Sorry to hear about the bad experience.. Stocks like you refer...

Sorry to hear about the bad experience..

Stocks like you refer to have great stories, and it is easy to be caught up in the excitement. The companies themselves drive a lot of that pump.. for their own benefit.

Bad experiences when you start investing are common and it is usually speculative stocks without earnings that catch you out. That doesn't mean that all the top ASX 50 stocks are safe and perfect but they are less risky.

Have a listen to Scott Phillips and Andrew Page on Motley Fool Podcast - they do talk about what you have experienced and the way forward. In fact they say what happened to you is a good experience to start with to reset for the future before the $ is even more (44K aside - but it will save you with your future capital gains as an offset !). I don't agree with all they say, and they have their biases but they are a good starting point (you dont need to subscribe to Motley Fool). Go back and listen to a number of Podcasts - they have one that is more current events and one that is questions..

All the best - you will do Ok in the future with a reset...