I was standing beside the ATM when my phone rang. It was from a Secondary School Friend whom I met during my Army Remedial Training 2.5 years ago. He subsequently became my client by taking up a Shield Plan from me.
He is self employed and I know that his business is not doing that well. He asked for $1,000 and I eventually lend him $500 with a lot of reluctance. I seriously doubt I will get back this money after talking to one of his good friend. He called me because of desperation and he already owned a lot of people money.
I felt so sad that I lent people money again. Everytime they will say its urgent. Everytime they will say I will pay back next month. Everytime they will say no money when I called to ask it. I currently have ~$2k of uncollected debts and some of them are already Uncontactable.
I have a big problem of not knowing how to reject people. I don't know why people will always look for me when they need money. I probably gave the impression to them that I very successful in my career.
8 comments:
You are a joker..
People borrow from you because you give them the impression you are the easy to cheat type.
Don't over-estimate yourself... you think they borrow because you looked successful?
人善被人欺，马善被人骑。
Ignore the real joker above, who can only hide behind a cloak of anonymity...
I just have to learn. I must stand firm the next time round. Be selective and help only those who truly need it.
For this case, I know he owns many people money already and I have practically no chance to recovering this sum.
I just hope that one day, if I really need help, these people will help me too. I take it as buying a $500 seed to plant.
Just follow this piece of advice that I learned from my late father. "Neither a borrower nor a lender be" By following this advice and others from my father, I am able to retire at 45.
It doesn't work this way Adrian. No paying forward in this case. To say you will be selective and lend only to those who are truly in need is just like saying to buy a stock that will truly go up. No one knows. The closest you can get is to act like the banks with all the scrutinies and credit checks plus getting an interest commensurate with the risk you take. Even then, banks do get bad loans that they have to write off, hence the high interest rate charged. The best way is whenever someone asks you for a $500 loan, to take the money and put it in fixed deposit and one day when you need it then take that out. This is a better way than your hope that someone will lend you when you need it.
Always tell them that you have just invested your money into funds =) This way, they may ask you to invest for them in the future. Hahaha
always agree to lend only with the mental preparation that you won't get a single cent back.
write an IOU may help deter future borrowings from the same person. :)
Hi Adrian,
I had a similar experience as you have. I was naive then. My friend was fresh out of college and had just started working. He ran into some cashflow problems and had asked to borrow MYR1,000 from me. I agreed to lend him the money, and he promised to pay me back in 2 instalments (1st instalment) starting the following month. That very promise came in February this year. Till now, I have not received a single dollar.
Anyway, it taught me a lesson. Regardless of who that friend is, do not borrow your money to them.
Post a Comment