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I'm a conservative investor. And the degree to which my investments are worth more now than the total of all my combined down payments in each of them was, is the degree to which I'm also a successful investor. I invest for the long term. Ordinarily I avoid high risk investments. I'm more comfortable with a solid, steady, modest 10% return than I am with an uncertain albeit possible 210% return. I like it to be secure.
About fifteen years ago a good friend of mine, an awesome money guy and a fund manager, looked at my portfolio, liked its spread, then suggested I consider adding an admittedly high risk instrument to the mix. It cost a lot to buy in. But that's what I did - knowingly, responsibly. The upside is if it paid off (after an expected fifteen years) it would pay off big time. The downside, as with high risk investments, is if it failed, it wouldn't just lose value: it would be worthless. It failed. It's now worthless.
My friend called me to tell me about it. I could hear in his faltering voice how badly he felt. Given what was for me a substantial amount of a now worthless investment, I calculated his failed high risk fund's gamble had lost millions of dollars for all his trusting clients. But listen: that's why they call it high risk, yes? And nobody forced me to buy in, nobody forced me to write a check. That said, I could tell this was a guy who was now carrying a heavy load on his shoulders. "I'm sorry I lost your money" he gamely told me (what else could he say?). "Don't think about it" I said, "it was my stake to play at the table.".