Worst Investment You've Ever Made?

[jodi]

Re: Worst Investment You've Ever Made?

1. My third car was bought used, but still $12k at a time when I had just graduated with $15k in loans and a job making $15,500/year. I paid it off two years early, but it was totally too much money for the amount of time I had it.
2. The first two years of college at a private university when I could have gotten the same from a local school. Being salutatorian, I definitely was expected to go to a four-year private school, so I never considered otherwise. Even though I had great scholarships and financial aid, I still graduated with the aforementioned $15k in debt, which never seems like a big deal at the time you take out the loans. Still paying it off 7 years later with a few years left...but I'm not saying college was not worth the money, but you don't always need the biggest and best.

[BCHGRL]

Re: Worst Investment You've Ever Made?

Renting when I could've purchased a home. I just wanted to live on the beach, and I could only afford it as a renter.

The housing market in my area tripled overnight, and when I did buy a home, I paid almost twice what the original owners did. They only owned the home 2 years.

[Fern]

Re: Worst Investment You've Ever Made?

This wasn't really an investment, but a few years ago i pre-paid for a winter's supply of heating oil with a local supplier. The company continued taking money in from hundreds of customers without delivering the oil. They went belly up. It got a lot of press in the papers,the attorney general got involved, but becus i was an unsecured creditor, i never got my money back. I didn't get burnt as badly as others; it was only a few hundred dollars.

[JBinKC]

Re: Worst Investment You've Ever Made?

I went thru 3 years of dental school. My college degree is in chemistry with 30 semester hrs of accounting . I wanted to become a pharmacist after I decided that dentistry wasn't for me but the schools wouldn 't accept any transfered credits towards a pharmacy degree even though I have taken about 90% of the curriculum for a pharmacist.

Although I have made a big sum in the stock market I could have only have imagined the amount of money I would have now with that wasted capital.

Investment wise my worst decisions were (1) have partners in my stock dealings whose influence in delaying capital gains cost me about 100K. (In my retirement account I sold the stock for a 60 K gain). (2) not selling when the earnings numbers didn't come through yet I held because of the company's expansion. (company was Bennett Enviromental ticker BEL) I had let go of a little more than 200K of gains in a stock that way.

[Ima saver]

Re: Worst Investment You've Ever Made?

Buying rental houses. I thought the tenents would make my payments and someday I would own the houses free and clear! Wrong, they tore the houses up and I sold all three for a big loss.

[sweeps]

Re: Worst Investment You've Ever Made?

A close call... A year before my wife and I were to be married we attended a bridal fair. At one of the booths was this company -- Royal Prestige. They convinced us to visit their "no-pressure" seminar to view china and crystal stemware. In return, we were to receive a free travel voucher.

When we showed up, the presentation was not about china or crystal at all. It was about selling pots and pans. $2200 for the whole set. (!) Of course the "introductory" price was no good once you left the presentation.

They made a very convincing presentation, and since they target young, naive couples, they probably are successful. There were 2 other couples there. (We think one couple was planted because they made a lot of suspiciously positive comments.) Anyway, thankfully we talked ourselves out of it and walked away even though the salespeople really laid on the pressure and ultimately became extremely rude.

This is why I don't attend these kinds of sales presentations (for timeshares or whatever). If you know couples who are getting married, tell them to watch out for these scammers....

[Ima saver]

Re: Worst Investment You've Ever Made?

I think everyone that bought a timeshare is sorry that they did!

[Duchesse]

Re: Worst Investment You've Ever Made?

Twleve years of my life, married to the wrong person! [Automated by GetSmile]

We must be kindred souls. :

[Duchesse]

Re: Worst Investment You've Ever Made?

Buying rental houses. I thought the tenents would make my payments and someday I would own the houses free and clear! Wrong, they tore the houses up and I sold all three for a big loss.

Ditto, except I'm still stuck with one of them. The gas prices in NYC are skyrocketing. I want to sell but the house still needs quite a bit of work for me to make a profit. I'm in the process of fixing things,but it's slow going. It's hard for a single woman alone, but I refuse to sell at a loss, I've lost alot already.

I also bought 200 shares of Roxio on a tip from some loud mouth money magazine which said it could be the next Microsoft. I paid $10.25/share. I immediately knew it was a mistake and sold 150 shares for $9.25. By the time the ipod caught on, it knocked NAPSTER formerly Roxio out of the water and I had to sell at a sad $3.25. Add in the cost of the commission for buying, selling, and then selling. Forget about how long I "waited for it to go back up" Oh well, it happens to the best of us. I think I'll stay with the blue chips. I don't know what I was thinking anyway.

[PrincessPerky]

Re: Worst Investment You've Ever Made?

An MLM company, I though since I liked the toys I would find it easy to sell them, well I discovered that the toys I had grown up with were slowly being replaced by some lousy dumbed down versions...Before I totally realized this (it must just be this one toy, maybe they are having a bad season...) I spent about 300, but I got most of it back on my taxes, at least some of that was due t my stupid buisness decisions.

I still like the classics from their line, and I will still order them for my friends with new babies, but I won't sell the stuff anymore.

I have looked into MLM companies more and more and while many have some (or even lots) of good products, the mere idea that I have to pay to sell someone elses stuff, not to mention how hard it is to find someone to get the stuff off of! is rediculous. Thanks but if I want a good pot, stone, book, toy, knife or whatever I'll use my trusty internet!