Questions tagged [risk]

Risk is the potential that a chosen action or activity (including the choice of inaction) will lead to a loss (an undesirable outcome). The notion implies that a choice having an influence on the outcome sometimes exists (or existed). Potential losses themselves may also be called "risks". Any human endeavor carries some risk, but some are much more risky than others.

Risk is the potential that a chosen action or activity (including the choice of inaction) will lead to a loss (an undesirable outcome). The notion implies that a choice having an influence on the outcome sometimes exists (or existed). Potential losses themselves may also be called "risks". Any human endeavor carries some risk, but some are much more risky than others.

Risk can be defined in six different ways

  1. A probability or threat of damage, injury, liability, loss, or any other negative occurrence that is caused by external or internal vulnerabilities, and that may be avoided through preemptive action.

  2. Finance: The probability that an actual return on an investment will be lower than the expected return. Financial risk is divided into the following categories: Basic risk, Capital risk, Country risk, Default risk, Delivery risk, Economic risk, Exchange rate risk, Interest rate risk, Liquidity risk, Operations risk, Payment system risk, Political risk, Refinancing risk, Reinvestment risk, Settlement risk, Sovereign risk, and Underwriting risk.

  3. Food industry: The possibility that due to a certain hazard in food there will be a negative effect to a certain magnitude.

  4. Insurance: A situation where the probability of a variable (such as burning down of a building) is known but when a mode of occurrence or the actual value of the occurrence (whether the fire will occur at a particular property) is not. A risk is not an uncertainty (where neither the probability nor the mode of occurrence is known), a peril (cause of loss), or a hazard (something that makes the occurrence of a peril more likely or more severe).

  5. Securities trading: The probability of a loss or drop in value. Trading risk is divided into two general categories: (1) Systemic risk affects all securities in the same class and is linked to the overall capital-market system and therefore cannot be eliminated by diversification. Also called market risk. (2) Nonsystematic risk is any risk that isn't market-related or is not systemic. Also called nonmarket risk, extra-market risk, or unsystemic risk.

  6. Workplace: Product of the consequence and probability of a hazardous event or phenomenon. For example, the risk of developing cancer is estimated as the incremental probability of developing cancer over a lifetime as a result of exposure to potential carcinogens (cancer-causing substances).

From Wikipedia

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Why do people save so much?

When I am old and retired (70 years +), I don't plan to spend a lot of money. I'll be living in my own house that is already paid off at that point, so no rent or mortgage payments. Since I don't need to get to work every day, I wouldn't need (or…
cearl
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Why does the introduction of chip & pin appear to be so controversial in the United States?

The past few weeks there have been many news articles about the introduction of chip & pin in the United States; most of these articles are against it and citing such 'issues' as: "Some people are experiencing a 20 second wait times with these …
AStopher
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If a broad long-term investment in the stock market is such a good deal, why don't banks do the "obvious" things?

There is a fundamental discrepancy or paradox that has been keeping me, and many others, away from the stock market. Before I explain it, let me mention some selected popular questions on this site in which the consensus is that in the long term a…
B K
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What is the best asset allocation for a retirement portfolio, and why?

Based on financial conversations I've had with trusted family members, I believe that asset allocation is one of the more critical things to "get right" during retirement savings. Based on an aggressive investing portfolio and timeline, where can I…
CrimsonX
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How do rich people guarantee the safety of their money, when savings exceed the FDIC limit?

I am curious how a millionaire would guarantee the safety of his money, given that the FDIC only insures up to $250K of an individual's deposits at a bank. If someone had $3 million that they wanted to put into the bank, would they have to open up…
7529
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Why does risk level matter?

In a perfect market, the extra losses of a high risk portfolio should exactly match the difference in returns between that and a low risk portfolio. In other words, a sufficiently diversified portfolio will return the same, on average, independent…
Mike M
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How risky is real estate?

I have a friend who plans to retire by putting all of his money in local real estate. He makes a huge return on investment on the property he has now - something like 25%. Fundamentally, I think there is a tradeoff between risk and reward, which…
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Why cannot LLCs be used to negate increased risks when doing leveraged investments?

Let's say that I am confident that some investment will grow by 15% per year, and that I have 10K to invest, and I'd like to use leverage to invest 100K. What stops me from creating an LLC with 10K in equity, have that LLC then borrow money (let's…
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Is putting money in a 401(k) plan risky?

I've been working for a company that offers me a MassMutual 401(k) plan as a benefit. The employer's match is 50% of my contribution. I've contributed 3% of my gross salary to the plan, and planning to increase it. All the money in my plan is…
domino
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What are the options to beat the returns of an index fund, taking more risk?

I am young, and will start my career in about three years. I do NOT live nor have any intention of ever moving to the United States, and I will probably be based in Europe for my career and after (retirement). I want to work towards a financially…
embedded_dev
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Why should I hold stocks for the long term when the risk of more companies going bankrupt increases over time?

The longer the time frame, the larger the risk that any given company is going to go bust. If this is the case, then why is long term stock investing encouraged? Isn't it more risky to invest for the long term rather than the short term? In the long…
Flux
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Does dollar-cost averaging just means taking risk later?

I am investing in mutual funds and hence reading and trying to learn about it. I was reading this answer which says lump sum investment is far more efficient than DCA. Well, that does not surprise me. I am aware that lump-sum will outperform…
Aastik
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What's funny about "He leveraged his @#% deep into soy beans and cocoa futures" in The Jerk (1979)?

Near the end of the comedy The Jerk (1979), a character explains how their family got rich: Father: All I did was take the money you sent home and embarked on a periodic investment, in a no-load mutual fund. Taj: He leveraged his ass deep into soy…
Atomic Tripod
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As a 22-year-old, how risky should I be with my 401(k) investments?

As a 22 year old guy, how should I plan my financial life regarding my 401(k) investments? How much risk should I be taking? Also, is it a good idea to invest in a dynamic portfolio with smart beta ETF's managed by an active portfolio manager?
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Why would long-term investor care about volatility?

I'm 35 and I want to start investing for my retirement. My question is, why would you care about volatility if your investment horizon is 30+ years? In order to get a more clear picture of volatility risk, I gathered some data in Python and computed…
Mark
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