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People Break Down The Worst Investments Someone Can Possibly Make

https://www.georgetakei.com/soldiers-explain-which-things-they-wish-civilians-would-include-in-care-packages-2645086709.html

If it's too good to be true.... IT'S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!!! That is just simple fact. You have to be careful when investing anything these days. Time, love, emotion and especially... COIN! Don't give out money unless you've done the research and the people involved are 100% tip top. We're all looking for a way to make it big and be stable in the financials but don't trust every carrot that comes across you.

Redditor u/Copper_Clouds wanted yo hear from everyone about some life choices gone awry by asking.... What is the worst investment a person can make and why?

Luck of the Draw....

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Lottery tickets. There are people that throw hundreds of dollars they can't afford into that hole hoping that it might pay off. And I guess it *might*... but practically everything else on this list is more likely to somehow make you money than that is. bandastalo

Shiny Objects. 

Jewelry, especially mass produced jewelry you'd get at the mall. It's not worth more than the scrap value of the metal and gemstones it's made of. DonkeyTron42

Or get it custom made from a non-big box jeweler. They can really help stretch out the impact your dollar gets if you are flexible with certain things like lab-grown gems v/ natural. HagarTheTolerable

Sweet Home....

An older, high-maintenance house in a declining area that has little hope for gentrification. Back2Bach

A young couple struggles to repair a hopelessly dilapidated house. _chanandler_bong

I own a verrry old, restored/upgraded house (with a mother-in-law unit) in an area in the first stages of gentrification. I got reeeeeeal lucky. cha-ching. Stealth_Cow

RISK. 

If you are talking about real investments, anything a person tries to sell you as low to no risk, but high returns, is probably a fraud. Risk is strongly correlated to reward, you can't have one without the other no matter what fancy language they are using for reasons why. catawba1

It's All Popped....

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Pop culture bs. Beanie babies, cabbage patch dolls, funko pops.

In a decade no one will care about these pop culture items and they will have no value. skotgil

No Vroom. 

Any used European luxury car brand, like Porsche or Mercedes. A wise man once told me "There is nothing more expensive than a cheap Porsche." sparky104

People seem to forget that even if you buy an originally £60k car for £10k it's still a £60k car to fix. FakeNathanDrake

Ask Mr. Ed.

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Horses. You can pay $100k for the next Olympic prospect, and then something could happen to the horse before it even reaches that level of skill. The same for racehorses- the odds are lower than 1 in 10 on a horse that'll make it big. warmkittenmittens

Money Logic. 

Getting a 30 year ARM instead of a 15 year fixed because you can get more house for your money. I got a 15 year fixed mortgage and had the house paid off in 9 years, now saving $1200 a month and living comfortably. Around the same time, a good friend of mine got a 30 year adjustable at max budget (a much nicer house than mine), and lost the house 4 years later. He's living with his parents now trying to work his way out of bankruptcy. Really a shame. DesertEagle520

A Non Education.

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Education in a field that isn't employable, doesn't interest you, or simply is on a crappy level in all the schools you can get into. If you're going to be a security guy or a supermarket employee, why study?

Bonus points if you're American and your education isn't free.

I'm saying this not because it is technically the worst investment (it isn't), it's just that it's a mistake made by so many, and it's a very expensive one. AnAverageFreak

Outside the Box.

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Big box timeshares. Because of the huge upfront costs simply for access to properties and features, the monthly costs, and the difficulty/cost of selling them, it is always 100% less risky and cheaper over the long term to shop discount offers and pay for your vacations out-of-pocket, or buy vacation homes at your favorite spots that you rent out when you're not there. dialate

Bingo! 

My coworker took out a loan of a thousand and bought lottery tickets thinking he can make back more. He won 50 bucks. coolhwhip89

Saw a story about a teenager who stole a roll of scratchies from a news agent where she was working.

There were 240 x $1 tickets on the roll. She got $50. And six months. Partly_Dave

Friendship! 

Investing in a friend's business venture, especially when it ruins the friendship. DarthContinent

I went to a dinner party once that turned into a invitation to get my foot in the door for a candle company! Let's just say the night ended with the cops called and a plasma screen tv broken. jpm1188

Destruction. 

Any investment that involves family or close friends. Odds are it will end up destroying your relationship. Col_Walter_Tits

With family and friends, never lend anything especially money that you are unwilling to lose. Better_than_Zero

To the Street.

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r/Wallstreetbets would say stock options are both the best and worst investment you may ever make, many times with their positions you'll either lose it all or quintuple your investment in a few days. dollar-a-day

Dive In. 

A boat is the answer. reviseyourlevis

I agree with boats, but I own a pool and it is awesome. They really aren't that much maintenance. There is nothing better than having a nice buzz, and going out to go swimming at 1am on a hot night. MenosDaBear

Money Lost Guarantee.....

Investing in a musical. You have about a 1/200 chance of getting your money back, let alone making any profit whatsoever. RoyalKingHarlequin

Meh. Like many things, you can 'invest' in things like this, so that you get invited to all the surrounding events and use those to network, further your career or find new opportunities. Reddit

Depreciated Value....

I'm flashing back to when a tow truck driver negged me for having a used car while he was towing me. He reasoned the value drops as soon as you drive it off the lot. Unlike new cars apparently lesserantilles

He meant you should buy a NEW car, and then never drive it off the lot, just leave it there so it won't depreciate. Dude_With_A_Username

AM/FM

There's a radio ad that says a time share is the worst investment you'll ever make because apparently it's the only thing you won't know how much it'll cost you. Debbiero70

They are horrendous investments. It is near impossible to sell, even at insanely reduced prices.

My mom is in this boat right now. She bought one with my dad when they were the thing to do and now she can't give it away.

Why get the time share when you can rent the same place as an AirBnB without the commitment. Aken42

The Future is Dead.

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Esports teams. I've been involved with the scene for the past 10 years or so. Organizations constantly appear and disappear for good reason. It's incredibly hard to actually profit as an organization, and investors are always pumping money in without seeing any returns, trying to bet on the "future" of esports being like professional sports leagues (which it might be, but it's been pretty slow to get there). Only the top tier teams make any money, and even a handful of them have major financial issues. RuPaulver

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911 Operators Describe The Most Unnerving Calls They've Ever Received

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*The following article contains discussion of suicide/self-harm.

The person on the other end of a 911 call has a truly remarkable job.

For those who don't play that professional role, we hope to never encounter the 911 call interaction. But if we do find ourselves making that call, the moment is an anomaly in our lives.

The chaos, the panic, the racing heart, and the desperation are all emotions we, ideally, don't experience on a regular basis.

But for the operator on the other end, our call is one in a long line of calls they've received all day, and all the workdays before that one.

It's difficult to imagine being embedded in those uniquely urgent, emergency moments all the time.

Some Redditors who are on the other end of that call shared their experiences on the job.

WhimsicalxxButcher asked, "911 dispatchers what has been your most creepy/unnerving call?"

For a few, the most unnerving moments were the calm callers.

There was something just so eerie about how level-headed the faceless human being on the other end could be through such a desperate, tragic moment.

Almost Clinical 

"I had a friend who worked as a 911 dispatcher and he always said the worst call he ever had was a ~20 year old kid who committed suicide by mixing a bunch of chemicals together in his car to produce hydrogen sulfide gas."

"He said that the most unnerving part was hearing him calmly listing off the chemicals, the type of gas produced, and the effects of hydrogen sulfide on the body (namely the almost instant death it causes at high concentrations)."

"He ended the call by providing the address of the parking lot he was in and saying that nobody should approach the vehicle without hazmat equipment."

"Apparently after that there was a whooshing sound as he dumped the last chemical into the mix, and then the line went dead silent aside for a quiet fizzing noise."

"I know that call screwed him up because he almost never talks about stuff that happens to him on the job. He quit a few months later to go into construction management, and frankly I can't blame him."

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Planned Out 

"A woman called me, saying she was going to kill herself. She was gassing herself. Gave me her name & address then said she was just going to lie down and 'go to sleep.' And stopped responding to me."

"I kept the line open, trying to get her to speak to me, and eventually heard officers forcing their way in to find her body. I guess she just wanted someone to find her body."

-- mozgw4

Before It Set In 

"When I got a call from a 6 year old who got home from school and laid down to take a nap with his dad. His dad never woke up."

"The kid was so calm when calling it broke my heart."

"I ended up leaving dispatch shortly after. I was good at compartmentalizing the job for the year I was doing it, but it would've broken me in the long run."

-- tasha7712

Other 911 operators were unfortunate enough to receive a call from the very last person they wanted to hear from: a loved one.

These dispatchers' unique position gave them the unexpected access to a family member or friend at their most dire moments.

No More of That 

"My family member is a long time first responder, and 'retired' into doing dispatch. He heard the address (someone else was taking the call) and realized it was his daughter's house."

"He rushed over there just in time to see them wheeling her body out. Overdose."

"Five months later, he was called to his ex-wife's place because his grandson (son of the daughter who recently passed) had his door locked, lights on, but wasn't responding to his grandma."

"He broke the door down and found him deceased in bed. Overdose."

"He's very stoic after years of all sorts of traumatic situations but my heart hurts whenever I think of what all of this must have felt like. Like sand through your fingers."

-- bitchyhouseplant

Knowing the Address

"Not me, but my grandma. I was sitting in the dispatch office, (very small one only 2 dispatchers including my grandma) but she put out a dispatch that there was a gun shot from my best friends address."

"My heart sank to my stomach and broke later that day. He committed suicide."

-- OntaiSenpuu

When it Happened 

"My uncle passing away. Worked as a small town dispatcher for a year or so. Had a bunch of messed up stuff happen on shift, but this call came in in the still hours of the night. Small town, so not many calls after midnight."

"I answered and recognized the name and address on caller id. Aunt was in a frenzy so didn't recognize my voice. I remained calm and got ems and fire rolling to them, but by my aunt's own words he was already blue."

"I went thru debriefing and mandated therapy for a couple other things that happened, but never really talked to anyone about this. I just try not to think about it."

"That was the call I figured out I needed to find a different job."

-- dangitjon

Finally, some simply had a front row seat to sudden tragedy.

These operators were flies on the wall when disaster struck. They never asked to witness what they witnessed, but sometimes that came with the territory.

A Holiday Tragedy 

"My mom is a 911 dispatcher. Early on she said one Christmas Eve while working she got a call from an elderly lady who's husband had just collapsed(and died) from a heart attack and in the background Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas music was playing on blast."

"The lady was screaming and crying and begging for her husband to wake up but my mom could hear his gurgling in his last breathes. She doesn't listen to or watch Alvin and the chipmunks since."

-- Blueflowerbluehair

What is it About Christmas?

"Christmas night. 911 call with crying child on the other end. A neighbor had run her car over her mom during a domestic."

"The mom crawled to the porch bleeding and the child saw the car coming back. I had her hide quietly in a closet with the cordless phone."

"The 10 year old child was crying and screamed that she hated Christmas. She was afraid of the police when they got there."

"I kept her on the phone until she felt safe enough to give the phone to an officer. I almost fainted after that call was over. Had nightmares for a while."

-- 2FunBoofer

Close to Home 

"Not a dispatcher but I handle radio communications for the Coast Guard. One night I was on the radio and got a call from an 11 year old kid whose boat had started to sink. He was out with his dad and 6 year old brother."

"They had been hit by another boat and his father got knocked unconscious. I remember the entire conversation up until the radio had gone underwater."

"They ended up finding his dad floating on his back alive but the two boys didn't make it. That one really fu**ed with me because my two littlest brothers were around the same age as the youngest."

-- HIRSH2243

A Horrible Clock 

"Another one that stays with me was the man who called in. It was the anniversary of his adult son having hanged himself. He'd now come home to find his wife had done the same."

"That date is always going to be a black day for him."

-- mozgw4


If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/

Again, we hope you never have to use the 911 call in your life. Nobody wants to be involved in a sudden emergency or a tragic incident.

But hopefully, if you do, an operator like one of these thoughtful, sensitive Redditors is on the other end.

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