The problem here is defining "risk". What seems "risky" to other people doesn't seem risky to me. I'm not a gambler. I just know that if you do your homework and are bold, you will win more times than you lose, which means that you are successful overall. You can't get ahead if you're afraid of failure. I can afford to have this mindset because my cost of living is low. Even in the worst case outcome of whatever venture or project or goal I have going, I could still manage to scrape by for a little while until I turned things around. I don't mind taking that "risk" in order to accomplish my financial objectives, because to me it's not really a risk. Playing Russian Roulette is risky. Having a high cost of living or high consumer debt when you're depending on your job for income is risky. Counting on the government or a company to pay for your retirement is what
I would consider truly risky. A lot of people consider those things the safe route though (besides Russian Roulette, of course
).