Let's talk about risk

Risk, it's everywhere, it's what the sharemarket is built upon.

Let's get one thing out of the way, every share you buy is a risk, even a "blue-chip" share. Seriously.

Yes, many people refer to investing on the share market, risking your money, as gambling. It absolutely isn't. It is investing. When you buy shares you own a part of that company. It isn't gambling, but it is risking.

You have your own tolerance for risk (how big a risk you are prepared to take and for how long), and that is different to mine and different to anyone else's. And this is why the share market is so active. Risk buttons get pushed.

For instance, the last 2 entries here show high risk investments (SVY and DRE), and they paid off handsomely But they may have returned average or below average results and dropped.

That's the risk. And most of it is outside your control.

The thing that you can control is the amount of research that you do. So do plenty of research. And don't rely on just one source.