<prompt> Human: Say for example I saved 5000 in my bank account in 2014. Instead of spending it on X item, I save it for 2015.Now next year comes around, and because of inflation everything rises by a little on average. However by next year comes around the same X item drops 50 in value. If I were to buy it in 2015 instead of 2014, would I be essentially increasing the value of my money by waiting? Wouldnt saving my money beat inflation in a way, so why would I lose ?Also, if I invested my per say stock market or such, wouldnt I be subjecting my to risk? Wouldnt it be better to have liquid not only for emergencies, but ease and flexibility to access instead of paying taxes penalties,etc. from the stock market? I understand everyone urges me to put in the stock market for the long run since they say it goes up, however this isnt guarantee is it? What different is it from betting in a sense?  <response>: What youre doing is thinking about the same item whereas you should be thinking about the same good.The price of an item can drop X from 2014 to 2015. For example, a 2014 MacBook Pro is certainly going to be a significant amount less in 2015. Thats because the 2015 MacBookPro came out.However, the good, the most current MacBook Pro, in 2015 is most likely going to cost more than the most current MacBook Pro cost in 2014, due to inflation. Same goes for a gallon of milk.As for youre second paragraph. Yes, investing money in the stock market is bettinggambling, if we define bettinggambling as wagering money on an undetermined outcome. Its true that you dont know for sure if it will go up long term. However, the EV expected value of investing in the stock market is positive. That is, if we think in probabilisticstatistic terms, the number times that it does go up the amount it goes up is greater than the number of times that it goes down the amount it goes down.When you say betting you seem to be using it as a pejorative, in the way that someone is betting when they go play the lottery or blackjack. Yes, this is still the first kind of betting in that it is wagering money on an undetermined outcome, yet it is different than investing in stocks since it has a negative EV. The number of times you lose the amount you lose is going to be greater than the number of times you win the amount you win. 