I suppose what really grabbed my attention was the headline of the article; "Wait-and-hope strategy for some investors."  The reason this caught my eye was that investors don't "wait-and-hope," speculators do.

This is one of the most important lessons to be learned here.  You can't give your money to someone else, expect them to invest it smartly for you, cross your fingers, hope everything will be all right AND call yourself an investors.  That isn't investing.  That's speculating.

Speculators take huge risks in hopes of huge rewards.  Whats worse is that most Americans who have their money tied up in funds that they don't even know how to pronounce, are not only taking the huge risks, but the odds of ever getting huge rewards is practically nil.

Is there risk in being an investor?  Yes.  But it is a calculated risk.  Investors learn about the marketplace, understand the parameters of the deal, and only invest when they can see that the risk has been sufficiently minimized.

The big problem here is that because the word "investor" has, in many cases, become synonymous with the word "speculator," people who hear that they should become investors, put their money in the market, wipe their hands clean in satisfaction, and never again think about the topic.

Then, upon losing money in such a fashion, word begins to spread that being an investor is risky.  This compounds the already confused meaning of the word.

Start paying attention, and you too will see how misused these words really are.

-Beasley

Financial | Business