Worker loses 90% of life savings in leveraged US stock bets

A worker's account of losing more than 90% of 500 million won ($373,000) — savings accumulated over a lifetime — by pouring it all into leveraged US stock products has gone viral online.

A post by a person identified only as A appeared Friday on Blind, an anonymous community platform for office workers, describing how a sharp drop in US markets wiped out roughly 450 million won of their savings.

A, who said they had worked at an accounting firm, wrote that they had saved close to 500 million won through years of work, only to put their entire fortune into US leveraged products during a bull run. "I don't know what came over me," A wrote. "It was, of course, the peak."

The losses were modest at first — around 10% — but deepened steadily over time.

"When I was down 10%, I told myself it was just a correction and prices would surge again," A wrote. "But once it went past minus 30 to 40 percent, I sensed something was wrong." Still, A admitted to clinging to the hope that the principal would recover within a month. "It was a pathetic thought," A wrote.

Unable to endure the prolonged downturn, A ultimately cut their losses — but then made things worse by plowing the remaining funds into other leveraged products in an attempt to recoup them.

"I couldn't hold on. After cutting my losses, I forced my way into other leveraged products, cut again, and kept repeating the cycle," A wrote. "Now I'm down more than 90 percent. About 450 million won has just evaporated into thin air."

A said the ordeal has spilled into daily life — unable to focus at work or eat properly, A said they had lost a significant amount of weight.

Fellow users offered words of comfort. "How could all that effort be reduced to just a number called money," one commenter wrote. Others added: "I want to give you a pat on the back and ask how many years of honest, diligent living it took to save 500 million won" and "Reading this feels like reading my own diary. I want to find this person and give them a hug."