Personal finance YouTuber Caleb Hammer has seen everything from models who just want to “spend, spend, spend” to 40-year-olds who flatly refuse to work.
But one recent guest on his show, Financial Audit, may have been the host's most frustrating guest ever.
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Russo, a 24-year-old Vedic astrologer from Austin, Texas, suffered huge losses trading cryptocurrencies and now relies on credit cards to support himself.
Although Hammer explained that getting a permanent job would only be a “worst-case scenario,” he believes Russo's current situation could not get any worse.
“I’m ready to kick you out,” he said. “This is the angriest thing I've ever been.”
From “$500,000” to bankruptcy
Lasso started trading cryptocurrencies in 2020 with $40,000. He eventually turned it into $440,000. Unfortunately, his day trading was supported by huge leverage, which was 17 times his net worth.
While this is excessive by traditional metrics, it is not unusual in the crypto industry, where platforms can offer leverage ratios as high as 125. But as Racso eventually discovered, excessive borrowing is a double-edged sword.
He said he lost 70% of his portfolio when trading platform FTX and cryptocurrency Terra/Luna collapsed in 2022. Based on his own analysis of Vedic astrology (which focuses on his karma rather than his personality traits), here's what happened to Roso. It was caused by a solar eclipse in Taurus and Scorpio.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) estimates that the failure of the Terra/Luna project destroyed more than $450 billion in market value, and the bankruptcy of FTX wiped out another $200 billion.
In total, the cryptocurrency industry lost $1.8 trillion that year, with three-quarters of retail investors (40% of whom were men under 35) suffering significant losses.
Undeterred by his failure to predict this market crash, Russo now believes he can make a living as a Vedic astrologer, predicting the fates of others. However, he admitted that he currently has no income.
Meanwhile, his monthly budget is covered by credit cards as his portfolio is reduced to pennies.
read more: Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now turn prime real estate into cash without the hassle of being a landlord.Here's how to do it
unsustainable debt
Russo owned multiple cards, including one with an unpaid balance of $4,373, and admitted he used some of it to pay off other cards. Since he can only make minimum monthly payments, he also pays his rent with a credit card.
He also has a car loan for partial ownership of the car, which he shares with his sister.
Consumer debt binge is a more enduring trend than cryptocurrency speculation. Nonresidential debt will reach $4.9 trillion by the end of 2023, according to the Federal Reserve's latest Household Debt and Credit Report. Americans owe $1.13 trillion in credit card debt alone. Meanwhile, auto loans now exceed student loans.
Mr. Russo justified the car loan because he intended to use his car to generate income from ride sharing. He signed up, but he hasn't started offering rides yet. Due to his lack of income and monthly debt payments, he only has $2 left in his checking account.
Mr. Hammer simply described him as a “ridiculous clown.”
But Russo's situation, while dire, could be reversed with a steady source of income, a stricter monthly budget, and breaking free from his credit card addiction. The only problem is that if you want to overcome them, you must first admit them to yourself.
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