Investing is when you buy something that creates enduring, repeated value over an indefinite period of time, which you can capture without selling the asset its

Investing is when you buy something that creates enduring, repeated value over an indefinite period of time, which you can capture without selling the asset itself. Real estate, for example, creates value (a place to live) over a long time, which you can capture either by living there yourself or renting it to someone else - without selling the house. Stock is ownership in a business which creates value over time (shoes, tweets, cars, etc) which is captured in a variety of ways, like selling through retail or ads or whatever - without selling the stock. This is why currencies, gold and the like are not investments. They do not, in and of themselves, create value. They may be good to buy/hold anyway though!