Getting My Fingers Burnt

One of my three problems is solved! Alright, I have not divulged much, because I do not wish to trouble anyone. If I have said the full story, I believe people will help me out, but I do not want to burden others as everyone has their own problems already. Anyway, what happened was after I invested my CPF funds, they are generating quite a nice return. I have some other amounts tied up in insurance savings plans that are generating quite nice interest as well. So anyway, I thought why not do a real investment using whatever money I have and generate immediate returns?

People who know me know I am never one to take big risks. Which is why I never buy lottery or stocks and shares as well. But I grew impatient of waiting for my money to grow. I still have my intention of buying a place and hopefully a car as well, which is why I took the plunge and invested in the US market unit trust, hopefully to generate immediate returns. That was some time back when the market was doing well. There was a shortfall so I actually took a bank loan to finance my investment.

Alright, I admit, it was a stupid mistake on my part. Who was to know the market went down so fast? I started really panicking over the Freddie and Fannie situation and the bank run. I wanted to stop my investment, but by then it was too late. I have already suffered a loss. Not too big a sum, but big enough to wipe out most of my savings, or rather half of them. Luckily the other half of my money is tied up in insurance, otherwise I could have lost much more! Not to mention the moment the bank know I made a loss, it immediately started hounding me for the full payment, when it promised I could pay back in instalments!

I did not wish to disclose at first because I thought I could pool out whatever resources I still had left. But then this period of time, lots of expenditure started coming, like income tax (I always wonder why I pay so much tax when I do not seem to get any benefits), and my company cut half my salary in June and July for contribution to the Sichuan Relief Fund. The last straw was my course fees are also going to be due, paid in advance for next semester. In short, I am broke, and in debt.

The bank started calling me up everyday. I was so busy the past couple of weeks rushing out urgent issues and running everywhere. I was hardly in office. I could hardly pick up my phone, and when I did, the line got cut off. I was hardly at my desk so my office phone started ringing and no one picked up. I called the bank back but I was either put on hold or the line was engaged. So it started calling my home everyday and hounding my dad. My dad told me the bank had been calling me, I better do something.

In the end, at my wit’s end, I confessed to my mum the entire situation. I could tell my best friend of course, but she is preparing her wedding, so I do not want her to loan me any amount. I could tell my other close friends too, but they have their own obligations as well, like car loans. I will not feel good taking any loan from them. So I was on my own. I have no assets to my name which I can mortgage (a good thing at least). So I told my mum I needed to tell her something, but begged her not to chew me out. After she listened to what I had to say, she wrote out a cheque for me to pay off the bank loan. She said she kind of suspected it because the bank has been calling all the time.

It is a relief my mum agreed to help me out. But the problem is not yet over. After some calculations, I realized the amount she gave me was not enough, so I had to beg her for more tonight. This time round, I am pretty sure she will chew me out. In any case, I am paying her back in instalments, by giving her more household allowance from next month onwards. If I am lucky, I can pay her back in a year’s time, if not another two years or so. I know my mum is a great woman, which is why I look up to her the most! I only wish I can pay her back twofold or more in this lifetime for everything she has done!

Never will I do anything so stupid again! One lesson is more than enough! I have already gotten my fingers burnt badly!

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