When you’re going to invest, the first questions you need to ask yourself is: Is it a worthy investment? Is it advisable to take the risk? One of the most important evaluations to differentiate one investment alternative from another is the combination of risk that you will assume, and the benefits you expect to get (profitability).

Generally, rikier investment should produce higher returns. If it were not so, any investment alternative that report the same potential benefits to another with a lower risk would cease to be attractive.

The risk is linked to the uncertainty of the benefits you actually get by investing. You can earn more than what you expect, less than desired, or you can even lose all the money you invested. There is no way to avoid the risk because profitability will never be assured.

Each alternative for investment is unique because it combines risk with profitability. Since not all alternatives have the same risk or the same return, there are two “laws” that common sense dictates and you should consider when choosing:

1. Between two alternatives with EQUAL RISK, you must choose the MOST PROFITABLE ONE.
2. Between two alternatives with equal PROFITABILITY, you must choose the one with the LOWEST RISK.

As you can see, you cannot separate the risk that you will assume from the profitability you expect to get, and although an investment with greater risk should produce higher returns, be careful when deciding because there is no guarantee that that will happen. To accept a higher risk does not always lead to greater profitability.