My first mistake: investing in bulk Scrabble tiles.
This post is difficult to write — I’ve been putting it off. It’s embarrassing to talk about mistakes I’ve made that have lost me 20%, 50%, or 100% of my principal. But I feel a sense of responsibility to share the gory details of my own foolish, greedy, and sometimes reckless attempts to grow money.
Here’s what I hope to accomplish by writing this post:
- better understand the nature of these mistakes, so I don’t make them again in the future
- help at least a few of my readers avoid making these same mistakes themselves
- provide a little inspiration to younger people who are just starting off their careers and investment plans
I’ve been fascinated by investing since the day I learned at a young age that a bank would give you money (interest) for your deposits.
Since then I’ve made a some good financial decisions and some bad ones. The bad ones mostly all fall into the “classic” mistakes that inexperienced investors make, though a few of my mistakes required ingenuity and above-average foolhardiness.
Without further ado here’s my list of “greatest hits” investment mistakes, for your edification and entertainment. Maybe you can avoid some of the traps I waltzed into!