There is a huge difference between stocks and fixed income investments. Stock prices will move up and down while T-Bills and bonds won't. The problem with having a desire for higher returns is that we will have to endure the ups and downs of stock prices to get them. In other words there is a price to be paid in order to move up to the potential of high returns offered by investing in the market. The big question each investor must answer is whether or not they are truly ready to put their hard earned dollars into an investment that can lose its entire principal. A lot of people will say that they are ready but it isn't enough to just say that we are ready. We must embrace the plan that we choose to follow for investing our hard earned dollars. The problem is that if we aren't convinced in our hearts that we are dong the right thing then we will run at the first sign of dropping prices. There is a saying that I have heard throughout my life which says that everyone wants to get to heaven but yet no wants to die. We all want to reach a goal. For me that is to be able to retire and for you it may be something entirely different but the key is that each one of us has at least one financial goal that we are reaching for. If it is a long term goal that there is no better place to park our dollars than in the stock market. The bouncing ball of rising and falling prices which follows is simply part of being in the market. Put simply - they are a part of the stairway to our investment heaven which is the place where we reach our goals.