How could my dad lose so much money so quickly?

[Anonymous]

I found out today that my father lost the majority of his retirement savings roughly $200,000 us dollars.

He wouldn't tell me how, just Said he doesn't want to talk about the issue, understandably it's caused him a lot of agony. I'm just puzzled as how he lost the money, he doesn't drink or gamble, is in a full time relationship.

How could he have lost that much money In a couple of months? I'm absolutely puzzled, he has usually been pretty good with decision making, and it's extremely out of character for this to happen.

He has also been battling Parkinson's disease over the last 10 years, which mighy have affected his decision making.

But what could he have invested in? Or done to lose such a high amount in a small period of time? This is crazy thinking about it, and I can't get any answers out of him.

[Anonymous]

The stock market in general has not declined anywhere near 50% this year. So for him to say that he lost "the majority" of it does raise concerns. He might have been invested in some speculative stocks, or had too much money in one stock or other investment that went down dramatically. I have heard of people nearing retirement who put too much into ONE stock thinking that it would go up tenfold and make them rich, only to lose it all. Or he might have been conned out of the money by some sociopath.

So sorry to hear that your dad isn't doing well along these lines. And with Parkinson's, that could be a factor also for sure.

You say that he is in a relationship. Does his partner know anything about this?

[Asker]

I'm not sure if his partner knows ( step mom) , he didn't really want to talk much about it, and sounded pretty distraught, so I left him alone.

He was never a risk taker , always took safe options, so this is absolutely puzzling.

[Opinion Owner]

Do you think that he really lost "the majority" of his savings, or maybe he is exaggerating and perhaps it just dipped down with this bear market that we are in? Hopefully it isn't as bad as it sounds? I definitely see your concern.

[Asker]

I think he's lost it, I asked him " if there's any chance that money might come back?" He said "no"

[Opinion Owner]

Yeah I'm very curious as to what happened. How old is he?

[Asker]

He's 69 years old now. Has been retired for about 2-3 years.

[MTC29]

Bad investments. My mother lost a similar amount of her retirement funds due to a poor investment strategy.

Your dad's investment could be almost anything- becoming the distributor for Gillette razors in Indopakigansistan... a region where men don't shave, or making loans to individuals.

The problem with losing retirement money is that in the event of a serious loss, there isn't time to earn the money back.

[Asker]

Do you think more likely it could have been some sort of scam investment or legitimate high risk investment?

[MTC29]

The fact that he won't discuss it makes me think he was scammed. Retirement funds are not normally used for high risk investments, but if he did and lost big, he likely warn you "Don't invest in Acme Widgets."

[Drumlin2001]

Could have been scammed and is embarrassed to talk bout it

[Flower7]

Maybe he spent it on medical bills?

[Asker]

In a couple of months?

[Flower7]

Definitely possible! Especially if you’re in the USA. 🙄

[boggboss]

Probobly poor investing if it wasn't gambling