Why do you have to be an accredited investor?
Scott_MacGregor: United States individual state and also federal securities laws make a determination as to who is considered an accredited investor and who is not. (Federal Securities Laws and state Blue Sky Laws.)Accredited investors are deemed to need less protection under the law than un-accredited investors. Basically accredited investors are  deemed more able to take losses and/or more able to analyze which investments are better for their money.  In certain instances un-accredited investors may have rights to a return of their invested money in the event of a financial loss, where an accredited investor must take the loss.In the United States, investment is heavily regulated on both the state and the federal level.