Chapter 21
Ten Mistakes Most Investors (Even Smart Ones) Make
In This Chapter
Paying and risking too much
Trading too frequently
Saving too little and expecting too much from the market
Ignoring inflation and IRS rules
Remember that personal investing course you took in high school? Of course you don’t! Your high school never offered such a course. Chances are that you’ve never taken such a course. Few of us middle-agers have. And that lack of education — combined with a surfeit of cheesy and oft-advertised investment industry products, plus an irresponsible and lazy financial press — leads many investors to make some very costly mistakes.
Paying Too Much for an Investment
Most investors pay way, way too much to middlemen who suck the lifeblood out of portfolios, leaving too many folks with too little to show for their investments. By investing primarily in ETFs, you can spare yourself and your family this tragic fate. The typical ETF costs a fraction of what you would typically pay in yearly management fees to a mutual fund company. You never pay any loads (high commissions). And ...
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