Risky ... Really?

I don't get it. Now, don't get me wrong, putting together all of the pieces of a puzzle to get the full picture, to understand the entire story, is not easy and is usually a constant struggle. Specifically, I'm talking about Real Estate, but my comments would suffice for most anything that cycles.

Why is it when everyone should be buying real estate at bargain basement prices, only a few are while the overwhelming majority don't have the means? The easy answer is that times, economically speaking, are tough. I get it, people are losing jobs, loans are much tougher to obtain, most everything financially speaking has gotten tighter aside from the drastic drop in oil and gas prices over the past few months.

Again, why do most people find themselves confronted with these unfortunate circumstances? I thought the safe play was to simply get a 9:00-5:00 job, put your money in the bank, work until you're 72, and then call it a day. After all, investing is risky in lieu of the safety of that weekly paycheck. Right?

For me, this is where the confusion sets in. Most people don't involve themselves heavily in investing yet they spend forty plus hours a week working. For what? In terms of financial security, if this was the best, least risky approach, how come most of these same individuals are not financially independent after countless hours, days, years, and decades of hard work?

Someone should have told the likes of Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Richard Branson, etc. Sure, I get it, these guys are different, simply ordained by a higher power to find themselves in a position of being rich (again speaking strictly in terms of finances) or, perhaps they've spent the time, devoted the effort, and dedicated their passion learning to become the best. Oh yeah, that little thing called education.

I guess if you want to have what most everyone else has (again, financially speaking), I would urge you to do what most everyone does. Otherwise, I'd spend a lot of time looking for another way. Yeah, the road less traveled. It may be a bumpy ride along the way but your travels will often leave you finding yourself alone in vast fields full of trees loaded with fruit waiting to be picked. Or, you could wait in line at 3:00 in the morning outside of your favorite store during the Holidays hoping that in a matter of hours you'll have the opportunity to fight with thousands of others to potentially get one of the five flat screen TVs advertised for half off.

Are you sure investing is risky? Scarier perhaps, but definitely not riskier than that secure 9:00-5:00. Yes, you may lose money on your investments as easily as you may get that pink slip. Don't believe me, just look around you. There's a better way but you have to spend some time looking, learning, and being. How can you afford not to?