Have you ever lost a lot of money and were able to earn it back?

[Bluesky91]

Do DH and I lost a lot of money in a failed business. We took our chances. We did quite well until 2019ish. Managed to pay back our mortgage entirely by the age of 38. At this point, we re-mortgaged our house to start a business with a friend. It went quite well for a couple of years. Then covid hit and within months, we had to close it down. £500k down. Half our net worth.
We managed to find good jobs, but I’m still struggling to come to terms with it. We are in mid 40s now and are seriously worried about retirement. We are ok, putting away money in pensions religiously. But there is still a lot of fear and anxiety.

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Did anyone here lose money like us, a lot , then managed to bounce back ? How did you come to terms with the loss?

Oh dear - stand by for being slammed...

we had to close it down. £500k down. Half our net worth.

Your net worth is still 500k? you both have good jobs, you don't have a mortgage, you have good pensions which you religiously pay into, but you are anxious and can't get over the loss.

Its gone; even if you do bounce back and make the 500k back - it'll be new money, not the money you lost; you need to put that in your past and look forward into your future. You're in a very positive position.

Why would the OP get slammed?
"At this point, we re-mortgaged our house to start a business"

The OP does have a mortgage. And a £500k net worth could be entirely tied up in her property. In some parts of the UK that could be a bog standard 3 bed mid-terrace house. It's not necessarily half a million quid in the bank for holidays and luxury.

That being said, I do agree with the thought that that money is gone. You need to start fresh and rebuild. I can imagine how gut-wrenching it is OP to have worked hard and it to fall apart.

Well done for getting back up and plodding on.

slammed... Sometimes people on MN can be unkind when people state they have a net worth more than 15p and a bag of crisps!

I agree with this. Brings out the haters - particularly when it’s women posting their net worth.

what happened to sister solidarity and seeing women succeed??

Loads of very rich people are in a boom/bust cycle - look at Donald Trump. Debts the size of a small kingdom and then he becomes president of the USA. Anything is possible OP.

Doesn’t add up: how can you have 1/2m net worth and be posting on here about money. How much is your mortgage

Who would slam OP for losing £500k?

OP, I’m so sorry. No advice but you’re doing all the right things.

I hope things get better. Hope someone with experience of this will come along soon.

To answer your question @Bluesky91 yes. I lost a ton of money in a start up investment. And time. 3 odd years of effort for nought. Except it wasn't for nought. I didn't gain in terms of money, but I did gain in experience. I learned more than any college course I could have taken.

So, I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and set about getting another job using the experience. I ended up more than tripling the annual salary I had before leaving work for the start up, and have earned more back than I put in. I'm still paying off debts mind you, and work has been a challenge since the Trussterfuck. The downside of being higher up the ladder is that there are fewer jobs, however I have been in the luxurious position of being able to take a year out. Could do with that period finishing now and getting back to the earning side of the equation.

Yes I have. It comes back

Yes, I went bankrupt in 2013 with over £70k debt. Got married in 2015, DH is a high earner and pays all our bills, which allowed me to take risks with investing using my smaller income as we didn't really need it to maintain our lifestyle. Researched companies carefully and have turned around enough returns to buy a London house outright.

I'd say take a good hard look at the reality of it.
Accept that you tried and failed. There's no shame in it. Reflect on what you've learned, but be truthful to yourselves. Unless you are looking at what happened in the past to learn, just forgive yourself and move on as much as you can.

You probably need to readjust your expectations of your lifestyle and career long term. Accept the 2 in the hand that you have. In terms of bouncing back, if you are considering another venture then again, spread the risk (use investor's or lender's money, partners, limited liability company etc). Do your research, use experts wisely.

key lesson here: understand risk, and protect your bottom line.

Also can you convert any of the skills you learnt? My husband and I have exited our respective businesses and both pick up well earning consultancy and advisory roles as well as small employed roles that pay the bills. These help us network and we have in turn made small investments. However we will not be starting any projects ourselves.

Sit down and do some financial planning. That will soon tell you exactly what you need to do to bounce back.

Op you've done really well, please don't be so hard on yourself. Covid was just shit, that's not on you. Now you've done a great job getting yourself a good job. It's understandable that you're upset, but you need to be proud of yourself for picking yourself back up!