But what they thought they had doesn’t matter. I bought a Powerball ticket and could have won. Doesn’t mean I lost $1.4 billion, I only lost what I put in, $2. You could argue they also lost the reasonable investment income, not the inflated 12% but the 5% or so other made in honest funds, but that was the risk taken when they thought they were getting the greatest return in the world, better than others were getting, much better than they’d get in a bank. And many of those 5 percenters lost too, sometimes just invest funds, many their principal.
The people knew there was a risk. I bought an IRA last year and could have bought one at a bank at a whopping .8% interest, but went with one at a fund instead. So far I’ve lost $500 of my $6500. It’s the risk I took when I could have about $6505 if I’d gone with the bank. I wanted to make more, so took the risk.
I do feel bad for those who lost through pension plans and other group investments. They usually have no say in where their funds are invested. The SEC should have protected them better.