To help more folks understand about investments, do allow me to simplify it thru an analogy:-
Mr. Tan bought over a coffee shop at a mid popular HDB housing estate at $4million dollars.
He then rented out the 10 stalls at an average $10,000 per stall per month
His gross monthly rentals income is at $100,000/mth or $1.2 million a year.
Everyone was happy with this arrangement, as Mr Tan made sure there was a right mix of food served, hygiene standards, etc, etc. & it was always full house.
After 20yrs, his gross total income from renting out the stalls, became $24 Million, from an initial investment of mere $4million dollars.
On the 21st yr, based upon his research over several factors - rise in costs of labor, products & services as well as political situation, which may declined such rental profits, he decided to sell off the property, even at a PAPER LOSS, at $2million than to continue coming up with funds to prop up the property which will become more substantial over time, even losing the gross $24 Million he had earned, along with bank savings interests.
Thus, did he lose half of his $4million investment, or did he profited immensely from the mere $4million investment?