10 Common Money Mistakes

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/03/09/10-common-money-mistakes/

1. Procrastinating. The best time to make any sort of financial improvement is now. The best time to start paying off your debt is now. The best time to start saving for retirement is now.
   
2. Spending more than you earn. Don’t spend more than you earn. It’s only by mastering this fundamental principle that you’ll ever begin to accumulate wealth.
3. Not saving enough. Glink writes: “Building wealth isn’t about how much money you earn each year; it’s about how much money you don’t spend.”
   
4. Failing to pay off debt. When you’re burdened by debt, a single disaster can be enough to bury you. Don’t tempt fate. Eliminate debt as soon as possible.
5. Looking for quick fixes. Playing the lottery is not an investment strategy. That hot stock tip is not going to make you a millionaire. Multilevel marketing is just a good way to make your friends and family uncomfortable. Take the slow, sure path to wealth.
6. Letting emotion interfere with your decisions. When you let your emotions get the best of you, you end up in debt. You make poor investment decisions. You buy a house you cannot afford. You buy a shiny new Jetta when your three-year-old Focus still runs fine. As much as possible, separate emotion from your financial decisions.
7. Trying to time the market. If 80-90% of professional mutual fund managers are unable to beat the market, what makes me think that you are to be any better?
8. Failing to diversify your investments. The best defense against a decline in any single stock is invest in many stocks. The best defense a decline in any single market is invest in several markets.
9. Following fad investments. First it was real estate. Now it’s gold. What will it be next year? Don’t chase the hot investments.
   
10. Not taking enough risk. We all want our money to be safe. We worked hard to earn it, and we don’t want to lose any through investment mistakes. But the truth is the less risk you’re willing to take, the lower your potential returns.