05-016 · EVIDENCE B · SOURCE-SENSITIVE
Don’t borrow money to invest, avoid leverage, and never buy assets you don’t understand
不借钱投资、不加杠杆、不买自己看不懂的
Zero expense. The hard part is resisting the urge to “borrow some cash to make extra profits” when the market is doing well.
When you use borrowed money to buy stocks, any drop below a set threshold leaves you unable to add more funds, so your positions get automatically sold off. The paper losses instantly become real losses, leaving you no chance to wait for the price to rebound. Regulatory rules state that people who have held an account for less than six months or whose average daily assets over the past 20 trading days are under 500,000 RMB cannot open margin trading accounts. This threshold alone makes it clear this tool isn’t meant for ordinary investors.
B
Move “Don’t borrow money to invest, avoid leverage, and never buy assets you don’t understand” to Future Me's calendar
The excuse
There is no immediate alarm, so the sensible choice can wait for a less busy week.
What feels good now
Today I keep a few minutes, a bit of persistence and avoid interrupting my default routine.
What the source says
The source summarizes the return this way: “When you use borrowed money to buy stocks, any drop below a set threshold leaves you unable to add more funds, so your positions get automatically sold off. The paper losses instantly become real losses, leaving you no chance to wait for the price to rebound. Regulatory rules state that people who have held an account for less than six months or whose average daily assets over the past 20 trading days are under 500,000 RMB cannot open margin trading accounts. This threshold alone makes it clear this tool isn’t meant for ordinary investors.” Evidence grade B. The original states the population, caveats, and sources; this is not a personal forecast.
Use the original facts and limits. For an urgent medical, safety, financial, or legal issue, contact a qualified local professional or service.
THE ENGLISH EDITION
Original recommendation and evidence
16. Don’t borrow money to invest, avoid leverage, and never buy assets you don’t understand
Cost: Zero expense. The hard part is resisting the urge to “borrow some cash to make extra profits” when the market is doing well.
In plain terms: When you use borrowed money to buy stocks, any drop below a set threshold leaves you unable to add more funds, so your positions get automatically sold off. The paper losses instantly become real losses, leaving you no chance to wait for the price to rebound. Regulatory rules state that people who have held an account for less than six months or whose average daily assets over the past 20 trading days are under 500,000 RMB cannot open margin trading accounts. This threshold alone makes it clear this tool isn’t meant for ordinary investors.
Benefit: Leverage essentially means borrowing money to make purchases, which also magnifies potential losses. After opening a margin account, the market value of your collateral may fall below the minimum maintenance margin set by your broker, which governs the assets you’ve pledged to them. If the value drops below this threshold and you fail to add more collateral to bring it back up, your positions get forcibly liquidated, with the broker selling them on your behalf. Paper losses turn into actual losses right away, with no window to wait for a price recovery. The same regulatory rules apply here: clients with less than six months of trading experience, insufficient risk tolerance, or average daily securities assets under 500,000 RMB over the past 20 trading days are barred from opening credit trading accounts. This requirement further proves it is not a suitable tool for regular investors (China, 2015).
Evidence grade: B
Sources: China Securities Regulatory Commission (2015). Measures for the Administration of Margin and Securities Lending Business of Securities Companies (CSRC Order No. 117, Article 12). <https://www.csrc.gov.cn/csrc/c106256/c1654005/content.shtml>; Shanghai Stock Exchange. Interpretation of the "Shanghai Stock Exchange's Implementation Rules for Margin and Securities Lending Transactions" (Investor Education Materials). <https://www.sse.com.cn/services/tradingservice/margin/edu/c/10074042/files/a1f1c4833302451fb9130dbb94116c56.pdf>
Notes: There is no direct academic evidence supporting the advice “never buy assets you don’t understand”; this is widely accepted industry consensus, so it is classified as grade C. Using consumer loans or credit card cash advances for investing also counts as a form of leverage; their interest rates are covered in section 7 of this chapter (“avoid minimum credit card payments”). This content does not constitute investment advice.
Read the complete Chinese source and notes
16. 不借钱投资、不加杠杆、不买自己看不懂的
成本: 不花钱。难的是行情好的时候，要忍住不去想「借点钱多赚一点」。
说人话: 借钱买股票，一旦跌破线，你又补不上钱，就会被强制卖掉。账面上的亏损当场变成真亏，连「等它涨回来」的机会都没有。监管规定，开户不满半年、最近 20 个交易日日均资产不到 50 万元的人，不能开融资账户。这个门槛本身就说明，它不是给普通人用的。
收益: 杠杆就是借钱来买，它会把亏损放大。你用融资买入以后，抵押物的市值可能跌到维持担保比例线以下。这条线是券商划的，管的是你抵押在它那里的东西。跌破了这条线，你又没能追加担保把它补回来，就会被强制平仓，由券商直接替你卖掉。账面上的亏损当场变成真亏，没有「等它涨回来」的机会。监管规定，「从事证券交易时间不足半年、缺乏风险承担能力、最近 20 个交易日日均证券类资产低于 50 万元」的客户，不得开立信用账户。这个门槛本身就说明，它不是给普通人用的工具（中国，2015 年）
证据等级: B
来源: 中国证监会 (2015). 证券公司融资融券业务管理办法（证监会令第 117 号，第十二条）. <https://www.csrc.gov.cn/csrc/c106256/c1654005/content.shtml>；上海证券交易所. 《上海证券交易所融资融券交易实施细则》解读（投资者教育材料）. <https://www.sse.com.cn/services/tradingservice/margin/edu/c/10074042/files/a1f1c4833302451fb9130dbb94116c56.pdf>
备注: 「看不懂的不买」这句没有直接的文献支持，属于共识，单算是 C 级。用消费贷或者信用卡套现去投资，也是变相的杠杆，它们的利率见本节第 7 条（不用信用卡最低还款）。不构成投资建议。
YOUR PRIVATE LIST