Hoping and praying doesnt sound like much of a strategy to me but I dont know your circumstances. Hoping and praying are the refuge of someone who seems to have "given up" on the actual process. Investment is certainly a positive way forward but more to the point investment in what? Investing in Lotto....no...investing in spec stocks hoping for the 10 baggers....low probability so probably no....investing in yourself and your marketability to command higher salary/wages...sounds good to me. Investing is not only about what you invest in its WHEN you do it. If an investor is a self aware and canny individual then they would be able to recognize where they get the "biggest bang for their buck". The most profitable investment I have ever made (and which has secured my financial security has not been the share/bond market but the 30 years OUT of the share market in which I built up a business, employing myself and others and building up capital. The return on that would have been much higher than anything I could have accomplished in the share market. Cash invested in the financial or business endeavors of others is always going to be subject to their capabilities and reduced by their drawings on YOUR cash. If you buy your own tools and value the cash you spent on them you'll probably take care of them but if you lend them to others they have nothing invested in them so the "care" may be diluted. If as you say , "Probably not living in luxury but having enough financial assets to provide some financial security so I am not worrying all the time about finances or living hand to mouth. " is an issue then perhaps an investor should be looking at the underlying issues. I believe too many investors see shares and bonds as being the Holy Grail to financial security..Wishfull thinking. The only true Grail is ones ability to create wealth form ones own endeavours. The share market can be usefull to preserve and maintain and consolidate wealth but only very, very few individual will actually get wealthy FROM the share market...most of them being brokers and facilitators. Cynical? probably but thats my opinion for what its worth.
Quote Originally Posted by Aaron View Post
I don't disagree but I am still hoping/praying/investing in getting to a point I can actually live in luxury. Probably not living in luxury but having enough financial assets to provide some financial security so I am not worrying all the time about finances or living hand to mouth.