750k to 7.29 pizza deliveryman

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[h2]Down But Not Out: From Hedge Funds to Pizza Delivery[/h2] [h3]Ken Karpman Plummeted From a Six-Figure Salary to Earning $7.29 an Hour[/h3] [h4]By DONNA HUNTER and GAIL DEUTSCH[/h4]
March 19, 2009-

For the first 45 years of Ken Karpman's life, everything was close to perfect.

He graduated from UCLA with a bachelor's degree and M.B.A., then got a high-paying job as an institutional equity sales trader. He married his dream girl, had two children and traveled the world on expensive vacations.

Over the span of Karpman's impressive 20-year career as a trader, he climbed the company ladder, reaching a salary of $750,000 a year.

"Life was good, we were making a lot of money -- and why wouldn't this just continue on?" Karpman said.

From all appearances, Ken and Stephanie Karpman were living the American dream in Tampa, Fla., nestled in their 4,000-square-foot home that sits on a golf course. "I had no idea what anything cost in a store," he said. "I'd just put it in the cart and buy."

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Karpman was so confident in his good fortune and the strong economy that he left his job in 2005 to start his own hedge fund. To pay for the new business and their standard of living, Karpman quickly burned through $500,000 in savings and, like so many Americans, took a line of credit against his house.

But in the reversal of fortune that followed, Karpman was unable to attract investors and was forced to dissolve his hedge fund. He found himself jobless in a job market that had collapsed.

In the past, Karpman had found it easy to get a job. It wasn't so this time around.

"When I used to go into a job interview, I probably came across as a jerk because I was like interviewing him to see whether this firm was worthy of me," he said. "Now it's kind of like you almost feel like you're coming in with your hat in your hand."
[h3]Turning to Pizza for Help[/h3]
After a lengthy and fruitless job search, the Karpmans were shocked to find themselves in financial dire straits, with zero savings, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and their home in foreclosure.

Desperate for quick cash, Karpman tried to find a job bartending but came up empty. Finally, he drove his Mercedes to Mike's Pizza & Deli Station in Clearwater and applied for a job. Mike Dodaro, the owner of the pizza shop, said he was shocked when he read his application but he offered him the job despite some reluctance to hire an over-qualified candidate.

Stephanie Karpman said she was more than a little surprised when he came home with his new job, initially saying, "You're kidding me, right?

"Delivering pizzas," she said, "Never in my wildest dreams did I think he'd be doing that."

Karpman's salary plummeted from six figures to $7.29 an hour -- plus tips -- but it's money that he's grateful to earn, even when it means delivering to neighbors or his old office building.

"This whole progression down, it's amazing how many things you say, 'I can't do' and a week later you say, 'Yeah, I could do that,'" he said. "I'm not going to make a career out of this but, until I get something that pays more, this is what I'll do to keep food on the table."

The stress has also taken a toll on their marriage. Stephanie Karpman said she didn't want her husband to leave his trader job in the first place and wishes he would have put more in savings.

"There's no question of where the fault lies," Ken Karpman said. And when it comes to finger-pointing, "I point it in my direction.

"If we didn't have to worry about the lights getting turned off, we can spend more time talking about us."

Each day has brought new lows and new lessons in living with a little less "stuff" and a lot more humility.

"The worst thing for me, for both of us probably, was, you know, to go to just friends around here, and say, 'Can I borrow some money?'" he said. "Pizza was a step up."
[h3]'I Need a Couple of Wins'[/h3]
The Karpmans are now on food stamps and a tight budget that doesn't nearly cover their children's $30,000 private school tuition. But thanks to an anonymous donor, the Karpmans children's tuition has been covered through next year and they are deeply appreciative

"It's just something that kind of makes you a little misty every time you think about it, that somebody would do this for our kids," he said. "But we'll have a chance at some point to do that for another family."

The family's jet skis now collect dust in the garage near the Mercedes, with its broken transmission they cannot fix. The home they will soon lose has fallen into disrepair.

Stephanie Karpman has closets full of clothes and handbags she likely won't be able to take with her and is eyeing consignment shops as a place to unload them. She said she has found herself going through her closet and wearing clothes she hasn't touched in years.

As Karpman counts every penny he earns, he still hopes he can come back from the financial brink and reclaim a lifestyle he, like so many Americans, never imagined he could lose.

"I need a couple of wins," he said, "and I think that, hopefully, it'll mushroom up like it caved in."

Copyright [emoji]169[/emoji] 2009 ABC News Internet Ventures

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=7111098&page=1

a part of me says he doing what he got to do to feed his family, but i mean the guy shouldve had some money saved up and cut back on his expenses
grin.gif
 
20 years of work and he only had 500,000 in savings?~?!?!

I swear people don't know when to stop spending until its too late
 
Making that much money over those years and he blew threw it?? I respect that he's doing what he has to do for his family but definitely he made some$%#$%%% choices.
 
Originally Posted by CJ863

He's a dummy for quitting his job in the first place...
smh.gif


Why? He went to start his own hedge fund, not retire sit back and do nothing. Dude was going hard but fell off.
 
^
it's high risk, high reward. i'm sure he didn't think it would blow up in his face so hard. bad timing, too...

at least he's out there putting in work.
 
Originally Posted by reggie707

20 years of work and he only had 500,000 in savings?~?!?!

I swear people don't know when to stop spending until its too late
Originally Posted by DMan14

"I had no idea what anything cost in a store," he said. "I'd just put it in the cart and buy."

dude was living the "American Dream", having a nice house, white wife, and not giving a
f1915be1bd3d92f785c003f357765553fee6f25.gif
 
Originally Posted by ThunderChunk69

Originally Posted by reggie707

20 years of work and he only had 500,000 in savings?~?!?!

I swear people don't know when to stop spending until its too late
Originally Posted by DMan14

"I had no idea what anything cost in a store," he said. "I'd just put it in the cart and buy."
dude was living the "American Dream", having a nice house, white wife, and not giving a
f1915be1bd3d92f785c003f357765553fee6f25.gif




laugh.gif
 
Good Read.
Everybody's talking but hindsight is always 20/20.
Nobody expected the bottom to fall out like this.
 
Originally Posted by marath0n

Good Read.
Everybody's talking but hindsight is always 20/20.
Nobody expected the bottom to fall out like this.
true

but even coming from a money manager he should know the principles of saving. not knowing what things cost in the store is the microcosm of our total economicproblem
grin.gif

*steps off soapbox*
 
Well, I must say this:

These rich folks never know how to make some money when times get hard. How can he go around asking for money instead of just selling some of the stuff heowns? Like the article stated that they have jet skis, lots of clothes and purses, but Im almost sure theres A LOT more. They were living the life, so theyHAVE to have a lot of useless gadgets that they can just let go. Just ebay or craigslist it
eyes.gif
 
i dont feel sorry for him
thats his fault
he made bad choices he gotta deal with them
its not like he had a lack of opportunity
 
Originally Posted by jose cansec0

smh...that has to suck...surprised wifey stuck around. she really does LOVE him


what can else can she do?? she has no other choice cuz she aint got her own money
 
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