In September 2024, I found out that CHF 180'000, all the money my wife and I had put aside since 2007, was probably gone. This is my story of what happened next.
My name is MPK and I am 41 years old. I am married and have 2 lovely girls.
We have been residents of this wonderful country called Switzerland for almost 10 years now and we live on the banks of Lake Geneva.
My background is luxury hospitality and currently, I work in sales for a high-end, Swiss watchmaking Manufacture.
My base salary is between CHF 80'000-100'000 with a variable on top that’s been averaging around 40-50% since I started working for the Maison. However, the more you sell, the more you make. Obviously.
The shock: CHF 180'000 lent to a friend, probably gone
One of my main investments for the past 10 years has been a P2P loan that I lent to a trusted friend residing back in our home country.
This amount, the equivalent of about CHF 180'000, included all my savings since I started working in 2007 and the proceeds from my wife’s apartment, sold back in 2022…
Over the years, we have been working toward owning our own home in Switzerland.
However, in September 2024, I found out through a common acquaintance that all our money may have been lost.
It felt like the Earth opened under my feet and I was falling, helpless, into an infinite void.
A pier disappearing into the fog on Lake Geneva: that's how it felt the day I learned the CHF 180'000 was gone
Picking myself up after the fall
I am still in the process of moving on.
At first, I was in denial.
And I was mad. Utterly mad. At my trusted friend but most of all at myself. It is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to face in my life.
And I couldn’t share the story with my family back in our home country, as they would have been devastated, and I didn’t want to put this kind of pressure on them.
I still have not shared any details with them…
I am lucky enough to have an understanding partner who did not make the situation worse. And I talked to my closest friends, which helped a lot.
I actually talked to one of them almost right after the ominous phone call that broke the news to me as I was desperately looking for an immediate solution. Which it didn’t provide in retrospect as there is no such thing in a complex situation like this. It did help enormously to ease the emotional burden nonetheless.
In the darkest moments of this realization I needed something I could lean on to help me move on.
I needed something that I could control.
I was told about Marc’s blog by a friend way before this whole ordeal started, but I never gave it enough attention.
Until sh*t hit the fan.
And I started reading.
And I bought his book which turned out to be one of the best investments I have ever made as it gave me hope and a practical guide I could rely on. And it provided further resources I could turn to.
What I found as a common denominator was that one of the greatest principles of success is perseverance.
That small attempts, repeated, will complete any undertaking.
In all honesty, I feel I have been blessed with the strongest willpower on Earth which has helped to push forward.
Therefore, I turned to learning, sports and dedicating my focus on small, consistent changes (i.e. waking up at 5am each morning and spending time on self-development) that I am confident over time will have a positive, compounding effect.
I have kept this habit ever since and I’m not planning to give it up, ever.
I typically start my day by cleaning up the kitchen (happy wife = happy life) which is followed by a good hour of learning (reading a book or listening to podcasts) and/or taking care of personal admin stuff.
The story with my P2P loan is still ongoing and I have hope that at some point, somehow, this money will make its way back to us. I am not being delusional. I just believe in myself and my strength to be able to recover.
Taking back control: close to CHF 2'000 a year saved, one switch at a time
It is to be noted that I am the only consistent breadwinner in our family.
My wife works in early childcare here and there, but she does not have a permanent job (that is also a project in progress). This made my situation even worse.
And given that I work in sales, there is a significant variable part to my salary, which historically has ranged between 20-80% per month depending on how successful I was at my job, that made the past 18 months a true emotional roller coaster.
We technically lived from paycheck to paycheck.
What I never gave up though, regardless of how tough times were, is my third pillar contributions, my daughters’ investments and the monthly mortgage payments of our apartment back in our home country. I would have considered that a real failure and I needed this “little bit” to feel “in control” at least to some extent.
When you replace 'why is this happening to me' with 'what is this trying to teach me?', everything shifts
After having dived into Marc’s blog, I started making changes to our finances.
I started by optimizing our spending:
- I switched banks (from UBS to neon and Swisscard that helps us save about CHF 800-1'000 per year)
- I switched Internet provider (from Swisscom to Salt that helps us save about CHF 400-500 per year)
- I have built an Excel sheet to track expenses and savings rate
- We switched from UBS and SwissLife third pillar to VIAC
- And I optimized and moved my daughters’ investments into Interactive Brokers
- I also started paying attention to food costs more closely and convinced my wife to get on board as she is the person responsible for this area
It was not always easy as often I felt like a bad cop.
But we ended up getting into the right habits and I believe we have reached about CHF 1'800-2'000 of savings per year overall.
I would like to highlight that we do not own a car (yes, life is possible without one) which is a huge saving in itself.
Making all these changes, one step at a time, gave me the feeling of control and hope that there is a way out.
It was not always easy either, especially when considering how small these changes felt relative to the big picture. Even if I knew that every little action counted and how they would compound to make a major impact in the long term.
From damage control to a deliberate plan
Today, my cost optimization phase is over.
Now I am focusing on increasing our revenue in order to boost our savings rate by having started discussions with my employer about my future with them (I have very solid results that give me a lot of leverage as my sales performance was another thing I could control in the storm), and by supporting and inspiring my wife to obtain a permanent position in order to further increase our household revenue.
Where I stand today, and what really matters to me now
I focus on consistency and things I can control including waking up at 5am each morning, educating myself, and following Marc’s advice on the following:
- Pay all your debts (highest interest rates first)
- Plan for next month’s and annual bills
- Build a safety cushion for any emergency situation
- Fill your 3a pillar to the max to save as much tax as possible
- Start investing in the stock market!
I spend my energy on keeping up my good habits.
And when I am in a downward spiral, I go out for a run to put things into a different perspective. And I count our blessings as there are many.
I mean: health, a strong will to persist, a great country to live in, a very supportive circle of friends and a fully paid rental apartment in the capital city of our home country that we were able to pull off amidst all the above.
This last point actually turned out to be our best investment so far. Its value since its purchase in 2015 grew from about CHF 40'000 to CHF 180'000, and today it is cash-flow positive and produces about CHF 650 per month.
I could have just sold it while all the above was happening to make some cash but I did not want to lose this asset which has always been part of my long-term vision of creating wealth and that has grown almost fivefold in value over time and it keeps moving upwards.
As I said before, I keep my hopes with the P2P loan but I try not to think about it a lot and go on with life.
My goal on this journey is not to retire early as I love what I do and don’t see myself stopping. Ever.
My definition of financial success and therefore my goal is to create enough wealth to lead a humble but comfortable life allowing us to travel and create as many memorable experiences as a family as possible.
I also started giving back more to the community we live in to show gratitude for all the great things we have been blessed with.
To conclude, life goes on. And I am convinced that I am on the right track now.
My biggest takeaway is that learning and hard work are unavoidable and the only person you can count on to do those things is yourself. I have become a true ambassador of Marc’s blog as all my friends, wealthy or not, find things in his writings that they can relate to and they can learn from.
The advice I’d give my 25-year-old self about money
I would say that learning is inevitable and do as much of it on personal finance as possible and from as early an age as possible.
25 is too late.
I would also suggest saving and investing as much as possible from as early an age as possible in order to become financially independent by 40. Which is absolutely and undoubtedly possible with the right habits.
I am planning to give Marc’s book to my daughters as soon as they are old enough to understand the concept of personal finance.
Along with his recommendation of the top 10 personal finance books to read.
If I had known everything I know today when I was 18, my current situation would be very different. And I know it will be. It’ll just take me a bit longer.
Notes from MP
Wow, that’s quite a story.
And it’s a good reminder of what can happen with P2P lending.
I mean, it’s clearly riskier than a standard VT ETF, as it’s way (way!) less diversified.
So either you highly trust the person you are lending to (with a track record), and ideally with a strong existing collateral (real estate). Or you get paid a guaranteed amount above what a bond would give you. Either way: be careful.
Also, and that’s another reminder to myself: don’t do such transactions with friends or family members, as you won’t treat them in the rational way such issues deserve. The emotional stakes will be too high for you to fight the way you actually should.
Finally, I’m impressed by MPK’s resilience. Way to go. This reminds me of a quote I recently read, which I think describes our Mustachian reader best:
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.— Calvin Coolidge
And you, have you ever had such a bad P2P lending story? If yes, share it with us in the comments section below.
Last updated: October 1, 2026