Gambling Vs Investing

Can you explain the difference between gambling and investing? Thanks in advance.

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At the heart of it, gambling is based upon chance. And all must lose for one to gain. But investing is based upon knowledge and all have the opportunity to win. Both involve risk, but only investing allows equal opportunity for all to benefit.

Thank you for your e-mail and question about the differences between gambling and investing. There are a number of Christian authors who have addressed this issue (Norm Geisler, Tony Evans, Gary North, etc.).

Gambling Vs Investing For Dummies

Investing in the stock market is not gambling. Equating the stock market to gambling is a myth that is simply not true. Both involve risk and each looks to maximize profit, but investing is not gambling. And, gambling is not investing. Gambling is defined differently than investing. Whether you want to call an investment high risk and you want to say that risk. You know, I don’t like putting money into gold. I think it’s a bad place to put money, but I don’t call it gambling. It’s an ultra-high risk, volatile investment, but it’s not gambling. For either investing or gambling, the beginning of Murkco’s definition is the same: An activity in which money is put at risk for the purpose of making a profit. But while the purpose of gambling and investing is identical, the methods by which the purposes are achieved are drastically different. However, there is a huge difference between investing and gambling when it comes to stopping losses. In gambling, particularly in sports gambling, there are no loss-mitigation strategies due to the activity being so speculative. Stock investors however can set up stop losses on a stock investment which is the simplest way to avoid unnecessary risk.

Briefly let me say that there are some similarities, and there are people who get addicted to high risk investing just like gambling. So I would acknowledge there are some similarities between the two.

But the key issue is that there are some striking differences. Investors research an investment with the goal of lowering the risks and making a wise investment. Gambling is all about risk and the odds cannot be lowered by further research (except for those who can modify the odds of blackjack by card counting or something like that).

The goal of investing is to build up a company and portfolio. Even if it’s done selfishly, it still can have a positive effect on the company and the economy. Gambling takes money out of the capital economy. It doesn’t contribute to job creation, etc. As I argue in my transcript on gambling, gambling actually hurts a local economy and increases social costs (abuse, neglect, bankruptcy).

Most investing is done with discretionary income and with certain limits (amount of stock that can be bought on margin, debt load allowed by a lender, etc.). Most gambling is not done with discretionary income. Money that should go for food, rent, clothing is often risked in a “get-rich-quick” scheme.

So while I would acknowledge that investing and gambling have some similarities, the differences make the difference. If you are interested, I would encourage you to read some additional material by some of the authors I mentioned.

Thanks for writing.

Gambling Vs Investment

Kerby Anderson
Probe Ministries

Gambling Vs Investing Vs

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