“Lost 300 million won of a 500 million won wedding fund in stocks”—office worker says they gave up on home purchase: “Can I recover if I hold on?”

[Financial News] An office worker reportedly invested 540 million won—painstakingly saved over 13 years for a wedding—in stocks and lost more than 300 million won.

On the 31st of last month, a post titled “Stocks down -60%, 300 million won loss” appeared on Blind, an anonymous community for office workers.
The author, identified as A, shared a screenshot of their brokerage account balance, saying, “I invested it as wedding money at the beginning of this year. This is all the money I saved over 13 years without any help from anyone.”
The account shown had a purchase amount of about 539.7 million won, but its market value was only about 211.41 million won. The valuation loss was 328.29 million won, and the return was -60.83%, meaning more than half of the original investment had vanished.
A said, “I had been carefully preparing for the wedding, a home and even a baby, but my wedding in the first half of next year has become completely uncertain,” adding, “For now, I’ve given up on the house.”
A continued, “Of that 210 million won, 30 million is tied up in a personal pension, so in real terms I have 180 million won,” and said, “I worked night shifts, never went on an overseas trip, and didn’t even have a single luxury handbag like everyone says they buy. It’s devastating to see the 540 million won I saved vanish into thin air like that.”

A said, “There’s also wedding preparation, my parents’ living expenses, and 38 million won in overdraft debt,” adding, “I don’t want to keep living day after day. When I wake up in the morning, a few thousand is gone, and now I can’t withdraw the money even though I want to.”
A added, “Yesterday was the day to sign the real estate contract, but I just couldn’t bring myself to sell the stocks that were at a loss, so I lost the preliminary contract deposit,” and, “They say it’ll go up if I hold on, but with losses this big, I don’t think I’ll be able to recover.”
Netizens who read the account reacted with comments including, “Is this your first time investing in stocks? Once you’re down more than 15%, you need to cut your losses decisively, all or in part, to have a chance to make it back”; “The losses are already so huge that I can’t even tell you to cut them”; “I’m in a similar situation. I thought it would just keep going up”; and “Investing is your own responsibility, but good days come in life. Hang in there.”
[email protected] Kim Su-yeon Reporter