Welcome to America, a land where, as an adult, you can legally gamble your money away at a casino, buy all of the cigarettes you can smoke, or kill yourself by fastidiously consuming fast food. Welcome to America, where, unless you’re an accredited investor, meaning you have achieved one of the unlikely following things, you cannot invest in startups or any other crap, meaning that the rich will get richer, and you might as well put your money on the roulette wheel unless you’re one of the following titans:
– a bank, insurance company, registered investment company, business development company, or small business investment company
– an employee benefit plan, within the meaning of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, if a bank, insurance company, or registered investment adviser makes the investment decisions, or if the plan has total assets in excess of $5 million.
– a charitable organization, corporation, or partnership with assets exceeding $5 million