Not maxing out my 401k in my younger years 20’s through 40’s. I would have had more money because of the magic of compound interest. I started maxing out my 401k in my late 40’s.
Saving instead of investing. I saved a lot of money in my saving accounts instead of investing it in the stock market. I was fearful of loosing money, so I put money in a savings account. Now that I understand how the market works, I could have put most of it in an index fund with better returns. It did not take me long to learn this lesson, but just wish I knew it all along.
baldscreen
6 months ago
We didn’t know anything about finances for quite a few years, so didn’t save enough for retirement in our 20s and 30s. Thankfully we are naturally frugal so we will be ok, but have had to save a greater percentage in our later working years.
Debbie Clay
6 months ago
Buying a timeshare in the Bahamas. Was on vacation, having great time, let sales talk me into purchasing. Years of increasing maintenance fees and we never even went back to stay there. Could not even give the timeshare away, ended up having to pay them more $$ just to get out of the agreement.
Buying 3 acres of land an undeveloped community. Didn’t read the HOA covenants that were super restrictive on building and other lot restrictions. Of the 100 lots that were sold in one day, 15 years later only 8 lots were developed into houses.After trying to sell the property through many real estate firms over the years, just sold this year for far less than appraised value and only received 10% on my original investment.
corrupt
9 months ago
Before I learned about diversification I had too much of one company’s stock, and paid the price when it took a 50% cut.
Scrooge_McDuck88
10 months ago
Not understanding the value of tax advantaged accounts like a Roth at a young age.
Jeff
1 year ago
I didn’t start earlier and I didn’t put at least enough in my 401k to get the full match.
Carl Book
1 year ago
I moved my retirement money out of a stock index fund and into a money market fund several years ago. I thought the market was high and I would jump back in when it was bottoming out. I waited way too long to get back in. Trying to time the market is not a great idea. I’ve also been known to chase yield only to have dividends cut because of poor earnings. The stock then drops because of the poor earnings/dividend. Lesson is not to chase yield without looking at earnings. And the best investment advice is to start investing at an early age and on a regular basis. You can’t win if you aren’t in the ball game.
Andrew F.
1 year ago
When I was young I invested too much of what discretionary income I had in rent houses, and not enough in the stock market. I missed out on some very valuable compounding.
Anika Hedstrom
1 year ago
When I was young and just starting out with investing, I took way too much advice from friends and family who were chasing the next best thing. I ended up purchasing a few MLPs (master limited partnerships) which I knew nothing about at the time. I lost money and had to wait considerably longer to file my taxes due to the K-1s that come from these types of investments.
Mike Zaccardi
1 year ago
I had a few financial hiccups – like buying a little sports car when I was in my early 20s in 2008. It was used, so it wasn’t too expensive, but had I kept my old Camry and just invested the extra money in a stock portfolio, that would be a tidy sum today. Other than that, nothing really comes to mind. I’ve found, however, that whenever I’ve tried to get too cute with my portfolio (i.e. holding more cash or investing in Lending Club notes), it just generally lost out to a diversified and simple mix of index funds. Keep it simple and stick to your plan.
kristinehayes2014
1 year ago
My top two:
1) Spending too much (and consequently not saving enough) when I was in my thirties. I was all about ‘stuff’ back then. I thought having the most up-to-date furnishings, cool electronic ‘toys’ and new cars would make me happy. It didn’t (see mistake number 2). If I would have saved a fraction of the money I spent, my retirement portfolio would likely be significantly larger today.
2) Not fighting to retain my pension when I got divorced. My ex-husband fought for the right to take 1/2 of my state pension when we divorced. I didn’t fight back because I just wanted out of an incredibly unhappy marriage. I realize now I should have tried harder to retain my entire pension, especially since I didn’t receive any portion of his retirement benefits.
Sanjib Saha
1 year ago
I made three big financial mistakes (there are more smaller ones). The biggest blunder was staying out of stock market for first 12+ years of my career. I did save regularly. Unfortunately, my investment knowledge was so limited during that period that I knew nothing outside Bank Savings and CDs. I stayed on the sideline because I mistook it to be the playing ground.
2 regrets
We didn’t know anything about finances for quite a few years, so didn’t save enough for retirement in our 20s and 30s. Thankfully we are naturally frugal so we will be ok, but have had to save a greater percentage in our later working years.
Before I learned about diversification I had too much of one company’s stock, and paid the price when it took a 50% cut.
Not understanding the value of tax advantaged accounts like a Roth at a young age.
I didn’t start earlier and I didn’t put at least enough in my 401k to get the full match.
I moved my retirement money out of a stock index fund and into a money market fund several years ago. I thought the market was high and I would jump back in when it was bottoming out. I waited way too long to get back in. Trying to time the market is not a great idea. I’ve also been known to chase yield only to have dividends cut because of poor earnings. The stock then drops because of the poor earnings/dividend. Lesson is not to chase yield without looking at earnings. And the best investment advice is to start investing at an early age and on a regular basis. You can’t win if you aren’t in the ball game.
When I was young I invested too much of what discretionary income I had in rent houses, and not enough in the stock market. I missed out on some very valuable compounding.
When I was young and just starting out with investing, I took way too much advice from friends and family who were chasing the next best thing. I ended up purchasing a few MLPs (master limited partnerships) which I knew nothing about at the time. I lost money and had to wait considerably longer to file my taxes due to the K-1s that come from these types of investments.
I had a few financial hiccups – like buying a little sports car when I was in my early 20s in 2008. It was used, so it wasn’t too expensive, but had I kept my old Camry and just invested the extra money in a stock portfolio, that would be a tidy sum today. Other than that, nothing really comes to mind. I’ve found, however, that whenever I’ve tried to get too cute with my portfolio (i.e. holding more cash or investing in Lending Club notes), it just generally lost out to a diversified and simple mix of index funds. Keep it simple and stick to your plan.
My top two:
1) Spending too much (and consequently not saving enough) when I was in my thirties. I was all about ‘stuff’ back then. I thought having the most up-to-date furnishings, cool electronic ‘toys’ and new cars would make me happy. It didn’t (see mistake number 2). If I would have saved a fraction of the money I spent, my retirement portfolio would likely be significantly larger today.
2) Not fighting to retain my pension when I got divorced. My ex-husband fought for the right to take 1/2 of my state pension when we divorced. I didn’t fight back because I just wanted out of an incredibly unhappy marriage. I realize now I should have tried harder to retain my entire pension, especially since I didn’t receive any portion of his retirement benefits.
I made three big financial mistakes (there are more smaller ones). The biggest blunder was staying out of stock market for first 12+ years of my career. I did save regularly. Unfortunately, my investment knowledge was so limited during that period that I knew nothing outside Bank Savings and CDs. I stayed on the sideline because I mistook it to be the playing ground.