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There are some people who like to save, pay down debt, and re-invest wisely... Unfortunately, I was not one of them.
Turney Duff is a former trader at one of the biggest hedge funds in the world, the Galleon Group, where its founder and several Galleon employees were found guilty of insider trading. Turney rose through the ranks and then fell prey to the trappings of Wall Street: money, sex, drugs, alcohol, and KEVIN, sales trader, worked his way up from the back office to managing director, and loves handing out bonuses to the guys and girls on his desk I was 35 years old when I started making real money on Wall Street. Every December I was expecting close to a seven-figure bonus. It was 2005 and I was still single, so most of my expenses were fairly contained. So I started getting into the real estate game. I was buying and selling apartments all over the city. My bonuses in ‘05, ‘06, and ‘07 all went directly into properties I was buying. But then the financial collapse happened and the credit bubble finally burst. I was long seven properties at the time... And I couldn’t give them away. It took a couple of years to be free and clear, but essentially it was like I didn’t get paid for three years on Wall Street.
full basketball court, and a beautiful Wiffle ball field. And my kids love it – we play all the time. I know some people in the construction business, so it only cost me $50,000. But unfortunately, the value of our home has gone even lower and a real estate agent told us the complex added zero to the resale value. In fact, it makes it harder for us to sell. WENDY, research analyst, big college football fan, and can trade locker-room stories with the best of them (currently looking for a job) When I was 30 years old, I realized I didn’t own anything and freaked out. So I used my next bonus to buy a car and my first apartment. I was stretching the budget a little bit, but the market looked good and I felt like I had job security. Then the next year, instead of paying down my debt, I got a little crazy. I was running with a fast crowd and everyone was flying private... I wanted to join the ranks of the Wall Street elite so I purchased flight time with Marquis Jet. It cost me more than $100,000 for 25 hours up in the air. I had fun flying to Miami and back four times that year, but when I lost my job six months later I really needed that money.
power. Turney chronicles his spectacular rise and fall in his bestselling book, The Buy Side: AWall Street Trader’s Tale of Spectacular Excess .
American Consequences | 21
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