Stocks and shares as retirement fund?

In our lifetime, we have seen friends, relatives and co-workers lose tons of money in the stock exchange market. On papers, big time celebrities go bankrupt from the stock market.

Bad luck? Bad judgement?

Poor planning would be the correct phrase.
If you buy a share of Apple Inc. because it is cheap, you are gambling. There may be tons of indicators and signals that tell you to buy, but do you really know what you are doing? Indicators or news from your "friends" are always lagging! Late information is bad information. Bad information is bad money. So be wary.

If you buy a share of Apple Inc. because you believe the bull trend is coming and you can sell it off within two days to make a contra profit, you are gambling. NO ONE IN THE WORLD CAN PREDICT THE MARKET DIRECTION. I mean no one. Not even the banks, analysts on Bloomberg or whatsoever. No one can predict what happens tomorrow. Unless they have ESP or some other god-like skills, otherwise everything that they say is bullcrap.

So why does the stock market even exist when it is so evil?
Please remember that: Stocks are being bought for investing, not gambling or for chancing.
When you purchase a share of Google, you are investing money into Google. You see prospects and growth in the company. Any investment should be long term of at least 3 years, anything less is a blind fire. Stock market guru, Warren Buffet, does not buy and sell shares like what they do in the fish market. He keeps his shares in his portfolio, gain dividends over time and then reinvest.

Saving money in the bank vs saving money in various companies
If you save money in any bank, you get an interest of less than 1%. If you "save" money in shares, you get dividends of more than 3%. So if anyone is saving up for retirement, where would you save your money to? Investing in government related companies or blue chips is one of the safer methods to build up your retirement fund.

Start saving up while you can! Banking in your savings in stocks and shares can potentially shorten your time spent on saving