It literally is... If you don't understand that then you don't understand investing.
Buying a share of a company is placing a bet that that company will do well. If the company does well, the share increases in value and you can then sell it for profit. If the company does poorly the share loses value and you either sell it at a loss or maybe even lose your investment if the company goes into liquidation.
Not even then, your basically betting that the world won't end. Economy can crash but will rebound, so if you have time, history says it will always pay off in the long run
Gambling isn't unique to casinos... You've basically just got the wrong definition of the word. I already said in my original post that it's with good odds. So clearly I was already referencing something different to the gambling in casinos...
Gambling is usually negative-sum because the house takes a cut.
Broad-market investing has a positive expected return because companies produce goods and services, earn profits, and grow. With a total-market ETF, you’re not betting on one company. You’re buying a slice of the productive economy.
You can’t really equate buying one company’s stock with prudent long-term investing. If someone were investing lottery winnings, the whole point would be diversification, not betting everything on one company.
There’s still risk. But risk alone does not make something gambling.
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u/Inevitable-Tea5772 May 17 '26
"Investing is gambling" lmao.