Do people see investing as a sure bet?

I have noticed a number of threads recently with people saying 'I invested in X equity fund a few months ago, and it has fallen by x% in the last few weeks. should i cash it in?'. Surely people take the time to look at where they put their hard-earned money (or maybe it's a sign that Irish people are now too careless with money?) and realise that there is risk involved, particularly in the short term, with equity products. I would not be surprised with downward movements of 10-20% with most equity products that I am investing in over the long term, and it doesn't bother me. Why is it that a lot of people seem to be investing these days, and almost sound like the product has let them down as soon as the value drops by even a small amount??

Re: Do people see investing as a sure bet??

Good post. I think that many people are too lazy to bother doing their homework and then moan when things don't go in a straight line.

gravitygirl said:

Why is it that a lot of people seem to be investing these days, and almost sound like the product has let them down as soon as the value drops by even a small amount??

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Probably because they haven't been adequately advised. If they were, it would hardly come as a surprise.

Many finanacial institutions and advisors are (understandably) quick to point to potential benefits of an investment service but "sluggish" at best on any potential downsides. Snmall print, without explanation, just doesn't hack it.

Increased personal investment is a natural consequence of economic growth. But you can no longer expect the ordinary man to sit back and keep quiet when the pitfalls that should have been explained to him suddenly occur. It's unfair, however convenient it may be, to brand all such investors as being lazy. There's considerable laziness also in the financial services sector where the duty to ensure an adequately-informed public should properly begin.

An alternative question might be "Why do the banks complain about tiresome customers complaining just because they don't understand what they've gottten themselves into?"