How to make and lose money, from an investment advisor and a professional poker player

Anyone can work for money, but some people have ways of making money work for them, instead. Here, two very different approaches to the problem.

AN INVESTMENT ADVISOR, ON HOW TO GET RICH WITHOUT TRYING

“The best way to make money without working for it? Winning the lottery. Wait, don’t write that. I’m kidding. The best way is to start a regular savings and investment strategy at the earliest age possible. Regardless of the dollar amount, no matter how small it is, the earlier you start contributing to an RSP or a TFSA, the better. The benefit of compound interest on a tax-secured account over the long term is very significant. Also, don’t get too wrapped up in trying to predict what the market will do. A majority of gains can be attributed to a relatively small number of really good days. Those really good, strong days tend to happen after the worst days in the market.”

—Kathryn Del Greco, a vice president and investment advisor at TD Bank.

A PROFESSIONAL POKER PLAYER, ON HOW TO COPE WITH LOSING A LOT OF MONEY

“In high-stakes poker, you win or lose a lot of money every day, and the money doesn’t feel real all the time. It can come and go so easily. The worst time of my poker career would probably be the night I won $40,000, and then, the next night, lost $80,000. When everything’s going wrong like that, you really start gambling. You’re trying to win back the money you lost. It becomes degenerate behaviour. You’ll see a lot of inexperienced players getting emotionally upset, screaming, throwing stuff, letting it really effect them. To get past a big loss, you just have to kind of accept it and deal with it. There’s always something to look forward to. For me, I can just think of the next tournament I’m excited about.”

—Mike Leah, an Innisfil-based professional poker player with $3.8 million in tournament winnings.

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