I think we would be interested to hear your story. Would you mind sharing with us, maybe in a separate thread? Could be good PR for you...
u do not see or know distinction between this business and any business? u do not see or know distinction between lending and giving money to manage?
Most family businesses are started with family money. Most managed money starts with friends and family unless you came from a fund or traditional prop firm where you have a track record. I'm just saying drawing lines like that for everyone is not helpful.
$35k back in the mid 80's was a small fortune, especially when used for speculation. That is extremely privileged to put it nicely, to be given a such a large 'loan' especially when going bust a few times is the norm for novice derivative traders. Most of us had nothing starting out & had to make our own way. I always cringe when I see another kid being handed their traded account by their parents. Mixing investments or loans with family or friends is a well known recipe for a disaster but than again everybody has to learn their own lessons in life - including the enablers that spoil their kids.
I only recently started to trade for friends and family and I kinda anticipated that they were expecting a get-rich-quick opportunity. So right from the start, I made sure that they are fully aware of the risks involved and also the kind of returns to realistically expect. I think that thorough communication with family and friends (and future clients) about the risk and return profile of the strategy is paramount in avoiding disputes down the road. Although emphasizing the risks of our strategy may turn away some investors, it is better than having to deal with angry investors. We actually make it a point to only accept the right kind of investor.
I never NEVER EVER NEVER EVER take money and invest for my family and friends. NEVER! That's just my policy. I don't ever discuss the results of my trading, profit or losses. Every time when I am asked how my trading is going, I always answer with one word: "Fine" and move on to talk about something else. They all know not to probe more and I leave them to think whatever they want regarding my trading performance. LOL Trading is where profit is never guaranteed but loss is always certain. If I sustain a loss which is unavoidable, if it's just my own money, I've only lost my own money but if it's someone else's money, I would end up losing a lot more; I would've lost their trust, their confidence, their believing in me, their friendship, their camaraderie, the family bond in addition to their money. To me, that's just not worth it. It's hard enough to just make money with trading and I don't want to get everything else involved. And the more the things are involved, the harder would be to even make money with trading. And that wouldn't be fair to the people who have entrusted me with their hard-earned money and at the same time unfair to myself as I would be put under tremendous pressure.
No matter how much they state that they understand and accept the risk now but when the losses in all those 0's from that risk are REALLY staring at them in the eye, it's a whole new ball game. Hopefully your investment would be profitable that you would never have to face that but you need to be prepared for that.