Investing  is an effective way to put your money to work and potentially build wealth. Smart  investing  may allow your money to outpace inflation and increase in value. The greater growth potential of  investing  is primarily due to the power of compounding and the risk-return tradeoff. Investments To  invest  is to allocate  money  in the expectation of some benefit in the future. In  finance , the benefit from an investment is called a  return . The return may consist of a gain or a loss realized from the sale of a property or an investment, unrealized  capital appreciation  (or depreciation), or investment income such as  dividends ,  interest , rental income etc., or a combination of capital gain and income. The return may also include currency gains or losses due to changes in the foreign currency  exchange rates .   For example, an  investor  may purchase a monetary asset now...