The young, well paid mining professional, sweating away in the bush, who should be building up assets and investments for the future, is often more tempted by the 'quick fix' of a high-risk punt on a speculative exploration stock. It's part of our culture. It's our sport. Unfortunately, the chances of providing for the future this way aren't too good. The education and training that prepares us for our highly specialised professions, fails us badly when it comes to the investment and management of the rewards.
Funds go into the shares of small, speculative companies, with little regard for liquidity or risk.
People invest in their own industry, or worse still in their own employers, with no regard for diversification or the need to separate their source of income from their assets. This folly is made even worse for those in remote areas or overseas, who cannot even research or monitor the investments that they make. The results of this are usually very poor returns. People's efforts to get ahead, get out of the bush and get on to a better life are marred by bad investments. Hard-earned money is wasted.