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Old 04-20-2014, 02:20 PM   #24 (permalink)
jamesqf
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nemo View Post
TMy 401k lost 50% of is value a few years back but I am sill better off than if I had "invested a in car or cars"
Yeah, mine lost close to 50% in 2008-09, but since March of '09 has gained 152%. The market goes down, then it goes up, then down again...

As for whether someone lost money on a particular investment, that's inherent in the risk/reward thing. You can invest your money in T-bills: very little risk, but only a small profit. At the other extreme, you could invest in speculative startups, where the odds are against success, but you make a lot when a startup does succecd.

The point, though, is that you make an investment with the idea that you will make a profit. Excepting e.g. taxi or car rental businesses and the like, that's not why people buy cars.
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