won while working, but invested all my assets in leveraged U.S. stock products and lost about 450 million won."

A said he had high hopes for a bull market when he made the investment. When he initially lost about 10%, he thought it was a temporary correction and expected stock prices to surge again. But as his losses grew to 30-40%, he began to realize there was a problem with his investment.

Still unable to give up hope of recovering his principal, A thought his investment would recover if he waited about a month. In the end, however, he could not bear the losses and sold his shares. He later reinvested in other leveraged products to recoup his losses, but said they grew even larger as he repeatedly cut his losses and reinvested.

A story has emerged of an office worker who lost most of the approximately 500 million won he had saved over a lifetime of work after investing in leveraged U.S. stock products. Pixabay

A said his current losses are slightly more than 90%. Of the approximately 500 million won he initially invested, less than 50 million won remains. He regretted his investment decisions, saying about 450 million won had disappeared in an instant.

The psychological shock and intense self-reproach he felt after losing most of his assets in failed investments affected his daily life as well. A said, "I find myself staring blankly for much of the day, and it's hard to focus on work," adding, "I haven't been able to eat properly, and I've lost more than 10 kg."

Blind users who read the story left comments offering sympathy and encouragement. Some empathized with how it felt to lose a lifetime of savings and encouraged A to start over, while others pointed to the risks of greedily trying to make a large amount of money in a short period and investing too heavily in leveraged products.

Leveraged products are financial instruments designed to track the returns of an underlying asset at a specified multiple. Common 2x and 3x leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are designed to reflect twice and three times, respectively, the daily returns of an underlying index or stock. They can generate greater returns when stock prices rise, but losses are also magnified when prices fall.

Leveraged ETFs, in particular, require caution when held over the long term, unlike ordinary stocks. Because their leverage is reset daily based on returns, their value can fall in volatile markets, even if the underlying asset returns to its original price. This is known as the "negative compounding effect" or volatility drag.

In May this year, the Financial Services Commission also issued guidance for investors regarding the introduction of single-stock leveraged and inverse products, warning of the risk of sharp losses and principal erosion in markets that move sideways over the long term.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.