Quote:
Originally Posted by Red
I know people that lost. Not huge money, but still. Maybe they'd be ahead by now, but for them it was easier on their health to get out and cut their losses. It's an amazing feeling when you're losing a lot of money day after day and you have no control over it. It takes a toll on people. Of course, you'll never read that in any of the get rich quick books. They focus on positives only.
My take on this is this; investing is not for everyone. I've seen way to many Danald Trumps around lately spewing crap they read in the latest Rich Dad Poor Dad release. These Trumps have no idea what kind of stress is involved in having the equity of your home trying to beat the market. It's ugly, but some people don't mind the pressure and make money on it. Most are just not cut out for it.
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That stress doesn't come from having the equity in their home being used in another property, the stress comes from not knowing if they've done the right thing, not having any idea at all if their investment is going to grow or shrink.
That's the kind of investor that's simply rolling the dice and hoping for the best. Of course investing home equity in that situation is stressful! If I bet my house on black, I'd be stressed too.
Investors are people who've taken the time to understand their chosen area and find and use the methods that work. I couldn't do what SeeGeeWhy does; I don't understand businesses and all the things around them. Choosing one to buy would be like rolling the dice for me and would cause me no end of stress.
However with real estate I've done lots of research. I know the economic fundamentals that are driving the current boom in Alberta. I associate with others who are more experienced than me at it and have been successful for the right reasons, I find out what they did and why it worked, and reproduce it.
I'm not a big fan of Rich Dad Poor Dad and those books. While they are good motivation and are good for getting the point of how to look at money across, I don't necessarily think they're that great from an investors advice point of view. There's a lot of crap advice out there, and a LOT of people wanting to sell you their advice. It's better to work with people who actually do it, rather than people who want to sell you how to do it.