* allow time to work in your favor


* understand the impact of leverage


* recognize the folly of relying on forecasts


* consider all possible outcomes, including extremely rare black-swan events;


* accept that some losses are inevitable

 

In short, you do everything you can to ensure that your methodology is sound. You must recognize that while you can control the investing process, you have no control over any single investing outcome.

That's the full difference between investing done right and gambling.

Investing done wrong doesn't meet most or all of the above qualifications. It becomes speculation, which is just a polite term for gambling.

In light of the Powerball drawing this evening, the question presented to each of us is simply this: Are you an investor or a gambler?

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