The market does not exist to make anyone rich. The math never works out. Desperate and clueless people delude themselves into thinking otherwise, and more reaso

The market does not exist to make anyone rich. The math never works out. Desperate and clueless people delude themselves into thinking otherwise, and more reasonable people use the market as a glorified lottery ticket. All of these people are missing the point. The only people that could ever meaningfully participate in the market are those for whom 6-10% returns on their income vs. 2-3% are meaningful. Everyone else needs a larger return, the stock market cannot and never will offer the kind of return on investment that a job or business can offer. Stock markets encourage liquidity of capital. They are instruments by which hungrier, but still large investors can take money from their more well-heeled contemporaries without having to resort to ugly political action. There are only two financial investments that really make sense from a personal point of view, mortgage loans and retirement. Mortgages make sense because it's an accessible form of leverage, take the leverage out of the picture and everyone would rent. Retirement makes sense because it's the only other scale people operate at where single percentage point differences in return make a real difference. Otherwise we'd just put all our retirement funds in a savings account. I'd say you need a few million in the bank before financial investment starts to look better than hunting for business deals. Sure, financial investment is less risky, but savvy players can de-risk by studying the market.