My elder brother (30M) has been trapped in stock market trading losses and debt for the last 4 years and I genuinely don’t know what to do anymore.
My elder brother (30M) has been trapped in stock market trading losses and debt for the last 4 years and I genuinely don’t know what to do anymore.
It started with a big stock market loss years ago. After that he started using credit cards and personal loan apps to recover losses. Slowly things became worse. He hid debts from the family, secretly took money from my father’s account, my mother also secretly helped him by taking loans from relatives, and eventually the entire family got dragged into this.
My father is a retired government employee. When we first found out the actual debt situation a few years ago, the stress was so bad that within a month my father suffered a brain stroke/paralysis episode. Since then I have been extremely scared about his health.
At one point the family cleared many of my brother’s debts:
- father gave retirement savings,
- relatives helped,
- I personally helped him with around 5 lakh over time,
- I emotionally supported him and told him to stop trading completely.
He later got a government job in NIC (salary around 40k currently). I thought things would finally improve. But after some months he secretly started trading again. Salary disappears within days and now the total EMI burden has become impossible.
Current situation:
- Around 18 lakh total debt
- Multiple credit cards maxed out
- Loan apps like Fibe, KreditBee, MoneyView etc.
- Gold/jewelry mortgaged
- Monthly obligations close to 80k–1 lakh while salary is only around 40k
- A few loans are already overdue/defaulted and legal notices have started coming
I suggested loan settlement/restructuring multiple times, especially for unsecured loans and credit cards, but he is extremely scared because he believes if he defaults or settles loans, his government job may be affected or lost. Because of this fear he still wants to somehow continue paying every EMI even though the numbers realistically do not add up anymore.
The biggest problem is not only the debt anymore. It’s the repeated hiding, silence and relapse into trading despite years of support and warnings.
I have now decided:
- I will not take loans for him
- I will not pay his EMIs anymore
- I want to protect my parents financially and mentally
- But I still want to help him find a realistic path out
He says if we somehow survive 3–4 months, he may clear a promotion exam and salary may improve. But currently the numbers simply don’t add up.
People who have dealt with serious debt situations:
- What realistic options does someone in India have in this situation?
- Most importantly: how do I help my brother without destroying my own financial future and my father’s health?
I genuinely feel exhausted and numb after dealing with this for years.