*En mi terapia del viernes 31 de enero de 2025...
Is it the deep? I don't arrive to pay anymore a loan, bank calls me some 20 times... headache!
Today is Tuesday, February 4, 2025. Looking at my improvised plan for the week, I see a note that says, "Tips on how to?” Well, why not reflect on HOW TO FACE BANKS?
I decided to revisit a sentence from a YouTube video featuring Jorge Serratos in his interview, or as they now call it, podcast number 288 (wow, the lucky number in Chinese culture). In this episode, he interviewed Tito Luzardo, who overcame a significant failure. At minute 40, when asked how he managed to overcome that failure, he mentioned, "It couldn’t have been any other way."
Jorge Serratos is Mexican, and his life story is quite remarkable. Most of his material is in Spanish, but for some reason, I felt compelled to develop this post in English. I kept that sentence in my mind for a few hours. I listened to different parts of the podcast during my lunch break and again on my way back home. That sentence, I can say, was worth the entire podcast: "It couldn’t be any other way."
For weeks—perhaps even months—I have been contemplating the idea of leaving Hong Kong since it seems I can no longer manage my debts. The daily calls from the bank have become suffocating. I mentioned last month that I couldn’t make any payments until February because December left a significant hole in my income due to the school vacation, for which I don’t get paid as an assistant. They don’t stop calling me, and naturally, I don’t answer their calls, as it is nonsensical to keep explaining my situation. The worst part is that it’s not enough for them to call me; they also called my boss, who used to provide me with many more hours, allowing me to earn a decent income two years ago. However, since everything was hourly, the flow of new students suddenly stopped, and I found myself with a meager income of 200 to 250 USD a month, compared to 1,500 USD two years ago.
Every semester, I plead for more hours. Last year, I decided to relinquish some hours because the only solution I saw was to work a full-time night shift at a fast-food restaurant. That job would allow me to maintain my assistant position at school and still take on a couple of students at a private academy.
One day, the secretary spoke to me—perhaps with the best intentions—and suggested I put some color in my hair to make me appear younger, thinking it would help me get more hours. "He said you look old." I thought to myself, "What??"
I am 57 years old, and I genuinely feel fit to carry out my teaching activities. I knew that such a moment could arrive sooner or later, which is why I began looking for alternatives to generate additional income online back in 2016, alongside my teaching assistant position. I realized that the only way to secure a full-time job with more certainty was to pursue a postgraduate certification online from a British program. However, the cost was out of my pocket, and with my family in the Philippines, it felt impossible to consider.
Over the long term, I aimed to develop skills that would generate sufficient income in about ten years. However, luck smiled upon me, and I achieved this in four years.
It took me several years to learn how to interpret charts. I failed many times in trading, but just as I was about to give up, I experienced a few good results that allowed me to recover my losses. This encouraged me to continue learning about investing. I discovered that the best way for me to feel at ease was to invest in projects that offer rewards for staking. I made the risky decision to take out loans. Most of the easier banks offered unsecured loans. The interest rates were higher, but it was manageable with my current income as an assistant. Years prior, it had helped me face summers when my income disappeared for two months. Every year, I continued to apply for every full-time position I could find. However, I knew that without a British certification, it would be challenging, and each passing year only added to my age, making me feel increasingly anxious about my job prospects.
Returning to my recent success, my small loan turned into a significant achievement. Four thousand USD became the peak of a bull market wave in 2020-2021, reaching over 190,000 USD. Fortunately, I used part of this income to invest in things like my computer, my phone, and a house in the Philippines (though I am still uncertain if that was a wise investment, as the paperwork is still in process), an investment (1200 USD)at a Start-up in India which probably I could get with some profit, but the guy is taking too long, and also an investment at Pizza project (11,000 USD) which was not bad but also finish my return due to a miss-understood with the chef, well that is life.
However, the market began to decline, and by February 2021, I was hacked, losing around 40% of my investment. At that moment, my portfolio had already dropped from the 190,000 USD mark to about 100,000 USD, and the hacker stole approximately 28,000 USD. Unfortunately, the world of blockchain comes with such risks. I managed to recover a portion of my investment but no more. I minimized my expenses as much as possible. Thanks to the hacker, I decided to withdraw 90% of my investments in DeFi, which had previously been generating 100 USD daily for me.
Fortunately, I didn’t resign from my jobs, but I found some peace of mind knowing that I no longer depended solely on them. By chance, I believed that the loan strategy was sound. A month before the hacking incident, I renewed the loan, this time for three times the previous amount, trusting that the backing of the capital would be enough to cover payments in case the value dropped by 40%. I hadn’t anticipated a hacking incident. Nevertheless, if it hadn’t happened, it wouldn’t have guaranteed that things would have been different: "It couldn’t be any other way."
The night shift job provided some extra time, but the overwhelming fatigue made me question whether it was fair to continue. I might return to it eventually, but for now, I have decided to confront the reality of being unable to pay and see what the bank will do. In the meantime, I am trying to focus on my online activities, which are generating just enough to cover my basic needs.
I am deeply contemplating whether moving to a country like Vietnam or Thailand would allow me to sustain myself with my online activities. I feel like I am headed in the right direction, alongside my teaching hours, whether as an assistant or a private tutor.
Today marked the second monthly payment of my loan from 2021. I have already made about 60% of the payment. As I evaluate my situation, I remind myself that many people are struggling to make payments. I am not the exception, but why should I have to liquidate my investments in HIVE and LEO (which are not performing well anyway) just because the bank wants to force me to pay? They also took a risk when they extended a loan without collateral.
IT COULDN’T HAVE BEEN ANY OTHER WAY!
Additional Note: I have approached AI for Legal Advice. I am thinking the best could be # 3, Bankruptcy…if no way to refinance.
In the meantime lets continue learning at the Web3.
Thank you for your support!