"Mr. Kim Made 80 Million Won, Too"... Just Before Buying '20,000-Won Samsung Electronics,' He Hesitates Again: "I Might Get Stuck at the Peak" [World of Retail Investors]

He had long ignored repeated advice to invest in stocks, but he finally decided to get back into the market. He had not looked at stocks since the financial crisis.
Life was peaceful and comfortable. The last time Lee invested was in 2008, when he was 29.
He had long ignored repeated advice to invest in stocks, but he finally decided to get back into the market. He had not looked at stocks since the financial crisis.He had long ignored repeated advice to invest in stocks, but he finally decided to get back into the market. He had not looked at stocks since the financial crisis.
At the time, the KOSPI Composite Index was breaking record highs day after day, having climbed above the 2,000 level. That fall, Lehman Brothers collapsed.
The KOSPI Composite Index plunged more than 54% from its peak. Lee's account quickly turned deep red.Unsure of what to do, he held on, unwilling to lock in the loss.In the end, he sold only after prices had fallen even further.He did not look at stocks again for 18 years.Because of that terrifying experience, Lee could not easily bring himself to start investing again.He put all his money into savings and time deposits.After getting married, he only took a passing interest in real estate.The returns were not huge, but the strategy was simple, and he thought that was enough because he did not have to lose sleep at night worrying about prices falling.Whenever he met old classmates, they boasted about how much money they had made.
He had long ignored repeated advice to invest in stocks, but he finally decided to get back into the market. He had not looked at stocks since the financial crisis.He had long ignored repeated advice to invest in stocks, but he finally decided to get back into the market. He had not looked at stocks since the financial crisis.
That mindset began to change this year.
He could feel the atmosphere around him shifting.A coworker bragged that he had made a nice profit from SK hynix Inc., and a group chat with high school friends was filled with messages like, "I bought the dip in March, and it was up 25% in just a month." Just as he was starting to think maybe he should give it another try, war broke out in the Middle East, and throughout March the news kept warning of a "risk of the KOSPI Composite Index collapsing below 5,000." Lee reassured himself that he had been right not to be tempted, thinking, 'Stocks are dangerous after all.' But that turned out to be the bottom.Even though the war was still ongoing, on the 21st the KOSPI Composite Index broke through the 6,380 level for the first time in history.41 on both a closing and intraday basis, setting a new record.Brokerage analysts are now racing to predict that the KOSPI Composite Index could rise to 8,000.
Compared with 2008, when Lee stopped investing and the index was barely holding above 1,000, that is more than six times higher.
He had long ignored repeated advice to invest in stocks, but he finally decided to get back into the market. He had not looked at stocks since the financial crisis.He had long ignored repeated advice to invest in stocks, but he finally decided to get back into the market. He had not looked at stocks since the financial crisis.
As he tried to get into 'Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix'.
"It probably is the peak" — better wait for the next chance It was completely different from 18 years ago.There were thousands of stocks, and the choices now included ETFs, leveraged products, inverse products, dividend-growth funds, and thematic funds.He had heard of all of them at least once, but he had no idea where to put his money.He said it was still difficult to get back into investing after so long, and just as Lee decided he should buy into the hot names Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, he hesitated before pressing the buy button.
What if he bought on a day when the KOSPI Composite Index was setting a new all-time high and ended up getting stuck at the top? The memory of 2008 came back to him.The nightmare of jumping in after a record-breaking rally, only to see his holdings cut in half that fall, stopped his hand.In the end, Lee hesitated and put off buying until tomorrow.He comforted himself by thinking that he had already installed the app and deposited cash, so he could jump into investing whenever he wanted.For investors like Lee, who once suffered a major loss, it takes far longer than expected to re-enter the market.
Experts call this "Loss aversion" It is a concept developed by behavioral economists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, which holds that people react about twice as strongly to losses as they do to gains of the same size.That is why the pain of losing 1 million won feels far greater than the joy of earning 1 million won.It is also why experts advise new investors to "start with money you can afford to lose, and invest only what you can withstand even if prices fall.
He had long ignored repeated advice to invest in stocks, but he finally decided to get back into the market. He had not looked at stocks since the financial crisis.He had long ignored repeated advice to invest in stocks, but he finally decided to get back into the market. He had not looked at stocks since the financial crisis.
bng@fnnews.com Kim Hee-sun Reporter