[Hofcollector]

tools clothing etc is not an investment it is an expense and is treated as such when you file your taxes. that is the reason you get some of the money you spent on them.

When you take money to open a business you are investing. if it is your money, then you might not expect a return on it. if you are using other peoples money, then they will expect a return on it. what you are buying and selling is beside the point.

If I open a business with 50,000 dollars, that 50.000 dollars is an investment. Once I use that money then it becomes an expense or an asset. The use of the money isn't an investment the giving of the money to get a return later is the investment. so buying tools to use, or buying products to resell at a higher price is not an investment or investing. you confuse the definitions of your words. when i buy a card from you Im not investing with you, Im buying a product from you. Im not an investor Im a customer. You arent selling me an investment, you are selling me a card.

Apparently Webster's dictionary and business owners alike have it wrong then. I don't know how much clearer that definition can be. So let me get this straight, if I buy tools required to do a job that would ultimately earn me profit, I'm not investing in my business? It's funny because that is the exact definition that the US government uses.

Any money you put into a business in the form of a purchase is an investment in the form of an expense, assuming you believe it has the potential to gain you a profit.

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tools clothing etc is not an investment it is an expense and is treated as such when you file your taxes. that is the reason you get some of the money you spent on them.

When you take money to open a business you are investing. if it is your money, then you might not expect a return on it. if you are using other peoples money, then they will expect a return on it. what you are buying and selling is beside the point.

If I open a business with 50,000 dollars, that 50.000 dollars is an investment. Once I use that money then it becomes an expense or an asset. The use of the money isn't an investment the giving of the money to get a return later is the investment. so buying tools to use, or buying products to resell at a higher price is not an investment or investing. you confuse the definitions of your words. when i buy a card from you Im not investing with you, Im buying a product from you. Im not an investor Im a customer. You arent selling me an investment, you are selling me a card.

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yes to put money towards something. money being the main point. investing is putting money towards getting a return that is higher that the money you put out. its as simple as that. the coins or anything else you buy isn't an investment, the money you put into buying the coins is the investment. the coins that you sell later isn't your return on investment, the actual money you get when you sell the coins is your return on investment (well to be precise the actual extra money above the amount of money you spent originally). just as every other investment is worth nothing until it is sold, (GIC, Stocks, Bonds, etc.), you invest with money, and you get money in return at a later date, hopefully more. it can get more complicated than that, but that is the basic. investing is not buying and selling although it can involve buying and selling, investing is giving to get a return later.

when a person invests in his business he is not buying or selling anything, he is putting money into his business, usually its for a year to get a return later. He conducts his business and he makes a profit or a loss. If he is incorporated the money he gives himself for his work is an expense and is calculated before a profit or loss is shown. His return on his investment is his profit or loss. If he is a sole-proprietor, then his profit or loss is his return on investment as well as his salary.

AAAAHHH! BUDDY... ZERO DOLLARS NEED EVER ENTER INTO THE EQUATION. YOU DON'T EVER ACTUALLY HAVE TO REALIZE AN ACTUAL PROFIT. YOU CAN INVEST SOLELY ON THE HOPES THAT SOMETHING WILL APPRECIATE IN VALUE.

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Problem #76 I have with your argument is that my great Uncle died a few years back. At his time of death he was an extremely wealthy man, although no one had a clue. When he and my grandfather got out of the war they both bought stock in what are now major corporations. My uncle continued to do so but no one ever knew because he lived a simple life. By your distorted view of investing my uncle a) was not actually wealthy and b) never actually invested because he never cashed in and no one ever handed him a pile of money.

An investment does not have to earn you a profit. There's these things called "bad investments" where you can actually lose money. An investment is ANY money put towards the BELIEF that a product, service or idea has the POTENTIAL to further your initial investment. This does NOT have to take cash form (ever) but instead may take form in interest, appreciate in value or accumulation of properties.