Right about now, you may be thinking about that brother-in-law who "made a killing" in options. Or maybe you're reminiscing about the Nevada vacation when your one lucky quarter magically drew out 700 more with the pull of a slot-machine lever. Why put your money in slow-and-steady investment vehicles that merely promise double-digit returns, when you could have near-instant riches? With compounding, you have to wait patiently for years for your riches to accumulate. What if you want it all now?
Granted, there's nothing exhilarating about predictability. Matching the performance of the S&P 500 won't make you the life of the party. But neither will the far more common tales about how you lost your savings on some speculative gamble -- nor a recounting of your subsequent adventures in bankruptcy court.
You don't need a card dealer, dour strangers, or Wayne Newton background muzak to gamble. Plenty of stock market gamblers do an admirable job of losing their money on seemingly legitimate pursuits. At The Motley Fool, we believe investors "gamble" every time they commit money to something they don't understand.
Suppose you overhear your best friend's dentist's nanny talking about a company called Huge Fruit at a cocktail party. "This thing is gonna go through the roof in the next few months," she says in a stage whisper. If you call your broker the first thing the next morning to place an order for 100 shares, you've just gambled.
Do you know what Huge Fruit does? Are you familiar with its competition (Heavy Melon)? What were its earnings last quarter? There are a lot of questions you should ask about a "hot" company before you throw your hard-earned cash at it. A little knowledge could help keep you from losing a lot of money.
Remember, every dollar that you speculate with and lose is a dollar that's not working to create long-term wealth for you. Speculation promises to give you everything you want right now, but rarely delivers. In contrast, patience all but guarantees those goals down the road.
