HI
This is my first message here.
I have lost nearly 30k since i started spread betting with IG Index few months ago. I started well at the beginning and then gradually lost all this money. Today I closed my account. It was such a stupid and expensive mistake to make. Of course deep inside I blame them about it. of course after myself. But considering I am on a salary of 30k per year before tax, its ridiculous that I was allowed to do it in the first place.
But hey, It happened and dont think I can do much about it except work my a... off and pay a loan for 20k and a credit card for 5000 (i also lost my savings of 4k that i had before my stupid attempt to sb_) my life is pretty much ruined for some years now as I havent got money to do anything else.
I decided to write this because I wanted to make people aware of the perils of sb, although we do not think it would happen to us, it happened to me, it clearly became a gambling addition. I didnt know when to stop, clearly should have been stopped by someone else. I wish someone stopped me.
I did trading with IG Index from the beginning. Never gave a s... about me, and even though they were getting a lot of my money, customer service was appalling.
I do think that I lost money because I am terrible at it and with no discipline, it just gets worse. But they should stop people from losing so much money. They knew my situation before. I hope more regulations are introduce in regards to this so other people don't do the same mistake as I did.
I havent told anyone about this as I am embarrassed. I dont have the courage to tell people what I have done cause its too embarrassing. Thank you for taking your time to read this. and think twice about spreadbetting. they do manipulate numbers to get more money, specially at the end of trade
15K,
It is very public-spirited of you to relate your experience. I (and others I suspect) have some understanding of where you've been. It's all too easy when you first start out to let losses mount up. When you have little experience and have read just a few books that explain how simple it is ("but it ain't easy" as one contributor's byline truthfully says) it's almost an insult to your intelligence that you could actually be wrong! But I've been there & would be surprised if others haven't also.
In the old days before spreadbetting, all you could do as an amateur punter was to buy some shares and that, unless you were exceptionally unlucky would limit your loss to about 50%. After a few doses of that, you began to suspect something was wrong, had a think, and set off in a different and hopefully, more scenic direction. There was no T2W either in pre-internet days. So, you can see that it's a lot more dangerous these days.
You have learned that SB'ing can be dangerous - but that applies to any leveraged instrument. "Experts" have been caught out also - and they "knew" what they were doing. It seems that you have just succumbed to normal human failings despite the warnings in the SB Co's terms etc - but smokers ignore the "it can kill you" message on every packet, so it
is a common trait. Not that that makes your loss any better but at least you know you're human!
Do also remember that the credit crunch has also arisen from basic human failings. I hope that once you have repaid your losses - and that's got to be your immediate aim & will certainly give you some thought in discipline and determination etc - that you will come back to investing / trading and make a success of it. Like many things, it's not rocket science but you do need to understand and practise the basics. Not many of us can equal Lewis Hamilton but most can learn to drive safely and competently - if you can do that in the markets you'll do ok.
It would be interesting to know more details of your loss-making trades - was it a poor system? Poor personal discipline? Bad advice? I appreciate you may not feel like revealing this to 100K readers but as you say in your post, it may just make someone else think twice.
My suggestion would be to forget about encouraging the regulation of SB Co's etc. People whose main aim in life is to empty your wallet are like moles
They keep popping up all over the place and it's just like the cartoons - you go round bashing them down with a big mallet and they just keep popping up. Best put your energy into wising-up on how to look after your interests. And you are the best person to do that - no one else has your concern.
So, "chin up". When you look back, things are never as bad (or as good) as they seemed at the time. Some of the best traders ever (see the "Market Wizards" series of books by Jack Schwagger) have won & lost fortunes - maybe if you'd been more expert you'd have lost more!
Good luck and best wishes for the future.
