Timing Production of benefits early rather than late is a concept which is forgotten all too often. Benefits usually have a pleasant way of compounding over time. In dollars, this is the time value of money. Obviously you want them today. Money is most valuable to you right now because you can reinvest it.
Risk Making investments which are safe rather than risky is often difficult to do.
Evaluating risk can be extremely complicated, especially when you want to compare the risks involved in alternative investments. Risk occurs when you are not sure of the cost of an investment or the benefits it will render. Let's take a theoretical example. You have a limited amount of money to invest either in land or in a specialized feed storage facility. You have estimated the yearly after-tax receipts on each investment to be the same.