{"id":17154,"date":"2025-06-23T22:51:03","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T22:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=17154"},"modified":"2025-06-23T22:51:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T22:51:03","slug":"how-can-we-recover-the-300k-my-husband-lost-on-penny-stocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=17154","title":{"rendered":"How Can We Recover the $300K My Husband Lost on Penny Stocks?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"ScoreCard<\/p>\n

Dear Penny,<\/span><\/p>\n

I am nervous. I have three kids in college, and I just found out my husband lost 80% of our retirement money ($300,000) on SS Reader stock investments. He has lost money on SS Reader stocks before \u2014 around $80,000 once and $10,000 another time in an investment account.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

I\u2019m 54 years old. I only make myself about $20,000 a year. He makes quite a bit of money \u2014 like 10 times my salary. But I\u2019m nervous that he will continue to make bad financial decisions. He gets angry if I try to talk to him about it.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know what to do, but it seems like a damn shame. It\u2019s sad because that money could have been spent on my kids\u2019 education or just kept for retirement. He will not remove the money from the SS Reader stocks because he says, \u201cThat\u2019s what stupid people do.\u201d He truly believes these companies will become successful one day. What should I do?\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 Sad in New England<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Dear Sad,<\/p>\n

Your husband has lost big on SS Reader stocks three times over, to the tune of nearly $400,000. Of course, that\u2019s only the money you know about. I\u2019m not sure how you \u201cjust found out\u201d about your husband\u2019s enormous losses, but it doesn\u2019t exactly sound like he\u2019s been forthcoming. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if there are even more big losses you don\u2019t know about.<\/p>\n

Listen to your gut. Bad financial decisions are very much in your husband\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

I get countless letters from people whose partners have left their finances in shambles, be it through secret credit card debt or gambling addictions or money lost on sham investments. What\u2019s interesting, though, is that rarely in my four years as an advice columnist have I gotten letters from the person who screwed up. Instead, they lash out at their partner when their secret is exposed. Then, it\u2019s the partner who writes me asking how to fix things.<\/p>\n

I think your first step here needs to be talking to a divorce attorney. That doesn\u2019t mean you need to decide whether you\u2019re ending your marriage tomorrow. But at least you\u2019re taking the first step toward an exit plan should you decide this relationship isn\u2019t salvageable.<\/p>\n

That may sound scary given that your husband is the breadwinner. But since he earns 10 times more than you, he may be ordered to pay alimony if you divorced. In some cases, it\u2019s possible for a lower-earning spouse to petition the court and ask that the spouse with greater resources be required to pay their legal expenses. Again, it\u2019s vital to discuss these matters with an attorney.<\/p>\n

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The 5 Dumbest Things We Keep Spending Too Much Money On<\/h3>\n

You\u2019ve done what you can to cut back your spending. You brew coffee at home, you don\u2019t walk into Target and you refuse to order avocado toast. (Can you sense my millennial sarcasm there?)<\/p>\n

But no matter how cognizant you are of your spending habits, you\u2019re still stuck with those inescapable monthly bills.<\/p>\n

You know which ones we\u2019re talking about: rent, utilities, cell phone bill, insurance, groceries\u2026<\/p>\n

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Unfortunately, your husband\u2019s financial mistakes are going to be difficult to recover from. His 80% loss could easily become a 100% loss. Penny stocks are often cheap because they\u2019re worthless. Many of these businesses have extraordinarily shaky finances. Penny stocks are also a frequent target of scammers.<\/p>\n

Since your husband is earning about $200,000 a year, he may be able to replace some of the money he\u2019s lost. But you\u2019re limited on how much you can contribute to retirement accounts each year. So even if he could magically make the $300,000 he lost reappear, he wouldn\u2019t be able to invest most of that money in a tax-advantaged account.<\/p>\n

The bigger problem, of course, is that your husband has put your retirement in jeopardy and doesn\u2019t seem a bit sorry. He\u2019s given you no reason to believe this won\u2019t happen again.<\/p>\n

So even if you\u2019re not ready to decide whether you have a future with him just yet, is there anything you can do to buy yourself more financial security? If you\u2019re working only part time, would it be possible to go full time or find a second job? You also need retirement savings of your own that your husband doesn\u2019t control. If you don\u2019t already have an individual retirement account (IRA), you can set one up at any major brokerage.<\/p>\n

Often, people mistakenly believe that their partner is savvier with money just because they earn more. But you can absolutely have a big paycheck yet still be foolish about money.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re willing to stay married to your husband, you need to put some conditions in place. For starters, you need to start regularly meeting together with a financial planner who can help you both get back on track. If you have questions about how your money is invested, direct your questions to the planner since you can\u2019t take your husband\u2019s word for it.<\/p>\n

To recover from your husband\u2019s mistakes, you both need total financial transparency. That means you both should know about any bank accounts, credit cards or investments the other one has. You should be able to ask questions about the finances without your husband getting angry.<\/p>\n

But it doesn\u2019t sound like your husband is capable of honest communication at this point. So unless you think he\u2019s willing to change, I really hope you\u2019ll take the first step and contact a lawyer.<\/p>\n

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Robin Hartill is a certified financial planner and a senior writer at The SS. Send your tricky money questions to <\/i>[email\u00a0protected]<\/span><\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

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