I have been doing full time gambling since graduation for two years and retired to start my career. I have lots of cash that's just earning interest; so I spoke to a financial planner briefly about investing. I was particular keen on index fund diversified across all asset classes for a 2-3 year period time.

Anyway the financial planner was very concern about the 2-3 years investing period, which is far too short in his option. He says that there is a significant chance that I will end up losing money after 3 years; to which I replied ??I am ok with losing money after a 3 year period.??

That's when he implied that I don??t have the right mind of framework in investing; that an average investor would not accept such a proposition; that an average investor would want to make money within their investing horizon; that an average investor would reduce their exposure to risk OR increase the investing period to ensure a (good chance of) positive return at the end of investment period.

From my point of view, I will invest a proportion of my money in the index fund even if just for 12 months (disregarding tax and transaction cost). So what if my net worth is down 20% in 12 months time? I had a positive expectation at start, that's what count, right? (Note: I am not stock picking, I am just hoping for the 20 year average market rate.)

If each 12 months period is viewed as a casino game, it has an expected 6% premium return over bank interest and a standard deviation of 15%. So even in the worst case you will lose 24% (30-6) for a chance to gain 6%.

Isn??t that a 6% / 24% = 25% edge game, which would call for a 25% of bankroll bet? Further more, the two standard deviations is an extreme case, may be I can bet 1 or 2 time more than the 25%.

How do you guys deal with your excess cash that you don't need for a few years?