this post was submitted on 23 Dec 2023
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I could shame OP for falling for the crypto hype but I think the more important lesson here is to never ever mix family and finances.
Even if you know for 100% fact that you have a slam dunk investment, it’s not worth it. Money corrupts.
Never loan money, even if you don’t expect it to get paid back. It creates a power imbalance. Envy and resentment for you having money is better than creating any financial ties.
Never go into business with family.
Don’t mix finances and family. Family is more important than money.
Yes, times a thousand. But I would go even further.
Never give investment advice. You might explain what investments you have made and why you made them, but never give advice and never urge or prompt someone to invest. You should also end every conversation with "but that's not advice and I'm not an expert." It is too easy for either the investment to not work out, or for them to do it wrong (wrong timing, panic sale, misunderstood the options, etc).
The last thing you want on your conscience is someone investing a life changing amount of money just for it to go down in flames. I might invest $1000 in something that I think might pay off, tell someone they should invest, and next thing you know they drop in $40k and panic sell on a dip in two weeks, when I was planning to hold for five years. You never know.
Honestly, this kind of goes for everything that's more complicated than average people can understand. (By "average" I mean "anyone not familiar with this particular knowledge." I have in depth IT knowledge but very weak automobile maintenance knowledge, for example. This makes me "average" when it comes to automobile maintenance.)
I don't give out IT advice for the most part, because the number of people who will come hounding you because they misunderstood, did something wrong, or missed several steps, is too damn high. Doesn't matter that they made the choice to take initiative to do it on their own, now it's your fault for suggesting it when their PC blows up in their face.
That's a great generalization! Don't give lay people knowledge they can use to harm themselves, and recognize when you are the lay person.
"But son, aren't you a literal investment advisor?"
In that case, never mix business and family. 😂