Both parents are addicted to stock trading

Hello, this is my first post on this forum.

My parents spend all day staring at stock quotes. I wouldn't be posting this if they were any good, but they are essentially gambling. They have no idea really how the market works and are trading according to what other traders on the internet say (the stock is going up! down! etc).

I have tried to talk them out of it, but they will not listen to me. Since both of them are desperate, they refuse to give it up and they waste all day panicking about stock prices.

How do I get them to give it up and pursue healthier habits?

Thank you all in advance.

Dear InTrouble,

I am very sorry to hear about your parents' addiction to the stock market.

Bit of background. I am a professional money manager with 19 years experience managing multi-million dollar portfolios on behalf of wealthy clients. And until recently, I had a long-term stock market addiction (with my own money, not client funds).

You are correct that nothing good will come of your parents' reckless foray into the stock market. Moreover, the Internet is probably the WORST source of information for stock trading advice. Using a dart board or Ouija board would produce the same (or better) results. Even if your parents' struck the occasional windfall---purely by luck---without proper bankroll management and hedging strategies, they would inevitably pyramid their cumulative profits into complete ruin.

Unfortunately there is little you can do in this situation. Your parents are legal adults who are willfully engaging in a high-risk activity with their own money. You may try approaching an older relative or respected family friend to talk some sense into your parents but otherwise your options are limited.

Welcome InTrouble ,

I'm sorry that your family is going through this .

This is FundManager's area of expertise and not mine but if they absolutely refuse to listen to you , perhaps they would listen to someone in his profession ?

It may not stop them from trading , but it could reduce the damage and it's possible that they would take a pro's advice more seriously .

FM , any thoughts on this ?

InTrouble wrote:My parents spend all day staring at stock quotes. I wouldn't be posting this if they were any good, but they are essentially gambling. They have no idea really how the market works and are trading according to what other traders on the internet say (the stock is going up! down! etc).

I have tried to talk them out of it, but they will not listen to me. Since both of them are desperate, they refuse to give it up and they waste all day panicking about stock prices.

How do I get them to give it up and pursue healthier habits?

Thank you all in advance.

Hi, InTrouble. Welcome to the forum. I am sorry that your parents are so obsessed with the stock market. It sounds like their obsession with money is detracting from being present in a normal way in life. They do seem like they have an addiction. I think if you search the web, there are support groups for family members of gamblers. Feel free to keep posting here. All of us have probably been where your parents are -- we were trying to get a "high" from betting. This pursuit made us behave in very self-destructive ways, and also made us more selfish in our interactions with those who matter the most to us. I wish you the best, and please take care of yourself. You are perceptive and sensitive and I hope that you can gain some peace despite this situation. I also hope that your parents will gain some insight into their behavior.

Fund Manager wrote:Dear InTrouble,

I am very sorry to hear about your parents' addiction to the stock market.

Bit of background. I am a professional money manager with 19 years experience managing multi-million dollar portfolios on behalf of wealthy clients. And until recently, I had a long-term stock market addiction (with my own money, not client funds).

You are correct that nothing good will come of your parents' reckless foray into the stock market. Moreover, the Internet is probably the WORST source of information for stock trading advice. Using a dart board or Ouija board would produce the same (or better) results. Even if your parents' struck the occasional windfall---purely by luck---without proper bankroll management and hedging strategies, they would inevitably pyramid their cumulative profits into complete ruin.

Unfortunately there is little you can do in this situation. Your parents are legal adults who are willfully engaging in a high-risk activity with their own money. You may try approaching an older relative or respected family friend to talk some sense into your parents but otherwise your options are limited.

Thank you all for your replies.

I showed my mother Fund Manager's reply and she agreed that she had no idea what she was doing and that she hated the stock market.

While my parents tend to break even, that is all they can really do, aka they don't profit, and just waste weeks watching the movement of the stocks. They don't do any research or read about the markets (so that they could understand the markets better), they just walk in circles all day.

While my mother would like to do research BEFORE buying a stock, my father usually compulsively buys a stock without asking my mother for permission. Then their cycle starts again, so that no one has time to read or anything as they are panicking all day, waiting for the price to rise so they can sell it at roughly zero profit. All this at the cost of their mental and emotional health.

In addition, my mother stated that they will never stop trading, as they are trying to finance their retirement, and this is the only way to do that.

I guess I can try to ignore them while they lose their life savings...

Dear InTrouble,

Thank you for providing more information about your parents' motivation and thinking.

Please check your PM.