If you really think about it, you will discover a remarkable number of life's situations that are inherently risky. Nearly everything someone does is some form of gambling. Even with such mundane act of getting up and going to work, increases one's prospects of being killed in a transportation accident. In face of today and everything you know about investing, be it in business, an asset class (stocks, bonds, real estate, cash and commodities), or index fund, even in its most basic element, online lottery it really is nothing but "betting" that someday tomorrow is going to be better with pleasant expected returns on investment; or even not. There is just one big risk you should avoid and that is the risk of doing nothing and not taking your chance.

Come to look-at it in face value, investing in almost any money market really is, legalized gambling, per se.