Lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in the stock market, yet couldn’t bear to buy my daughter a 200-yuan toy

When my daughter was a little over three, I made a lot of money in the stock market.

Back then, I kept thinking, “Let me double my money one more time, make one last killing, and then I’ll quit. I’ll take my family on a trip around the world, see what it has to offer, and really enjoy life.”

I promised my daughter that once Dad closed out his open positions, I’d take her to Disneyland.

But just a few days later, an unexpected black swan event in the market wiped out all the profits I’d made—and I even lost hundreds of thousands of dollars of my original investment.

During that time, for the first time, I realized that even someone who once thought they could afford anything might suddenly hesitate over spending a few hundred yuan on everyday things.

In the end, we did go to Disneyland after all.

We just didn’t buy the skip-the-line passes, and we cut back on all the other things we’d planned to spend money on.

Luckily, my daughter was very happy.

She had no idea what her dad had been through in the stock market, or how this trip differed from the one we’d originally planned.

All she knew was that Dad had finally brought her to Disneyland.

It wasn’t until we were watching a show that day.

She spotted a Disney toy and gazed at me hopefully. “Dad, can we get one? It’ll make the whole experience more magical.” I asked how much it cost. 200 yuan.

I hesitated.

A man who could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in the stock market in a single day actually hesitated for ages over a 200-yuan toy for his daughter.

I started trying to reason with her.

I told her it wasn’t worth 200 yuan, that you could get it online for just 20, and that buying it here was a rip-off. When we got home, Dad would buy her an identical one.

I went on and on.

She looked at me, then finally nodded obediently.

When we got home, I did keep my promise.

But she never played with that 20-yuan toy again.

It took me many years to slowly understand.

What she wanted back then probably wasn’t the toy at all.

What she wanted was the happiness of being three years old, sitting in the Disneyland theater as the lights came on and the music began, holding a toy she loved, with her dad sitting beside her.

But with an adult’s self-proclaimed wisdom about value for money, I denied a child the simplest kind of happiness.

Later, I got divorced.

I finally took the round-the-world trip I’d dreamed of back then, visiting many countries and traveling all around China, too.

As it turned out, I hadn’t been wrong about many of the investment opportunities I’d spotted back then.

I made money again later, and went to the places I’d always wanted to visit.

But by then, my daughter had grown up.

She started school, had homework and worries, and gradually stopped being the kind of three-year-old who could be happy all day just from seeing a toy.

I had more money, but I could never buy back that afternoon when she was three.

All these years, I’ve always remembered those 200 yuan.

I can’t even remember how much I lost in that black swan event back then, but I’ll never forget the way she looked at me and finally nodded obediently.

Sometimes I find myself wondering:

Back then, I lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in the stock market.

So why couldn’t I have lost another 200 yuan on the happiest day of my daughter’s life?

We always think that once we’ve made enough money, we’ll be able to give our families a better life.

Once the next trade is over, once the next market rally pays off, once our wealth doubles again, we’ll have time to be with them, and we’ll be willing to spend the money.

But there’s always another market rally. There’s no next time when life is three years old.

Some money, once lost, can be earned back.

Some regrets can’t be made up for, no matter how much money you make.

It took me many years to understand that the most frightening investment failure isn’t getting the market wrong. It’s seeing the future correctly, yet missing what’s right in front of you.

If you’re still in the stock market today, worrying over gains and losses of tens or hundreds of thousands, take a moment to look at the people around you.

Don’t be so forgiving of losses in the stock market, yet so stingy with the people who love you in life.

Because one day, you’ll realize:

The money in your account can wait to bounce back. But that little girl who held your hand and begged you to buy her a 200-yuan toy really isn’t coming back.

As it turned out, I’d been right about my instincts back then.

I later proved myself as an investor, but there’s one balance in life I’ll never be able to bring back to even. #StockTrading #Investing #USStocks #StockMarketCrash #Family

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