Quote from: rpietila on September 19, 2014, 08:23:26 AM

Quote from: btc6000 on September 19, 2014, 05:32:26 AM

Quote

Don't invest in BTC/XMR any money that you cannot lose.

Always play for meaningful stakes.

"Only bet what you can afford to lose," says the old bromide. You hear it in Las
Vegas, on Wall Street, and wherever people risk money to get more money. You read
it in books of investment and money-management advice by conventional counselors
like Sylvia Porter. It is repeated so often and in so many places that it has taken on
an aura of truth through assertion -- just like the shrinks' bromide about getting
calm.
But you should study it with the greatest care before making it a part of your
speculative toolkit. As most people interpret it, it is a formula that almost assures
poor results.
What is an amount that you can "afford to lose"? Most would define it as "an amount
which, if I lose it, won't hurt." Or "an amount which, if I lose it, won't make any
significant difference in my general financial well-being." A buck or two, in other

words. Twenty bucks. A few hundred. These are the kinds of amounts most middleclass
people would consider loss-affordable. And as a result, these are the kinds of
amounts most middle-class people speculate with, if they speculate at all.
But consider this. If you bet $100 and double your money, you're still poor.
The only way to beat the system is to play for meaningful stakes. This doesn't mean
you should bet amounts whose loss would bankrupt you. You've got to pay the rent
and feed the kids, after all. But it does mean you must get over the fear of being
hurt.
If an amount is so small that its loss won't make any significant difference, then it
isn't likely to bring you any significant gain either. The only way to win a big payoff
from a small wager is to go for a long, long shot. You might buy a $1 lottery ticket
and win a million, for instance. That is nice to dream about, but the odds against you,
of course, are depressingly high.
In the normal course of speculative play, you must start out with a willingness to be
hurt, if only slightly. Bet amounts that worry you, if only a little.

Yes, I am so accustomed to knowing the right interpretation that I almost forget that this adage is usually misapplied.

Q: Can you lose $5k if you're 20 and that's all you have?
A: Yes. Go ahead. Everyone needs to lose $5k to know how it feels. Better odds if you split it in 2 money-making ventures though.

Q: Can you lose $100k if you have another in the bank, and a job and a house?
A: Yes. It can easily be invested in anything you feel worthwhile and have made your homework on.

Q: Can you afford losing your house and be left paying off the mortgage, or a business loan of similar proportions, for 15 years or the rest of your life?
A: No. Don't take a mortgage unless you are a seasoned gambler. Renting is not outlawed if you can't buy your house.

Q: I am old and sick and have no income, but have a million in the bank. Lucky me.
A: No. You are an idiot and a gambler of ultimate proportions. Never risk in a bank or anything more than you can afford to lose, and in this case $100k is a max. Income-generating RE, gold, silver, cryptos, and stocks in moderate proportions are way better. Also don't trust them behind one person other than yourself.

TL;DR: Don't invest more than you can afford to lose, but do invest all that you can.

Whatever you hold value in with the hopes that you can some day reclaim the value, is an investment.

Thanks to both of you for these posts. I was thinking i invested too much in bitcoin these days becaus i am at something like -20% today. But you are right, i have a job, i have a house and i have in banks twice what i invested, so if i lose, it will hurt, but that's all.