Is it greed, or is it ambition?  The difference is huge, but subtle.  One leads to excellence, the other to ruin… yet, they can feel very similar.   Here’s how to make the distinction, and avoid the devastation to your portfolio that awaits the greedy.  I’m Bryan Ellis.  This is Episode #198.----Hello, SDI Nation!  Welcome to the podcast of record for savvy self-directed investors like you, where we have one and only one goal:  To help you make GREAT investments that are simple, safe and strong.One thing I’ve learned in working with you fine folks is this:  There’s some subjectivity to the words “simple, safe and strong”… and that’s really as it should be.  While there’s a baseline for those things –  sending money to a Nigerian prince, for example, is always foolish and never safe – what is true is that what you define as simple or safe or strong may be different than how I define it, and that’s ok.Defining what those terms mean for you is really very important, and the answers simply aren’t the same for everyone.But there’s a line in the sand that mustn’t be crossed on one of those factors:  Strength.  Strength refers to the results of your investment, such as whether it garners the ROI that you need, and whether it’s sufficiently stable for you to avoid the kind of stress that hurts your body and mind more than it helps your pocketbook.On one side of the “strength” line is ambition.  Ambition is a good thing.  Ambition is the thing that drives us to be more, do more, and achieve more.  Ambition is what drives us to demand the best of ourselves, and that is why it’s good.  Pure ambition is an inherently good thing, because pure ambition is correctly aligned with the purpose of your life… it’s what drives you to be what you were put here to be.So, curiously, having clarity about your life purpose is a key part of being a successful investor… if you’re doing it the SDI way.Now On the other side of that line in the sand is something that feels a lot like ambition, but is wholly different:  Greed.  Greed is all about wanting more without being more or doing more.  Greed is not about fulfilling your life’s purpose… it’s about achieving a standard to which you falsely believe you’re entitled.Greed and ambition are separated by a line in the sand, and that line is called wisdom.  A better word for it might be “perspective”.  Perspective is the difference between extraordinary investors like Peter Lynch and Sir John Templeton versus criminals like Bernie Madoff   The former experienced tremendous wealth because they earned it.  The latter stole billions because he believed he was entitled to it, but absolutely did nothing to earn it.And that’s what greed is:  A sense of entitlement to something you do not deserve and have not earned.So let’s connect this back to helping you to make great investments that are simple, safe and, particularly in today’s context, strong.  There are two points of evaluation you must consider where strength is concerned and they are:First:  What is the cash-on-cash return?  In other words, how much money do you expect to pull out versus the amount of money you put in?Second:  What is the stress-adjusted return?  In other words, how does the volatility of the investment make the investment more or less attractive for you?That second part… the stress-adjusted return… is a factor that far too many investors fail to consider prior to taking an investment.  You might look at the cash on cash return, and be blinded by the financial potential, without ever considering that a 15% return that causes you overwhelming stress is far less desirable than a 7% return that’s perfectly reliable and predictable.  This is a critical consideration, my friends, and it can easily be reduced to a formula.Let’s use an example, shall we?Imagine that you’ve got an investment opportunity that you’ve been told will yield 15%.  Now we all know that 15% is an exceedingly attractive cash-on-cash return and makes for an excellent “headli