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Sorry, it doesn't look like anyone here is really going to agree with this idea.

If you put $500 a month into an S&P 500 fund for the last 25 years, do you have any idea how much money you'd have today?

Gambling, my left foot.

You realize there are people that "invested" heavily in market funds and are still working rather than retiring when they planned because of the amount of money they lost in 2008, right?

You know there's swathes of people who invested in their own company in the form of employee stock purchase plans who lost everything, right?

Investing IS gambling in the dictionary sense of the word. MOST OF THE TIME long term investing is a safe bet. But sometimes, it is not. That makes it a gamble.
 
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It is a form of gambling. Not the same as card games or horse races or something like that, but it is within the definition of gambling.
You're talking about the dictionary definition. It says "play games of chance for money; bet: she was fond of gambling on cards and horses." I don't think anyone would call it a game.

Whatever, it's a useless argument unless you're worried about it for religious reasons, which I'm not. If you don't like investing, that's a different story, but many people like investing, and it's a way for private companies to get capital.
 
The fact that Apple released the Mac Pro to great fan fare and then just never updated it is very strange. Even if the device doesn't sell in large numbers, it sells to such an important set of clientele (Pros, the Rich and the well to do tech enthusiast) that i think it is a big mistake of Apple to not find a way to get an update or two in during the last three years.

There must be something up on the Macbook Pro side as well because that device also sells to the same important people but it also sells in high numbers and at high profit. Apple should be fighting to keep that product up to date.

I hope this September sees a huge number of hardware updates. Maybe that will help make up for the iPhone having a very similar case.
 
You realize there are people that "invested" heavily in market funds and are still working rather than retiring when they planned because of the amount of money they lost in 2008, right?

You know there's swathes of people who invested in their own company in the form of employee stock purchase plans who lost everything, right?

Investing IS gambling in the dictionary sense of the word. MOST OF THE TIME long term investing is a safe bet. But sometimes, it is not. That makes it a gamble.

Did you pay any attention to anything I said? Apparently not.

I am not talking about anyone investing in their own company. I am not talking about people who panicked during the financial crisis and sold low and abandoned their investment plan.

Try the same exercise over the last ten years and see what you get. This is starting investing right before the financial crisis and holding a steady course throughout. What you get is a nearly 10% annual return on investment.

Once again, math beats mythology.
 
Sorry, it doesn't look like anyone here is really going to agree with this idea.

If you put $500 a month into an S&P 500 fund for the last 25 years, do you have any idea how much money you'd have today?

Gambling, my left foot.
Doesn't change that it could be down at some point and you'd have less money if you needed or wanted to pull it out at that time. It's not about how it has been doing as much as it is about how it could do and if there's potential for a gain or a loss--the potential is the chance and the chance is the gamble. A bet on a sure thing is still a bet.
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You're talking about the dictionary definition. It says "play games of chance for money; bet: she was fond of gambling on cards and horses." I don't think anyone would call it a game.

Whatever, it's a useless argument unless you're worried about it for religious reasons, which I'm not. If you don't like investing, that's a different story, but many people like investing, and it's a way for private companies to get capital.
That is one definition of it. There are various others that are more in line with what investing is like. It is what it is. As I pointed out before, it's not to give it some negative connotation, as it seems like some people are taking as for some reason, simply to put it in perspective.
 
Doesn't change that it could be down at some point and you'd have less money if you needed or wanted to pull it out at that time. It's not about how it has been doing as much as it is about how it could do and if there's potential for a gain or a loss--the potential is the chance and the chance is the gamble. A bet on a sure thing is still a bet.

An argument fully defeated by arithmetic, as I have already shown. Investing is not about what you describe. I would not be taking the time to argue this point with you if your argument wasn't so painfully familiar, and the reason why most Americans are poor investors and so woefully unprepared for retirement.
 
An argument fully defeated by arithmetic, as I have already shown. Investing is not about what you describe. I would not be taking the time to argue this point with you if your argument wasn't so painfully familiar, and the reason why most Americans are poor investors and so woefully unprepared for retirement.
You are simply discussing a different/separate point (as related as it might be) than what I'm discussing. Neither one negates the other (as I've also essentially alluded to before).
 
Stop shutting down your computer, like most people did 5 years ago, will remove that problem.
No, it won't, and I don't do that anyway. I know how to use a computer. For my family members who don't, I tell them what to do (e.g. don't shut down). They have HDDs still since you can't easily swap it out in a stupid iMac, and their computers are really sluggish. I swapped my HDD for an SSD and saw an immediate difference, going from nearly unusable to just about fine. And it was also fine in Snow Leopard with an HDD.
 
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The weird thing that I realized about the non-Retina MacBook Pro is that because they're still sold by Apple, they still have at least another 5 years of full support from Apple (afterwhich Apple will call them "Vintage"), plus another 2 years of partial support from Apple (after that Apple will call them "Obsolete".) If you bought it the day it was released 5 years ago, you'd have 10 years of full support then another 2 of partial.

And it's still being sold. The number of years of full support will stay at "at least 5" until Apple finally discontinues it.

I ordered it indeed the following day. Was waiting for it. :)

I upgraded it with 16 Gig ram and a super fast Samsung EVO 500 Gig SSD so it does not feel outdated in any way. I can work with Photoshop or edit sound files easily and fast so I am still fine. But hey I would like to upgrade it in two or three years so I still hope they will update it.

About the RMBP: I don't need retina on my MacBook but I would not fight it either. I just don't want to spend $700 more just to have a 500 Gig soldered SSD when I can have an upgradable one for $100.
 
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