Aug 22 2006

My Biggest Financial Blunder


We all make mistakes, especially in investing. I have and will continue to do so (I am no expert) As one who is constantly trying to improve my returns I make sure that I try my best to learn from these mistakes. It got me to thinking about what types of mistakes investors make. Based on some digging around, and my own gut feel, I think that the top 3 most common mistakes investors make are as follows:

1. Taking stock tips
2. Churning your account
3. Not watching fees

All three of these can have drastic implications on your portfolio. My greatest financial blunder was in reference to #1 – taking stock tips. This was a good 10 years ago and I was speaking to a co-worker of mine and he basically said that he heard from a guy whose brother-in-law knows a priest who spoke with a broker’s wife about a stock called Micro-somthingorother (I for the life of me cannot remember the name) that was going to be bought by Nortel. I turned around and bought about $2000 worth of the shares (remember this was 10 years and to me that was a ton of money). Sure enough the company was not bought and down the stock went. I finally sold my position after losing about $1200. It hurt but I look back on it and I am glad it happened. It made me a better investor and much more pragmatic in my approach. I have not taken a stock tip since.


TAGS:

1 Comments on this post

Trackbacks

  1. finance girl said:

    Well here’s one that’ll make you feel better. My cousin has a relative who works for Calpine, and 5 years ago this Calpine relative was telling him and other family members to “buy calpine!!!” well they all did, of course, without batting an eye. They bought it for over $35 and today? Well if you know about this one, it’s messy. Calpine is the 8th largest US bankruptcy and today it’s stock is around 32 cents. AND, they didn’t sell!!! They held onto it and say to this day “oh, it will go back up! crazy!!!

    August 22nd, 2006 at 8:27 pm

LEAVE A COMMENT

Subscribe Form

Subscribe to Blog

Recommended Book

Read Rob Carrick's 's Book - an author that has mentionned this blog in the past

My Broker

Questrade
Democratic Pricing - 1 cent per share, $4.95 min / $9.95 max

Keep Up-to-Date

twitter1gif
newspaper_feed_128x128

The Dividend Guy Sponsors

The Div-Net

Investment Links

Online Dividend Calendar

Friends of The Dividend Guy



Provident Loans

Invoice Discounting - Hitachi

credit cards

Need emergency cash and can't wait for your paycheck, get a payday loan and have the funds transferred overnight

Mortgage Brokers at Savills Private Finance

Debt Management

Personal Bad Credit Loans for every need and budget.

Get Out of Debt

Emergency Cash

Loan Insurance Claim from Keypoint

payday loans

Borrow payday loans UK online and receive up to £500 for your next payday loan

The Bettertrades stock reviews , online discussion forums and trading software can help trader earn rich dividends from stock market.

Bankruptcy is a serious measure - seek expert debt advice on various debt solutions available.

Networks

Seeking Alpha Certified


Money Hackers Network

Get Out of debt

If you're stuck in debt and trying to get caught up, don't resort to payday loans. They almost always have high interest rates, so if you don't pay them back immediately you will just end up in even more debt. In these tough times, it's better just to learn how to be more frugal with your money.

Twitter Posts

Powered by Twitter Tools

Disclaimer

Any information shared on The Dividend Guy does not constitute financial advice. The Dividend Guy is not a registered investment advisor or broker-dealer and does not purport to tell or suggest which securities readers or customers should buy or sell for themselves. The Website is intended to provide general information only and does not attempt to give you advice that relates to your specific circumstances. You are advised to discuss your specific requirements with an independent financial adviser. For more information, click here. All posts are © 2005-2009, The Dividend Guy.