People use the terms "invest" and "speculate" interchangeably, or they try to suggest that an "investment" has a lower risk than a "speculation," but your disam

People use the terms "invest" and "speculate" interchangeably, or they try to suggest that an "investment" has a lower risk than a "speculation," but your disambiguation is the correct one and it is vital to understand the difference between: 1. Putting money into something that generates a return of some kind, and which may also be sold to someone else, and; 2. Putting money into something where the only return you get is from selling it to someone else for more money. Both practices can even involve the same kind of entity: If you buy a condominium and live in it, it is an investment. Your use of the property as a home is a return. If you rent it out, it is more obviously an investment. Whereas, if you buy an empty plot of land and do not use it or rent it out as a parking lot/whatever, you are speculating in real estate.