How to Aviod Investing mistakes

How to Aviod Investing mistakes, and keep your investing focus!

Dumb things I have done with my money:
- bought odd excerise equipment and months to years later came to relise I used them once

- bought a gift card only not to use it months later

- my favorite it paying for things twice, such as getting home and reliazing that I paid for a extra grocery idea or even better a tip that was already figured into the bill.

Let's just face it people make a lot of mistakes and all kind of mistakes include money matters as well. Here are some tips trying to help you keep your investing focus, with your money matters!

1. Start taking Charge! Most of us fail to set goals, led alone financial goals for the year, not to even mention write down budget goals. It's time to really sit down and budget, write some goals, and start taking control of your money today!

2. Don't lose money on Credit Cards - More than 50 million of us fail to pay off our credit cards in full each month, incurring high interest charges and, often, ridiculously high "late fees." Why go through life paying 10% or 20% more for everything than you need to? What's the point of earning 1% to 3% from your savings at the same time as you pay out 10% to 20% in interest on your credit card balance? Last year, Americans paid an estimated $77 Billion in credit card interest alone!

3. Figure out Your own Taxes - Think about this one for a minute! This is a quick, simple and easy way to cut out a money matter mistake. Don't make the mistake of paying to have it prepared. You may be eligible for the IRS's free file service. Check it out at http://www.irs.gov for details. Or, if your return is a big more complicated or you don't want or have the time to learn call 1-800-829-1040 to locate the nearest Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) location, available for the elderly and people with low income, disabilities or problems with English.

4. While we talk about Taxes, Don't pay extra for a quick tax refund - Yet paying your tax preparer an extra $75 - a typical surchange - to get your $1500 refund right away is a mistake. At today's intereste rates, it takes three years for $1500 to earn back that $75 for you safely. Why not be just a little more patient and "earn" that same $75 in more then three weeks? Just avoid the surcharge and wait for the tax refund to come in the mail.

5. Skip High-Fee Mutual funds - Nearly 95 million of us own mutual funds. Much of that money is invested in "loads" funds, which typically charge 3% just for accepting your money, or in "no loads" funds, which may be better but still charge 1% or 2% a year in management fees and marketing charges. Giving up 1% or 2% a year is a mistake. On average, mutual funds do about average (they sure can't do better than average!) minus their annual expenses. So, if you stick with very low expenses "index funds" - so called because they simply buy most of the stocks in a particular stock market index and then hold them passively - you will do significantly better over the long run than most of your friends and neighbors in actively traded, high-fee funds. Indeed, the more actively a fund manager buys and sells stocks, the less well he or she is likely to do.

6. Take the Free Money 401K Money - More than 17 million of us may fail to take full advantage of the free money that many employers offer by way of a partial "match" to our 401(k) retirement plans, often kicking in 25 or 50 cents for every dollar we contribute. Can you imagine a bank that offered an extr 50 cents for every dollar you deposited? People would trample each other to get in. Well, that's what this is Don't waste it.

7. Think Twice about Full-Fee Brokers - Millions of us use full service brokers. But brokers are no more likely than mutual funds to do better than average, and the commissions (or "wrap fees") they charge eat into your return. Many people would be better off sticking with low cost mutual funds; or, if they are going to trade a stocks, using one of the many "deep discount" brokers that often charge 80% less. In fact, trading stocks is itself a mistake. It's generally better to buy and hold, which is investing, than to trade actively, which is gambling

8. Don't Overlook Foreign Funds - Most of us keep all our investments in the U.S. MISTAKE! The U.S. is not at all times the best place to invest. For people with enough assests to diversify, putting a portion to work in international mutual funds should, over the long run, decrease their risk and increase their expected return in a small but real way.

9. Cancel Mortgage Insurance - Individuals who put up less than 20% to buy a home often must buy private mortgage insurance ("PMI") to protect the lender. With time, as they pay down the mortgage and the value of their home rises, their equity rises above %20 - yet they forget to call their lender to begin the process of canceling the unneeded insurance. Make the call!

10. Going again the Grain - Most us feel more comfortable buying what's in fashion. But when it comes to investing, it's often smarter to buy what nobody else wants - cheap. "Buy winter coats in the summer," Winter is just around the corner.

11. Don't pay for a gym you dont use - Millions who belong to a cardinal fitness, or a gym wind up going so rarely, they'd better off just paying the daily rate.

12. Use only the energy you need - Why leave the lights on - or the TV blaring - when no one's in the room? Why leave the hot water running the whole time you're shaving or washing dishes? Why set the thermostat at 75 degrees in the winter and 68 degree in the summer? And don't get me started on gas mileage! There is so much to be said for "living light on the land." Waste impoverishes us all.

13. Toughest of All: Manage Your Psyche - Really, the two biggest money mistakes almost all of us make from time to time are these:

Why do we continue to spending money we don't have for things we don't need to impress people we don't like.

We grasp at straws, letting hope or greed overwhelm caution and common sense, be it the stock tip you get in your spam email, the lottery ticket geared to pay ou out .35 cents on the dollar after tax (heads, you win .35 cents; tails, you loose $1), or the infomercial at 2 a.m. offering $559 worth of real estate that will make you rich. Always remember slow but steady is boring! But, in most cases, it truly does win the race.