What are you mining plans for 2018?
I just got in to mining with 8x GTX 1060 6 GB's and am mining BTCZ at the moment.
I am also thinking hard about expanding my mining operations but I don't know if it's worth it? For example if I spend 4000 $ on a new rig and then start mining to get this money back...wouldn't it make more sense to just buy some coins for 4000$ and hope they rise? The reason for this question is beause I am new to mining and am looking for reasons that mining is actually better choise.
Let's get the debate going

I can tell you what I did. I bought the mining equipment and paid it off and bought more mining equipment with mining profits. Now I am mining and holding coins I want. I like it because even when the coins are dropping which of course they do from time to time I am still mining and adding more coins so the balance stays the same and even goes up.