Author Topic: Never was paid, had to declare bankruptcy, need advice!  (Read 3082 times)

leecooker

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Never was paid, had to declare bankruptcy, need advice!
« on: September 30, 2018, 07:58:20 PM »
Hi everyone, I'm really hoping you can all teach me something important or forward some helpful advice for my situation. I am an insurance adjuster (one of several jobs I have experience in) that was deployed for claims work during Hurricane Irma in 2017 for a few months. We are all contract 1099 labor with regards to our agency's responsibilities. Which essentially means we must pay for our work expenses during the duration of our deployments. In my case, I needed to borrow around $18,000 to handle my lodging, travel, certifications, food, tools, licensing, job expenses and other fees for the 3 month deployment. We were paid a few thousand dollars each, my team of adjusters and I, but have not been paid as of work finishing in December 2017. I was unfortunately already in some debt on credit cards and a credit consolidation loan at the time. What ended up unfolding later down the road, unfortunately, is my Mom passed away in late May. This was extremely terrible news (our Dad is also gone). I am also a trader and had a really awful year in 2016 where I had massive losses, basically all of my life savings ($150,000). The timing of my Mom's death couldn't have been worse... I ended up spending several extra thousand dollars to handle funeral costs and other unexpected costs, unfortunately there were no assets from my Mom and we have nothing.

Fast forward to today, I still have not been paid. I have about $100 currently to my name. My agency owes me around $45,000. I have contacted an attorney and supplied him with my Employment Contract, but there is always a chance my agency is not collectible. The owner of my agency has defrauded myself and my entire team of, conservatively speaking, around $1.75 million in payroll. So others in my team have also had their lives destroyed by this unbelievable fraud.

I have decided to enter a debt relief program, instead of declaring bankruptcy. I have a few side jobs I am working on (trading futures for a prop firm for small $, and selling CBD oil products) and I am an expat living in Mexico in a great location. Otherwise, I have finally reached the absolute bottom of the barrel in my financial life, and it's extraordinarily depressing. I'm very angry at how this year has turned out, as the biggest financial blow ever dealt in my life has hit, along with my Mom dying. It's a 1-2 punch that most people would be obliterated by.

So, I'm asking for tips from you guys. Do you know of any great ways to earn decent money online? I would like to earn $3,000-$4,000 per month and I think this is a doable amount. I am originally a film and television editor with almost 30 years experience in the industry. I also have a lot of experience with advertising/marketing and writing. I am also experienced with sales and have worked many sales jobs over the last few decades.

Being 43, it seems like the world will end at this point, but I am realizing I might be missing out on a good opportunity to get involved in some profitable new ventures and get a fresh start. Once you have been totally and completely destroyed in life, the only good thought that persists all the depression and negativity is that you literally are needing to start from scratch, with decades of experience and knowledge. So hope still has not died, and I'm gradually evolving into more productive concepts to kick-start a recovery in life.

Thanks for reading and thanks for all of your advice!

marty998

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Re: Never was paid, had to declare bankruptcy, need advice!
« Reply #1 on: October 01, 2018, 02:06:16 AM »
Wow. Ok. You're 43. It's time to learn some lessons.

Firstly. What are you? An Insurance claims adjuster, a Derivatives Trader or a Film and Television editor? Pick 1. Pick a career. You only have enough time in the day to excel at one. Not three. You sound like you have had a rich and varied work experience, but you need to knuckle down on one solid track and not get distracted by a "grass is greener" mentality.

I am also a trader and had a really awful year in 2016 where I had massive losses, basically all of my life savings ($150,000).

This should not happen. Traders (especially of the seasoned and non wide-eyed teenage variety) should be following basic rules like betting only that which you can afford to lose, 1-2% of capital at risk on a single trade, guaranteed stop losses etc etc. If you are going down this path again, you need to put self-preservation above all other profit motives.

I'll hazard a guess you shorted the market during the 2016 election. I only ask you to consider the question of how often does the unexpected happen? In reverse chronological order from the past 2 decades.... Trump, Brexit, Tech disruptors like Uber, Netflix and Air B&B, the rise of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram, bailouts of Greek, Italian and Spanish Debt, the GFC & the Financial System being brought to it's knees, the iPhone, Alibaba & Amazon, September 11 & the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq....

All of these events and companies and products have had major impacts to global investment markets and asset classes. Very very few people predicted them, let alone predicted ALL of them.

If you (or anyone else out there) wants to be a trader, you need to accept these things will happen, and the results won't be pretty. The market or the world for that matter doesn't play by any rules. It's unfair, but the sooner you realise the game is rigged against you like this (like I did in 2008), the quicker you'll accept the best course of action is your bog standard index funds.

I'm very angry at how this year has turned out, as the biggest financial blow ever dealt in my life has hit, along with my Mom dying. It's a 1-2 punch that most people would be obliterated by.

My sympathies to you about your mother. You need to find strength and resilience from within - most people do, these events are not as uncommon as you think.
« Last Edit: October 01, 2018, 02:08:10 AM by marty998 »

zz_marcello

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Re: Never was paid, had to declare bankruptcy, need advice!
« Reply #2 on: October 01, 2018, 02:42:54 AM »
First out: Im sorry for your loss regarding your mother.

After all is said and done you have to realize (and internalize) that you and only you put yourself in the situation you are in this moment.

When I read your post I initially couldn't avoid to think "Why was this guy taking a job as an insurance claim adjuster for a shady corp. (where you have to pay $ 5 digit upfront) after nearly "three decades of experience in the film industry".

--> The painful answer is: You wanted to make a quick buck after gambling all your life savings away in the stock market!

--> And even after this terrible event you still call yourself a "Trader".

Im sorry to say it, but someone who is losing his entire life savings in the stock market is not a trader. He is a gambler!
A trader has a robust and tested system regarding position sizing, maximum loss per time frame and many others.

We all make mistakes but to change your life and become happy and wealthy you have to realize what you did and you have to take full responsibility for this!

Im trading actively and investing passively since nearly two decades. I know the challenges and pains of trading.

Most people that claim they are traders are just gamblers that vastly underperform a simple and stress free passive index fund investment over the long run or like you even lose everything.

Build your net worth up again with a stable and reliable job and invest your savings in passive index funds.

All the best!

Watchmaker

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Re: Never was paid, had to declare bankruptcy, need advice!
« Reply #3 on: October 02, 2018, 08:07:09 AM »
Agree with the above posters. My condolences on your mother, that is a hard thing to go through. But as Marty said, this is part of life that everyone deals with.

I already know enough about you to tell you that you should never trade again, it won't work for you.

The other advice I think you most need is to stop looking for the "big score" and focus on making progress every day.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Never was paid, had to declare bankruptcy, need advice!
« Reply #4 on: October 02, 2018, 08:24:07 AM »
If this story is true, I am very sorry you have fallen on hard times, but I agree with others. You need to stop looking for a quick win.

I, however, doubt the poster.  A 43 year old with 30 years industry experience as a film editor?

Freedomin5

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Re: Never was paid, had to declare bankruptcy, need advice!
« Reply #5 on: October 03, 2018, 06:19:05 AM »
While I agree with all of the above posters about learning from past mistakes, OP asked for ways to earn $3000-$4000 per month online.

If OP has a university degree, then they could consider teaching English online. There’s a thread on here with links to companies that are hiring and several forum members do this as a side gig. It pays upwards of $20/hour.

Since OP lives in Mexico, they might also consider tutoring English or other subjects in which they are knowledgeable.

Also, I’m not sure what “trading futures for a prop firm” means, but it sounds suspiciously like gambling or your previous job “working as a trader”. It sounds high risk. MMMers tend to prefer index funds that only requires rebalancing, like, once a year. We don’t like stuff that needs to be actively traded. Don’t gamble away your savings again trading in risky things.

Read through J.L. Collins investment guide. Read through the threads on index investing, and don’t gamble away your future retirement savings.
« Last Edit: October 03, 2018, 06:24:46 AM by Freedomin5 »

jc4

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Re: Never was paid, had to declare bankruptcy, need advice!
« Reply #6 on: October 03, 2018, 09:11:58 AM »

If OP has a university degree, then they could consider teaching English online. There’s a thread on here with links to companies that are hiring and several forum members do this as a side gig. It pays upwards of $20/hour.


I second this. I have a friend that's done this while living as an American expat abroud for the last year, and it's gone very well.
160 hours at $20/hr. gets you right at $3,200. 

mozar

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Re: Never was paid, had to declare bankruptcy, need advice!
« Reply #7 on: October 06, 2018, 08:15:36 PM »
If you have experience with Adobe Premier Pro there is a lot of remote editing work available. Through a freelance company like Upwork or just searching through google.

MDfive21

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Re: Never was paid, had to declare bankruptcy, need advice!
« Reply #8 on: October 09, 2018, 01:24:50 PM »
If this story is true, I am very sorry you have fallen on hard times, but I agree with others. You need to stop looking for a quick win.

I, however, doubt the poster.  A 43 year old with 30 years industry experience as a film editor?

that and this guy sounds like the unluckiest troll person i've ever read on the interweb.  don't feed.