Caution is a good thing! ;-) You're too right though. The old advice to not invest more than one can lose is so damn true. I don't need the money I've invested to live, but my life would be so much easier if I sold and used the funds for debt. I look at it like a savings account/racehorse. But unlike at the track I can cash my ticket in at any point in the race. To me this makes the market so much more enjoyable/sensible than the track.