In 2014 at Sochi, we learned that there is no such thing as a sure thing in life. Russians were supposed to cruise on by Finland (and most likely win the Gold Medal), but no one told the Finnish players that Russia lost in the end.
I keep hearing from other bloggers and many e-mails in my inbox about “guaranteed” return on my investments of 7% or more, but it is days like yesterday that reassure me that my somewhat paranoid views on investing are well based.
In my life, I have lived through many Financial Sure things:
- Canada Savings Bonds when they paid 19% a year, if I kept those, I’d now be getting a whopping 1.9%.
- Bre-X was a can’t lose investment, hell, even the Teacher’s Union bought into it, not as sure a thing as we all thought?
- Nortel, ’nuff said
- The I.T. Bubble (aka Y2K), evidently COBOL programmers made a fortune I sure as heck didn’t.
- You can’t lose money buying real estate, we shall see whether that one is a Russian Fairy Tale, won’t we?
The next time you hear something is a sure thing. Remember yesterday’s Olympic Hockey results.
The only sure thing is that nothing is for sure! Its all a matter of probability, some things are just more likely than others but nothing is a sure bet.
Brings back memories. Don’t forget Enron, Global Crossing, Madoff, sub-prime…. How easily we forget. You might find the book Thieves of Bay Street by Bruce Livesey interesting if you have not read it.
I will see if the Ottawa Public Library has a copy!