i do not think that this damage can be reversed . . .
True, you could have made better use of that money. There's no denying things would be different today had you not suffered your losses.
You are not correct, however, if you mean you can never regain those funds. You can. As Fabian keeps reminding us, picking and holding a stock of a company with good prospects can really rake in the dough. Just take a look at some of the current high-flyers and imagine you bought them at the March 2009 low.
My advice is to do nothing until your outlook on life improves. If you try to make it back fast, you'll likely only add to your woes, especially with the market having moved so high so fast this year.
Take your time. Be patient. With hard work and a little luck, you should be able to start whittling down those losses.
I've been there. One of the worst things that ever happened to me in the market was easily making a quick 10,000 bucks with some America Online options way back when. Heck, thought I, this is easy! I'll be rich in no time. Wrong. I proceeded to make mistake after mistake by insufficiently appreciating how hard this is.
Finally, don't short change your kids by maintaining a gloomy outlook. You've lost some money. It can be replaced. Don't lose the time you could spend happily with your kids. That is irreplaceable.
Hang in there and good luck.
Montrose
AI
