I had an employee who was playing fast and loose with his retirement money during the stock market boom in the late 90's. He was in his mid-50s, far too along life's path to be taking such risks with what little he had saved. I tried to talk some sense into him, tried to show him how to use the planning tools our comapany's 401k provider offered, etc. He wouldn't listen. Whenever the market went up, he was boasting.
The market, of course, did not go up forever. It tanked, and the really risky tech stocks he'd been putting all his money in tanked more than most. Suddenly, he was no longer boasting. Instead, it was the fault of the greedy on-line broker that "let him" make those investments. He'd tell anyone who would listen how there should be laws to "protect people" .... from what? Being able to invest their money where they see fit? The only thing this guy was a victim of was his own greed and stupidity.
Eventually, he was laid off when his position was eliminated, and he sued the company for discrimination ... after completely fabricating nearly everything in his EEO filing. Once again, he was the victim, never mind that he'd spent more time screwing around on-line with stocks than he'd spent working for the past couple years ... He then admitted to fabricating everything in the EEO filing during his deposition, while under oath, but of course he blamed this on "the lady at the EEO office who told him he had to put that down or he couldn't sue" ... case dismissed, knucklehead lucky not to have been brought up on perjury charges.
