1. Failing to invest in yourself. It’s important to invest in your education, your health and your appearance.
2. If it flies, floats, or is fast, rent it, don’t buy it. Or, better yet, find a friend who has it. Less than 1% of people are lucky enough to make money buying planes, boats or exotic cars. The vast majority of that 1% has a dealer’s license, meaning they’re in the business to sell those items.
3. Buying into pyramid schemes or multi-level marketing. The only people who make money in these structures are the ones who start them.
4. Buying a lottery ticket or going to the horse race and thinking you’re going to make money. If you do this, it is for fun only. Approximately 70% of all lottery winners go broke within a few years (source: National Endowment for Financial Education). Winning the purse at a horse race is just pure luck, unless you’re a jockey.
5. Spending more than you make by using credit. Credit cards and loans are liabilities, not assets.
CFP®, CLU®, ChFC®, CDFA®, ADFA, RICP®, AFC®
